Life is Hard - Not So

"Mahirap ang buhay" a phrase in Tagalog that means Life is tough or hard. A phrase that can be heard almost every day. Often you can hear from parents trying to raise a family, maybe because it is them who could feel the financial challenges. Being a kid, that phrase was just a phrase, never really thought of what it means. Now as I get older, the phrase makes more sense.

Indeed, life is tough,... but as I look closer to these people it is very evident that most of them share common vibes -negativity and fear. Now negativity and fear can corrupt a person's character. Like a disease that can paralyze you and me, they are contagious. They stop us from growing, from being free, from enjoying life and being happy.

I didn't realize that I too was infected by these dreadful diseases. I was afraid of getting married until I already have "enough" to raise a family. Why, you might ask? Because "life is hard". I had not been smart at school so I don't expect myself to have a good job. When I see people with nice clothes or have cars all I do is stare at them in awe.

Slowly I begun to build walls around me. A kingdom I must say, and me, a King. Every time someone from the "higher class" knocks on my kingdom's door, silence ceases the fun and laughter inside. And the kingdom was subdued, the king... now a peasant.

Maybe some of you can relate to what I am saying, some of you won't. But allow me to share to you ways I found to get out of the deadly negativity and treacherous fear,

You may not be a religious person, I understand and respect that, but faith in God had been my first key to open the door out of fear and negativity. Having faith in God as our Father, gave me an assurance that there is a good future as long as I am pleasing Him.

If you are a believer, have you ever given a deep thought of the term "He is our father"? This means you are His child and that you are entitled of His powerful help and miracles. Knowing this will help you and I have faith in ourselves. We all have potentials, potentials to be successful and be the best in what we want. Why? Because we are children of the Mightiest being in the universe!

We humans do things depending on how we see them. We interact with people our age differently from the younger or older ones because our view of the two groups differs from each other. Having the right perspective of life will turn negativity into positive.

As my faith in God grows bigger and stronger - I do this by studying God's words and applying them in my daily life, my view of life changes. I begun to see life more beautifully, I try to look at everyone the way God would look at them. My eyes are now wider that I begun to see opportunities to grow, mingle, learn and explore. I wanted to try new things, I want to get out of the dark tales of negativity.

As our view changes, things we want to do also change. And for a man to "do" what he "wants to do", he must learn how to do it. Gaining education is a lifetime course. It's a "must" for each of us. School isn't the only place to get education, it can also be from home, in the community,.. and also through life's experiences. The sad part is too often we get the wrong education; like what I had been taught "life is hard" and I didn't even notice that i am starting to believe and embrace that teaching..

I started my "good' education by reading Scriptures and positive books, attending seminars and watching webinars online. Did I mentione that most of them are free.

A saying goes like this "tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are", before I thought that it's being judgmental to agree on it, but that is not so. If you want to be a gangster, go hang out with gangsters. If you think we - Beatles fans, are too oldies, come watch us cover Beatles hits, the next thing you'll know you have a mop top hair cut.

I started looking for people that I believe are positive and enthusiastic about life. I acquainted my self with them, I observe how they think, interact with people around them and their interest; the kinds of books and magazines they read. I took every chances I have to converse with them, hoping that somehow I’ll be influenced by them, I was surprised to know that most of them are living a simple, quite and dignified lives. I also noticed that there is wisdom in every word they say, like a sermon towards success.

These things had helped me and I know will help you too. Have the courage to "rise above the blues". Life may not be easy at times, but to live is beautiful, the hardships each of us are facing are actually only tools to mold our characters not life itself. Like a wise eagle that soars higher than the storm, we too can overcome the negativity and fear that can corrupt and deny us of achieving our fullest potentials.

-peace&LOVE-

iamBo