Monday, January 24, 2011

Sometimes it is Hard to feel Good About Me

We all have those days when we look in the mirror and wonder who that weird person looking back at us is. Sometimes we chip a tooth, or we have a really giant zit. Other times we loose a contract or our business burns down, or the plumbing doesn't work right in our house and we can't afford to have it fixed so we climb under the house and don't understand what we should do to fix it... and we keep getting extraneous bills when we can barely afford our utilities... well at least that sums up the last few months for me. 

Sometimes it's just rough to look at ourselves and where we really are in life. Well I am here to tell you, it isn't your fault and you are really a fine person! Things are tough on everyone right now, between the economy, and the way society makes it easier to break up than to stay together, easier to give up than to try, and much much easier to just play another video game, or watch a movie on TV and forget it all, than it does to encourage us to try...

Yet try we must. No matter how awful it gets we have to keep on trying, and in order to do that we have to believe in who we really are. Not what we look like, or what we seem to be but who we really are inside. We also have to believe that we do have the power to impact our situation and change it for the better... and before you start, YES YOU CAN, and YES you MUST make improvements yourself if you aren't happy. You can do it! If you really really try!!!

When my oldest daughter was small she told me once that she tried to do her homework. It was a little "i tried" whisper... and I told her about trying. I took out a sheet of paper and I wrote "i tried" then "I Tried" and finally I wrote in huge red capital letters "I TRIED" and I said "which one was it?" She looked at me suddenly curious. I explained that the first one is like when someone invites you to a party that you know is going to be lame, and you say, "i'll try to come" but you have no intention of going to the party. The second one is a half way decent attempt but nothing unusual. The third one... well the third one is like when you swim half way across a lake and suddenly realize you are exhausted. You may not make it to the other shore but it is just as far if you turn back. Suddenly TRY takes on all new meanings because if you don't swim, you will drown... now that is what it really means to TRY.

If you are like most people right now you are looking for the strength to keep TRYING, and in the process you have lost more than a little of your self respect, and possibly a little faith, but still... still... you are motivated by necessity. That drive is what keeps you alive. It keeps you moving and as long as you TRY you really will succeed eventually. Don't give up. Keep the faith, and keep on pushing. Know that you are as capable as anyone else and that you CAN do anything you set your mind to. You are as strong as you have to be, and that is strong enough. You are smart enough to get through the situation and come out on top, if you keep your head.

Now you are probably thinking, this woman doesn't know me. She's never seen me before, but it doesn't matter because I have seen people with almost nothing going for them succeed because they tried and they believed they could. I've seen bright people fail because they gave up... and didn't care and because they only tried a little bit for a little while and then gave up. You aren't like that, or at least you don't have to be. Do what you set your mind to, and keep going no matter how hard it gets or how much you want to give up, and you will plow through life's toughest situations with a smile. It will be OK. Just TRY and see what happens.