Each Of Us Carries Something

Everyday, each of us has a different load in life to carry. The picture is from Mumbai, India and it isn't meant to be humorous or downward looking upon the individual.

What is meant to show is that each of us has different responsibilities, jobs or troubles that we must shoulder. It doesn't make one any harder or easier, just that we all share this common bond of living life.

When you consider your own issues in life, understand that many others around you have a story of their own. Each of us has different burdens but we all still have to struggle and cope with them. Try never to look upon others as not having it "as bad as you". Just realize that all of us work to overcome and to achieve all that we can.

Your House Called Life

When you have made a choice in life, you have to take on all that comes with that choice. You do not get to choose just the 'bits' that you like, you have to deal with all of it. It is like buying a new home. You walk into a home you are considering purchasing and you really love the family room. It has beautiful fireplace, cozy atmosphere and wonderful sunlight. Maybe even the kitchen area overlooks the family area, an added enjoyment.

So you purchase the home and move in. Yet the backyard is small and borders a yard with barking dogs. The home itself has too small of a master bathroom. Maybe the garage door does not work very well or the furnace does not heat the house well during the winter. All of these negative things are yours to deal with. You have a choice at this point.

Choose to complain constantly about them, which will diminish your enjoyment of the good things your home has to offer. Or you can change those things you do not like. Talk to the neighbors and get to know them. After a while, you will be able to bring up the subject of the dogs, the neighbors will likely be more willing to try and change the situation. Expand your master bath, get the garage door fixed or research what changes you could make to improve the heating conditions.

All of this requires you to make movement, to make a change. By doing nothing, you change nothing. Your life, like your home is your responsibility and only you can improve it. Take charge, begin now and let change improve your life.

In his book, "THINK BIG", Ben Carson talks of the same things I have written about. He writes interestingly about the need to think positively. The use of PMA or "Positive Mental Attitude"; have faith; you are what you think; I did it, so can you.

These are words that all of us have been told by so many over the years. And though we have heard them often, it doesn't make them any less true or more real. What it does mean is that we have a choice. We can either be negative about all that is around us or choose a more positive life attitude.

Ben Carson is a highly respected physician and he provides that our emotional state affects the hormones in our body. Hormones significantly influence white cells and the body's ability to fight disease. This means that we now actually have a scientific explanation for the fact that people who become very depressed do not do well in recovering from disease. The ability to lead a more positive life can help keep your physical well-being in better shape.

Maybe one could suggest that it doesn't mean we are physically better, just that we accept our physical state in better manner. For me, either way, if having a more positive attitude can keep me healthier or make make feel better about it, my existence is all that much better.

Ben Carson says, "if we allow ourselves to dwell on negatives, on hurts, on mistreatments, we will be negative thinkers. We can choose the way we think. When people object to words like "positive thinking," then you can say, "Think Big, then!"

All Of Us Have Dreams

"Get a dream for your life, regardless of your age or position." - Jill Sweetman

This week I have been working in India and this being my first time here, it is a pleasure getting to know the people and culture. As I have seen throughout my travels is at one level, people around the world are the same. Each of us sleeps, get up in the morning, get the kids ready for school, struggle with traffic on the way to work and deal with work stresses through out the day.

We also have to commute home, get dinner ready, reconnect with our family or maybe attend a function (soccer practice, school play, religious event) and then come home, prepare for bed and try to get to sleep. All in an effort to repeat it again the next day. As my parents said to me years ago, "people all around the world, regardless of ethnicity, class or location put their pants on one leg at a time." A lesson simply to show how much alike all of us are.

In travelling back and forth between the hotel and office, a regular driver picks me up and returns me to the hotel each day. Not that I am above driving, traffic here in India is certainly different then what I am used to. If I were to drive, I would be more of an impediment to others on the road. So for an hour each way, each day, I have the opportunity to talk with my driver.

His name is Mitra and has been a pleasure to be with. A young man with a child and a wife due to give birth at any time to twins. Life has the same concerns for him as any would have any place in the world. Things concerning the health of his wife and as yet unborn children, how will I pay the medical bills, will I get enough work, on and on and on. The stress of driving in this type of traffic and the potential for an accident. Anything you can think of is a potential conceren for another person any place on this planet (with obvious exceptions).

Mitra though is such an upbeat person about all that is of concern. He understands and appreciates all that he has. His attitude is so positive that he opens himself to opportunity that will present itself. Faith and belief in what is good and in his own ability says alot about him. He also has a dream that sustains him. He believes in that dream and I for one believe he can achieve it.

Establish a vision, a dream for your own life. Believe in that dream, act upon it and you will eventually realize your dream. All around the world, people have dreams...each of us can attain them at some level. Continue to believe in yourself.