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Today's
Meditation:
Many of us certainly have gone through the "when
times are not" phase over the last few years,
especially when we talk of economics. And when times
are rough for us financially, it's very easy for us to
face difficulties emotionally and spiritually, as well as
in our relationships when the difficulties have become
severe.
But if there's one thing that I've learned in my years on
this planet, it's that life is cyclical, that there always
is a light at the end of the tunnel whether we actually
see it or not. And knowing that helps me immensely
not to lose my peace of mind or my optimism just because
of a setback or three. When I was laid off a few
years ago, I was very fortunate to be able to look at the
situation as a challenge, not as a disaster, and doing so
helped me to stay happy even though the future had
suddenly become very uncertain.
Keeping in a mode of still enjoying life and living helped
me to make plans for dealing with our situation, and it
helped me to do so with positive expectations. I
ended up finding work four hours from our home, my wife
and I ended up living apart for eight months, but that
didn't affect our overall happiness. We had some
down moments when we had to part each weekend, but we
still had our lives to live and challenges to meet, so we
allowed ourselves to feel those down moments--which helped
us to recover from them quickly. And we always
appreciated the fact that at least I had work in an
economy when many people didn't. So when we lost our
house to foreclosure, we were able to shrug our shoulders,
smile, and move on.
Our situation was easier than the situations of other
people, yet it does remind me that when times are not
good, it's still possible to find the silver linings. It's
still possible to see the good and the beautiful in
life. It's still important that we appreciate this
miracle that we call life, and take advantage of the many
opportunities and blessings that we still have, even if
life has become challenging.
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