How to Navigate Bad Times

The Drudgery of Life

Or as so beautifully expressed....The Slings and Arrows of outrageous fortune....

To be or not to be, that is the question;
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,...
Or to sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,

This is briefly paraphrased from Hamlet....but that's the meaning in a nutshell....and isn't this the "rub" of everyday life....to fight those slings and arrows?

It is.  And it's the biggest and most monumental fight we make every day.

How do we survive it?  How can we hope to survive it?

If we knew what all was ahead of us from the day we were born, we would probably (more like very likely) be overloaded, and there would be far few of us trying to do something or anything.

What can we do - what do we do?

First, we don't have to solve all our lifetime problems in the next 5 (or 6) minutes - fortunately....so we can solve them as they appear, which some of them very well may not appear.

Next, God has given us several tools and methods to use to keep us "whole" while we're fighting those slings and arrows.

God loves us.  Not only does He want us to know that, but He also has given us proof:  He wanted to be with us so much that he directed us how to build a Tabernacle in the Wilderness so that He could have a place to be and we could have a place to be with Him.

What me may not always realize is that we are born with a need for God and His love.  God knew this, that's why He directed the building of a place where we could meet and be with Him.  Those who get this early on, are ahead of the game, but doesn't mean all is lost if you get the message later in life.  What's important is that you get this message:  that we truly can not exist without His love, guidance, counsel and direction. 

Some of these are so subtle that they are lost in our complicated world.  The God of the Old Testament was a god of fear, but with the coming of Christ, came the love that God wants all of us to experience from him.  No longer are we doomed to live with the fear or punishment that we are banished from God's presence.  We are now not only encouraged but forgiven and a way is made for us to always be with God because of Christ.

As if that weren't enough, we're given another gift:  The Holy Spirit.  This is that voice inside you that you know is centered, grounded and from a place of calm and peace.  The very best way to hear this voice is through meditation and/or prayer.  In these calm introverted states, we can get in touch with that calm or Holy Spirit within us to guide, counsel and communicate with God.

We have additional gifts as well, community, friends, family, His love and continue support in no matter what circumstance or place we are in.  Of course it goes without saying that this process does not work when involving the negative feelings toward people, circumstances, places or things, but you already knew that!

In this wild roller-coaster life we lead on this planet, it is so comforting and encouraging to know that there is always someone in our corner, no matter how bleak, black or dark it may seem.....all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Enjoy

Meditation - Part ?

I know I keep talking about meditation, but I really can't say enough about this process.  The more I look into this technique the more it is plain that this is an integral part of this process of meeting your goals and desires.

My first experience with meditation was with a local psychologist who specialized in positive visualization for cancer patients.  It was fabulously helpful (as I didn't croak from the cancer and am here writing today) for me.  My mother was then diagnosed with cancer and given 2 years to live.  I introduced her to this same fellow, and this along with her medical care and fine prayer support, she lived another 12 years, dying of something completely differently.  I still use this meditation today.

Here are some of my favorite meditations that I do recommend for others.

Kelly Howell has a series of excellent CD's.  You can download them from her site, or download them from iTunes or I have linked them here with Amazon.com.

 
Her original CD is a general CD for meditation using the methods and philosophy of "The Secret".  This is a great general meditation CD you can get here.

This is a more specific CD and also very good.  This has three tracks, introduction, music & voice, and third track is music only.  Same format for the general CD above.  You can get it here.

This is her newest version, and I like it a lot.  This is not to say that the other two aren't good.  They are.  But I like the format on this one better.  Click here to get it.

Kelly also has this one for love.  I don't really talk that much about this aspect of the Law of Attraction and Positive Thinking/Visualization, but it is as viable and empowering as all the other aspects of Law of Attraction.  Click here to purchase.

In addition to Kelly Howell, there are a plethora of other medias out there.  Some of the ones I use are from Jody Sachse on his site here.  Jody has some short and very interesting and powerful audios.  He has a good explanation about his audios here talking about Brainwave Entrainment.  Although his site looks a little like high-pressure, it's a good value for what it is, and for the free samples, all you have to do is give your email address.  I follow Jody on twitter, and he always has some interesting and fascinating new information about the power of the brain and meditation techniques - mostly scientific which I appreciate.

I've also used Steven Halpern.
 
My first CD was the Nurturing Your Inner Child - it's now retitled as Lullabies for your Inner Child, which is wonderful for anyone who has suffered any childhood trauma, however this does not replace counseling or therapy, but it is a fabulous aid. 

I've also used this CD which I enjoy for those times when I felt creatively stuck.  You can get it here.

Peruse around on Kelly's and Jody's sites for things that look interesting and might meet your needs.  Meditation can be that bridge to those feelings that are essential for you to maintain and build to another level of meeting your goals and desires.

I consider meditation and prayer almost synonymous.  Meditation seems to be more secular, but can certainly be used in a very sacred manner as I've mentioned in one of my other blogs here.

Enjoy!