"Down but not Out!"

"Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it. " -Dr. William Henry Cosby, Jr.

Many times in life you are handed a set of circumstances that are completely unexpected and completely beyond your ability to control. Yet, when these situations do come about you find yourself reacting in the way that's characteristic of you as an individual. Case in point: You receive a pink slip one day after arriving to work, or you undergo some sort of change that makes it appear to you that your hard work and incredible efforts are useless.

In this, or any, emotionally taxing situation one can find his or herself looking down the chasm of despair and not knowing exactly how to reorganize and recover. Personally, having been put into the aforementioned situations numerous times, I must say that it can be a trying time in life. However, despair is a state of mind, and like all states of mind, it can be changed.

What I'm here suggesting is not a mentality of utter hopelessness, but one of forward progress and movement. A deficiency in one area most definitely leads to a surplus in another area. A person needs to find that surplus, whether emotional or financial or otherwise, and dwell on it. That positive notion will allow the person to progress and recover. Life is full of difficult situations that are difficult because of the way they are perceived. A change in perception = a change is situation.

Lately, I've gone through quite a bit of difficult situations that were surmounted because I refuse to give up in believing that my struggle in the face of difficulty would produce "good fruits". One of the main philosophies that I continue to advocate is that a person should not and cannot limit his or herself in whatever they want to accomplish. A lack of accomplishment of goals in those around us must not limit what it is that we have the potential to accomplish.