Confusion Cleared

"Everywhere the sun is shining; All around the world, it's shining; But cold winds blow across your mind." -"Confusion" by Electric Light Orchestra

There are times in our life when nothing seems to makes sense. We feel we have lost all sense of direction and become confused about our place in time. It can be a frightening time filled with anxiety and often times depression. The sounds of others trying to encourage you are faint and distant. You have simply fallen into a state of mind in which you really cannot hear, but desperately want to.

Confusion is medically defined as "the inability to think with your usual speed or clarity, including feeling disoriented and having difficulty paying attention, remembering, and making decisions."

Confusion can be brought on by numerous conditions such as alcohol (obviously), concussions, fevers, fluid and electrolyte imbalance, lack of sleep, nutritional deficiencies, or a host of other things. Seeking out medical advice is always good to ensure what seems simple isn't something bigger.

And sometimes confusion is a state of emotion caused by events going on in your life. It could be your relationship with another person, a job-related decision or one of life's many circumstances. We fight to control the emotion and work through it ourselves, but eventually it grows only worse. You lose your sense of direction and struggle to decide which way to go. So you stand still, caught in this state of confusion.

It is here, at this point, when you have to simply choose a point in all of the confusion and head towards it. The idea is not to figure out necessarily which point is the correct one, just head out in one direction.

Movement will cause change in the confusion.

You can always change direction again, but standing still doesn't solve your condition. It sounds so simple but all of us know that confusion breeds indecision and it becomes difficult to rationalize. So in reality, there is no simple answer, only advice to choose something and move towards it.

The cloud of confusion will eventually begin to clear in your life. The sun will look brighter, more stars will shine in the night sky and your life will carry on, clear of the confusion that once held you firmly in one place.

Stay inspired my friends.

Life Not Of Confusion

"I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death... I think... peace and tranquillity will return again." ~Anne Frank

If you have never read The Diary of Anne Frank, then you must foresake reading my book (Live the Journey) and get that one. It is a book that although bittersweet in how it ends, the book is more full of hope and inspiration then anything I could write.

Under the cruelest of conditions that existed and happened to the Jewish peoples in Germany during the reign of Adolph Hitler, hope survives in a young girl. Regardless of the situation, Anne Frank kept the light of life inside.

After they were found and eventually sent to Auschwitz, a woman who was with Anne at that time said, "On arrival at the camp, everyone's head was shaved; yet a woman who was with Anne at that time said of Anne; "You could see that her beauty was wholly in her eyes. . . . Her gaiety had vanished, but she was still lively and sweet, and with her charm she sometimes secured things that the rest of us had long since given up hoping for."

All of us go through varying levels of despair, confusion, and just bad times. The situation can seem unbearable to us such that we don't feel like continuing.

But know that even within the situation you find yourself, you can keep the light of hope and happiness alive. Whether you be old, middle-aged or a 14-year old Anne Frank, the beauty of life comes from within.

Don't live a life of confusion and negativity. Live a life of hope and happiness. Keep the fire burning inside. And when you do, the light will be seen in your eyes. Your life will shine the path to something greater.