Facing life like a gladiator!

We have daily challenges that we face some more so than others.

Our challenges differ from day to day and from each situation to the next. However we always get through to the next day.

Some challenges could be financial, marital, emotional and even medical.  This is part of life, not necessarily a part we like but a necessary part as it shows us a couple of things.

Firstly, it shows us at the end, just how strong we really are. We might feel like giving up but as the saying goes “you don’t know how close you are to the finish line when you give up”

Once you have crossed the “mountain” we often find that we were much closer to the end than we realized.

Secondly: It also helps us appreciate the times things are going well (It may feel much less in our current economy) but there are times where our worries escape our attention, even if it’s just for a little while. Concentrate on these times.  If you relax while watching movies, or a picnic, or perhaps while having a braai with friends, arrange to have them on a regular basis. Concentrate on what feeds your inner being. Find out what it is and make a place for it in your daily life.  (For me for example it is my silent time, one of the first things I give up yet the main thing that gets me through any hard time) It is important to also give yourself this distraction so you have the strength to get through your next challenge.

Also if you are facing challenges at home being stable at work helps give you the strength and determination to hang on a while longer. When there is trouble at work having a stable marriage can help you deal with that stress also. Having stable or reliable friends can help with family problems. It is very rare that problems not of our own creation go through ALL areas of our lives. Most times when problems are everywhere, we either have the wrong perception or have caused them indirectly. (There are some exceptions to this rule, we all know Murphy and how he works)

With the challenge you are currently facing, remember it makes you stronger! Braver! And more Resilient! Keep heart and charge on to your next one! Your challenges are for YOU and no one can handle your challenge better than yourself. So the next time you feel like giving up, remember you will eventually become your own life’s GLADIATOR!!!

Think of David and Goliath, Little David became a very prominent person because he chose to believe and not to give up!

Family

We all have them and know we can’t choose our family.

I have recently seen how people are extremely nice to friends and acquaintances but not family. Yet if there is trouble the first people we contact is family.

I have seen how people bend backwards to help family and in the process get stabbed in the back yet with friends it’s not the same, we will never dare disappoint a friend.

Why is this, do you think?  Is it because we are so used to our family always being there? Because they are family we assume they will always help us and be there for us?

Whatever the case may be I want to remind people to take good care of your family.  The better you care for them the better they will care for you.  The more you show them how important they are to you the more important you will become to them. I am not talking about earthly importance but the general day to day importance. Like just a text to say you were thinking of them, a quick mail to catch up etc.

The little things we do for our friends that is not necessarily also done for our family. 

Taking a gentler tone when talking to someone you don’t necessarily like (hopefully just that point in time)

Maybe consider the reasons another person may be super sensitive.

Listen to what is not being said as well as being said out loud.

At the end the only people who will stick by you is your family, that is if you treat them right.

Your friends can leave at any time, some are fickle, and some stick through the hard times and sometimes life just throws you in different directions but the only ones who remain are family.

So treat your family with love and respect and dignity after all you can’t choose them but you can make the best of them.