Life's problems.

This post is dedicated to everyone who is facing problems in their life right now. Hope that this helps.

Was talking to a friend earlier today and the conversation went on something like this:

Friend:
and i've been having very bad days lately.

Friend:
hopefully after CNY me luck will change

Kevin Chan - Hamlet's Hero:
how are things?

Kevin Chan - Hamlet's Hero:
why dude?

Kevin Chan - Hamlet's Hero:
what happened man?

Friend:
nah just loads of sucky stuff happening to me

Friend:
i guess God is testing me out

Friend:
well my computer died.

Friend:
i have to work for very long hours in school even after school hours

Friend:
my car has problems

Friend:
my cash has problems

Kevin Chan - Hamlet's Hero:
ok...

Friend:
my mouse has problems

Friend:
my tyres has problems

Friend:
my relationships with ppl have problems

I guess that human life, as a whole is by itself one big problem that we've been cracking our heads to solve since the day we were born. Life is full of problems and sometimes all these problems just pile up and get us down.

Truth to be told, the past few weeks for me were one of the most trying weeks in my life. I still feel as though as my life has been torn apart and is left now in a complete mess. Sometimes when life throws all these little problems at you by the truckload, you stop seeing all the good thats in life, all that we have to be thankful about.

I once read that we should stop judging the things that happen to us as good or bad - things just happen and we should all welcome them as experiences that colour the canvases of our lives.

I know it is anything but easy to look at experiences that affect us emotionally that way but lets put it all in perspective shall we?

I wasn't feeling all that great yesterday so I dragged out my iPod and listened an inspirational speech by someone I respect - Steve Jobs.

Steve Job's Commencement Address at Stanford


Something really struck me when Jobs talked about his experience with death. In his words,

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Life is short, and I know things can be hard at times, but don't let it get you down. When times get tough, more the reason to just lay still and listen to your heart, for it knows what you truly need.

Death is the great equalizer. We're all going to die someday, no matter how smart, pretty, rich or influential we are, so lets live life to the fullest and not let the blues get us down ya?

One more thing that helps me when I'm feeling down and broken is this poem from Napoleon Hill's classic - Think Rich and Grow Rich:

"I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store."

"For Life is just an employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task."

"I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid."

Not much more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty. The only difference is the mindset that one holds as well as the clarity of one's goals.

I believe that the mind can be likened to a garden, much like how James Allen thought so in his work "As A Man Thinketh".

Man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently
cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or
neglected, it must, and will, bring forth.If no useful seeds are
put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall
therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds,
and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man
tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and
impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and
fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this
process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the
master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also
reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands, with
ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind elements
operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.

- James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

If we think good, positive thoughts, we appreciate life more, and every thing seems so much better, so much happier. The people around us are energized by our optimism and energy that they feel happy too. Like wise, negative thoughts make us feel drained and weak, making the people around us feel bad too.

If there's one think in life that we have absolute control over, its our minds. I'm not saying that its easy - most of us have our minds on autopilot and we blame our lack of control on it to hormones or emotions (I've done it too), but with some effort, we can put it back under our control, they way it should be. Focus on the positive in your life, and see what miracles that can bring.

Hope this helps anyone who's feeling that life is getting out of your hands at the moment. Just know that you can make the most of your life, and things really aren't so bad.

Till then, sieze the day!