As we approach the coming of a New Year…

…we have some hard decisions to make. Do we quit smoking this year? Or do we create a better life for ourselves with a new job? Do we bask in the foundation of life, or do we renounce our idea of living, and instead of pulling the bullets out of that gun we instead choose to pull the trigger? For some of us, this is reality.

     So, I am here to help you survive yet another New Year’s, whatever your situation may be. You must realize something: life is like the ocean; you never want to turn your back on it. Think of life as a riptide: resisting only takes you further out to sea. But if you walk parallel, eventually the riptide breaks, and you can then either return to shore (safety) or back out to sea. So, all you have to do, whether for a single moment of doubt and pain, or for the rest of your life, is walk parallel to the riptide; eventually, it will break.

This Year Sucked

     If this past year was not the best for  you, be grateful, because it was a lot worse for many. I cannot tell you the number of people I have worked with in 2017 who have nothing to live for, and how helpless one feels when something like this hardship occurs. And to say: “next year will be better” is like saying Skittles will finally get rid of the purple one that nobody likes, and realize it was just there for artistic appeal. Sorry to say, but true…

     So, if this past year was not in the best of interests for you, think back to what made it that way. Was it a lost job? Find another. Was it a lost love? Find a bar. Was it a lost life? Find solace in those still alive. You see, for every hurt, there is something to do about it. And remember that your fallen brethren are still there in spirit; your lost love is still there in heart; and your lost job is still there in the assets you learned while working there.

Be The Change

     But those solutions do not fit every situation, so what do you do if you have nothing? I will tell you the only reasonable answer to such a  question: be the change. If you cannot be anything else this coming year, be the change in someone else’s life. In other words, if you feel you have run out of ways to help yourself, devote your life to helping OTHERS out.

     I do that every damned day, and I am proud of that. Knowing I can help someone through a tough time, solve a new problem, or relinquish guilt is something I believe is tantamount to healing, and what better way to live life? I have seen my family over this past year digress from one another; the distance will, over time, destroy a once-happy foundation.

     And though I cannot be the change in that, I know that if I could sit in a room with all of them at once, by the grace of gods and men, I would be able to fix that. Can you say the same? What is going on in your life that is causing so much trouble? And how do you propose to fix it? What is your solution? Every problem has one, but can you locate it?

An Ideal World

     In an ideal world, we would all be happy year-round, but that is not the case, and this happens to be a time of year where a lot have nothing but regrets and losses to recall; victories that turned to failures to resolve; and loves lost to dissolve. Rhyme intended. In an ideal world, we would be able to solve every problem…but wait, do we not live in one already?

     You see, I feel that we are all surrounded by the answers we need. I have found this in my clients: dozens of individuals who share one common aspect about themselves, and that is that they know what the answers to their problems are…yet they choose not to act on it. Why this is the case, I will never understand…but I can guess, and I can do so wholeheartedly.

     Look around you when life has turned to rubble. You can do one of two things: 1) you can accept to live in a rubble-ridden town, or 2) you can find people who are in the same town, and begin to rebuild in a manner conducive to what you want in a collective manner. That is what the human spirit embodies: the power to change and the power to rebuild.

It’s Up To You

     In the end, it’s up to you. Do you let another year fly by in stagnation, or do you make an actionable measure to change? I know, that word: “Change” is so hard to deal with, especially when you have nothing else but pain in your life…but remember what I said: we all have the answers to our problems surrounding us. All we have to do is choose to pick them like a ripe berry and use them to our advantage. Go get ’em, and never quit.

    If you do, you’ll regret it for the rest of your f’ing life.