Find the bright side

No matter what kind of condition or life circumstances you know and have known, a bright side exists. You can always train or untrain the mind to notice this.  Its a blessing to do so.

For instance, if it is raining outside, and this appears to spoil your plans, you can shift focus to be grateful for the nutrients this brings to the flowers and greenery. You can be grateful for the moisture that renews the Earth, that gives you water to drink, and enables you to do something you would not otherwise have done. You can see rain as opening the way to see the sun. Even an electric storm can be viewed as a form of relief for Nature and much more.

The same can be said for every person you ever know, every job you've ever had, every event that has ever unfolded in front of you. If you feel cheated or betrayed, you can find something positive about the same situation. You can focus what appears to be lacking or what insight, opportunity or wisdom you are gaining. What did you learn about yourself that you wouldn't have seen otherwise? It is valuable to step outside the judging mind.

If you feel you have reason to resign from your job, then you can choose to see that as the best possible thing that could happen, and feel excited about what is coming next. After all, to be your own boss or to find a different job more suitable to your skills would be marvelous!

Consider how an unforeseen injury that laid you up a few weeks enabled you to read the books you hadn't made time to read before. Perhaps you benefit from a reminder to relax and be kinder to yourself. Every event invites you to be more compassionate with yourself and others.  To recognize you have ability to see your life situation from another perspective is something that helps you, come what may.

Wherever you are, whatever you do, you can re-program your mind.  What will it take to convince yourself that you have blessings in your life? Start believing your relationships will be restored, that opportunities already exist for you and you choose to see them or not. As you start expecting good things to happen, then you reach a stage where this is all you see.  Know you pass your tests with flying colors. Recognize everything is preparing you for something else. You are being readied for conditions which are better for you than before. Sensing the bright side strengthens more than eyesight. It moves you from hope to trust.

"Always look on the bright side of life." - Monty Python

Humbling

When was the last time you had an experience that was humbling? You know, this is the type of thing that puts you back in your place when, up to that point, you felt like nothing could stand in the way of what you were doing. 

“ Experience is the best teacher, but a fool will learn from no other. ” 

-Benjamin Franklin

Explain the inexplicable

Do you dream of clarifying the inexplicable? Cat got your tongue? Those words you desire simply escape you?  How easy it is to misinterpret the behavior of a character and assume that he is reliable when it turns out he isn't.  By reading more into gestures, method, and possible motives, the miracle of understanding arises.  This may come after a character has pulled a stunt you find inconceivable.  A chance remark by a complete stranger may draw your attention to things you missed. 

To focus on the inexplicable is an invitation to re-examine your disbelief.  People we care about make mistakes, but its not necessarily in our nature to focus on weaknesses or problems.  The same can be said for fictional characters we identify with and appreciate in some way.  Its disagreeable to stop liking them simply because of something they do that rubs us the wrong way.  Why not then chalk it up to experience as a way to explain the inexplicable. 

As you learn to open your mind, you realize that what you thought made no sense was based on a lack of information or a hesitation to believe the truth.  You always believe what you choose to believe.  You close your mind off because you refuse to be open to something new, something you didn't know before.  As you read, you discover the unexpected is actually to be expected.  If you're honest with yourself, you will begin to see your life in a similar way.  Change will happen, whether you accept it and choose to get something positive out of it is completely up to you.

Easier said than done

Why shouldn't a goal be easy? What's the harm in a thing being easy? Who said you should think its bad? People tend to be conditioned that the only things worth doing need to be earned with blood, sweat and tears. 

You may be the sort of person who believes a desirable goal is required to feel motivated.  How many people have you met who feel a sense of accomplishment has to be linked with exerted effort?  What if most desirable goals are more feasible than you thought? 

"Don't wish it were easier, wish it were better." -Jim Rohn

"Let yourself be open and your life will be easier." -Buddha

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do."

-Ralph Waldow Emerson

Just don't get caught

Many people dream of success. This can translate into knowing certain rules and determining how to break them without getting caught. Would success for you imply devising strategies to outsmart a particular system and gain a level of satisfaction?

Consider driving. How often do you add pressure on the accelerator when you assume the police aren't watching or speed cameras aren't around? Why does the little voice inside egg you on? If you don't get a ticket, you might sense a feeling of success. If you're caught, you may have a sense of failure, but that wouldn't necessarily discourage you from trying to get away with it again.

Far more people than you might imagine know the commandments and other religious mores. Why is it that confession was invented and some people actually look forward to it regularly? Why is it that retribution is associated with certain behaviors and people avert their gaze or avoid revealing deviance at all costs?  If Higher Forces see everything, should your view of success really matter?

Consider the behavior that characterizes many modern teenagers. Why is it that teens widely seek to rebel against rules that have been set for them? Why do youth come to think its okay to drink, do drugs, have sex or engage in any other behavior which wouldn't be condoned by parents, guardians or law enforcement? The psychology of crime teaches us, do what you can, do what you will, teach yourself what you can, but just don't get caught.

In another sense of success, consider the tables are turned. Why is it honest people may feel they must take 'the long way' around to catch and reprimand a dishonest person? Why should it be cheaper to hire a hit man to knock off an enemy than to pay for legal and other professional costs to bring the person to justice? Society would seem to set itself up to discourage honesty. It makes it seem as if morals are separate from 'getting a job done.' Whether or not success is honorable is not what matters to everyone. A sense of success could be a separate thing from ethics.

Consider another example: why have social assistance programs in some countries evolved to offer more incentive to stay home and do nothing than minimum wage offers people to work? Is success in such a case only a question of money? Some people think success relates to getting as much as they can for as little effort as possible. When they don't wish to be caught taking advantage of the system, would getting caught necessarily undermine a level of success?

The more guilty a person feels about past behavior, the more anxious the person may be to reveal the truth and unlead the burden.  We each have the ability to attract the circumstances that reflect how we feel, even if that happens to be cynical indifference.  

If you wish to arrange the universe to your manner of thinking, then success could mean many different things. When it comes to dreams, it makes sense to reflect a great deal. Whatever you do, just don't get caught. Yet, if and when you're caught, choose to learn from it.  You may get another chance.  Whether you see it as punishment isn't clear.  This may worry you more than you care to express.