Survival

Survival is one of the most demanding and challenging issues that we face as humans! Survival challenges us through many different issues such as: child abuse, sexual abuse, birth, death, job loss, health problems, low self-esteem, relationship ups and downs, parenting, deceptions, breakdowns, poverty, natural disasters, education, addictions and even our own desires to be strong. Survival comes in little packages and it comes in enormous boxes. It appears when we least expect it, never letting us prepare for the battle. It hides around corners, waiting to pounce on us. It is constantly testing our inner powers and strength. To live is to survive and without survival you have no life. Survival is a choice. If you choose to survive, you must fight hard. If you choose to not survive, you will die. Simple! Survival will change who you are many times. How you deal with your challenge and how drastic the challenge is will determine how much of yourself you manage to keep safe. A couple of common phrases that we run into many times in our day is, "Only the strong survive" and, "What does not kill us will only make us stronger". These are very good survival attitudes to practice. We need to be strong to survive. It takes pure GUTS to survive and move forward in any situation. It takes having total control of your thoughts, which is one of your best weapons in the battle of survival. It demands consistent striving to reach your goals, stopping at nothing to meet your destiny. I emphasize the importance of strength, when battling the war of survival. To be strong is: to be able to stand your ground and hold onto your inner beliefs, which will be your best strategy to win the game. to be born into the survival game without knowledge or understanding of the rules, and still overcome all the obstacles. to be able to clean the skeletons out of your closet that have been haunting you from your past. to take control of your life and deal with the monsters, whether it be through telling a story or confronting the monster face to face. to be able to look back at the reasons for your pain and suffering and wave at it as if it were just a car going by. to be able to smile at a happy memory of a loved one that was taken from you without reason. to be able to say NO to drugs and misuse of alcohol. to be able to forgive, forget and let the waters flow under the bridge. to feel physical pain every minute you are awake, yet be able to smile and ease that pain with positive thoughts. to look in the mirror and know you are the best, and to believe who you are. to let go of hate and resentment, when your heart has been deceived or broken. to push forward when all the negative forces feel like they are pushing you backwards. to continue tearing down walls of negative thinking, and replace them with positive openness. to open your heart to another after it was forced to close. to keep searching for answers to a better you, even when all you want to do is quit. to look to tomorrow for the sunshine, when the rain refuses to stop. to give birth to a child, and raise him/her with love and respect. to embrace growing old and never regretting it. to study hard and achieve all the knowledge that the world has to offer you. to not allow the material world to confuse you as to what is really important in life to be a hugger, not a judger. to smile when you want to cry. to Live, Love and Laugh. ******************************************************** "We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun." William Glasser "Love and kindness are the very basis of society. If we lose these feelings, society will face tremendous difficulties; the survival of humanity will be endangered." Dalai Lama