From Pain To Power

We all have, sometimes, crisis and shake ups in our lives. When it comes you can answer it in two possible ways: you can feel down, say the world is unfair and that the rest of human beings are stupid and worthless… or you can use the very same crisis as catalyst to transform yourself, change pain and suffering into positive energy and raise your head and look at your life from the eagle’s eye and, with historical perspective, ask: “What do I want in life?”, “What is blocking me to achieve what I want?” and “Am I being honest with myself?”

Then, you start working. Bloody hard.

There are not magical recipes. You chat with friends, ask for advice, you read this book, you listen this talk and, above all, you chat with yourself: what happened; why; is a coincidence that it happened now? Is surprising the reaction of your loved ones? Etc. In a few weeks/months I have put together some bits and now they are my little commandments, maybe ten, maybe more. Is just a draft as I will always be changing and improving it. But mine. Hope you like it.

- Self-focused: You are your best friend. No one else can be the centre of your life. Enjoy being with yourself, believe you are an amazing person. Because you are.
- Time: The past is gone; we can’t see the future. The now is the only time we have. Enjoy the only real time, the now.
- Space: Keep your mind where your feet are. Don’t put yourself where you are not physically. Enjoy the only real space: the here.
- Focus: concentrate 100% on what are you doing. Make the most of the moment, the place, the activity or the person in front of you.
- Give: giving is wonderful, the more you give the more full you feel. Generosity attracts. But do not expect anything in return.
- Ask: when needed, asking for help, advice, support… is good, is human and is what we need when we are the lowest. Appreciate what you have received.
- Freedom: freedom (ours, other’s) attracts, you are there because you want not because you are forced; control, on the other hand, scares and puts others off.
- Compare: do not compare immeasurable realities; appreciate what you are. You are as good as any other, and remember: all of us have our holes in the same place!
- Humble: Humbleness and humility are key. We are no more than others.
- Balance: be balanced in all vital fields like work, relationships, body, etc. You want to keep an internal balance inside each field and also among them.
- Fear: it’s a matter of perception; it doesn’t matter what is out there, is how you perceive it. Feel the fear… and do it, anyway!
- Patience: a massive virtue. Learn the art of managing time. Use it before taking any decision, for example.
- Shoes: Put yourself in other’s shoes and see the world from there. You will understand others better doing that.
- Language: language is a powerful tool; a positive concept transmits positive energy; using negative ones we feel down and with negative energy. Remember that the words we use are like mirrors of our mind.
- Relate: Relations (family, friends, partners) are like plants, water them often in order to keep them healthy, fresh and green. Don’t take anything for granted in a relationship, no-one and nothing is forever. We owe no-one.
- Inner peace: or, in other words, Happiness. What you want to achieve.