Still Waiting for You Stroke of Insight?

Shortly after sunset yesterday, I was walking back home from visiting my parents. It is a half-hour walk that involves traversing a vast plain grassland and a steep hike as I near my humble abode that is situated atop a hill.

Needless to say, this walk presents much-needed alone time that I gladly often use to
Just as Enya sang, it is on my way home that I remember all the good things... Oops, I digress.

You see, living alone as I do, I have all the freedom to do whatever I please. Even worse, I have the freedom to NOT do that which I ought. Other than the logical and inevitable consequences or my actions or lack of them, I rarely have anyone to first consult while making most decisions that affect my life.

That said, I was thinking about abandoning something that I had initially purposed to do. There'd really be no much harm in doing so, but I'd feel bad about not working towards a certain goal, for no good reason.
Eventually, I decided to not abandon this project, and I am glad to report that I embarked on the work this morning and have every intention of sticking to it till completion.

In the following TED Talk, Jill Bolte Taylor had a life-threatening misfortune out of which she learnt much and became a totally different and dedicated individual. This was her stroke of insight.




While exploring the right kind of bad, we referenced Jill Bolte Taylor's TED Talk and underscored the essence of what's uncalled for in life. The following words by William James were a pivotal part of that post in February 2011.

Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.

Further to the near-tragic incidence that heralded Jill's full engagement as an active voice for brain recovery, we still fail to accept what has happened and thereby do the needful in effecting change and realizing progress. The following song by the Soul Savers calls for a revival, and it inspired this post about cleaning our hands with dirty water. Check it out!



All in all, there is no need to wait for a life changing moment that will catapult us into making the necessary changes in our lives or living as we ought.
We need to appreciate that which we already have, start small, start now and persist and endure even as we dream BIG and work towards living our dreams.

Cheers to a thrilling Thursday!

The Right Kind of Bad

"Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune."

- William James

Good from Bad?

Lately, I have been thinking about the good that often comes out of bad things. Yeah... I deliberately used the word 'often' right there :)

That reminded me of this blog post that was written in July 2009, based on an unfortunate incident in October 2008.

Challenging Convention

While on a brief phone conversation with my lovely friend L this morning, we both agreed that a simple and uncommon life can be profoundly fulfilling. Such an unconventional life is hard to come by however, and often involves much sacrifice, courage, resilience and unrelentingly sticking to one's stated objectives.

Going against the grain often seems a bad thing, but I'm willing to bet that it is the right kind of bad.

The Benefits of Tragedy

That aside, we often undergo difficult and unfortunate situations in life. They often seem insurmountable, hitting us at the worst possible time. Two women had such experiences, and they proceeded to draw much needed insight and shared this with the world. It is indeed true that beautiful disasters exist.

In the following video, Jill Bolte Taylor had a stroke of insight...

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

For Stacey Kramer, an unwanted, frightening, traumatic and costly  experience can turn out to be a priceless gift.

http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf

See the GOOD in BAD

Have you recently had a misfortune that you find very hard to understand?

Well, there is something worth learning in that misfortune. Even better, it is most likely that there is much benefit in it too. So stop whining and seek to uncover, learn from and benefit from your bad experiences.