Mental Potpourri

This is an anthology of thoughts that you may be able to use, as it might be possible that one or more of these reflections pertain to your life or the circumstances you are currently in.

• It is hard to see a friend wandering, but it is harder to refrain from doing something about it. If ever you find that someone dear in your surroundings is changing in a detrimental way, it is time to undertake some tactical action, even if it involves the risk that you may get sneered off, shut out, or even lose a precious relationship. But at least you will be able to live with yourself in the conviction that you did (or tried to do) what you considered best for that person. And, whether he or she will ever conclude that your intentions were honorable or not, doesn’t matter. Principal is that you can move on with yourself, and with a clear conscience.
  
  
• A certain degree of discontentment resides in all of us. Don’t think that when you feel unhappy, displeased, or unvalued, you are alone in your mindset. And definitely don’t think that you are less of a spiritual being for that. Discontentment is, to a certain degree, a healthy trait. Just consider this: If you were content with everything, you would not undertake anything new or different anymore. It is discontentment that stirs us into action. A healthy - but certainly not constant - degree of iscontentment, or even dissatisfaction, is okay in everyone’s life… to generate drive.
  
  
• Almost everybody gets confronted a few times with ircumstances that he or she is not too fond of. Whether it regards an unspiritual work environment, a bad marriage, or an illness, we all have those depressing moments no matter how perfect our life may seem in the eyes of others. Sadness, depression, and desolation are phenomena that do not discriminate: they surface in every house and in every life. But – and here’s the main point – they are, just like all other things, of a passing nature.
  
  
• Human beings are, in fact, very unreliable creatures. How often don’t we think something different from what we’re saying? How often don’t we sugarcoat our opinion about something, if only to spare another’s feelings? And just reckon how many people in workplaces gossip about each other behind each other’s back. The question is: how careful should we be with the characters around us? After all, we never knows what they’re thinking, no?
  
  
• Even-tempered people are fortunate because they have managed to establish something extremely rare: a sense of stability in their self-perception. Moodiness comes forth from a deeply ingrained insecurity about one’s qualities in the eyes of others and the self, leading to highs and lows that may not always be understood, but are there anyway. Unfortunately, most of us are like the latter. It’s human.
  
  
• Wherever you go, you will always radiate different signals to different people. Some will consider you the absolute top, and others will not care for you at all. And you will never know it for sure. However, on days that you feel good about yourself and the way you look, you will find that you will have more success in your interactions with others: you will receive more compliments than usual, and you will feel more eyes appreciatively looking in your direction. Try to make a mental note of that.
  
  
• The best way to love yourself, despite the setbacks you may sometimes encounter, is to eternalize your achievements in a pocket book or a laminated document that you keep with you all the time. Yet, you should look for a positive moment to put together your list of achievements, because that’s the time when all your highlights will appear before your mind’s eye in all their glory and detail. And if ever you feel miserable again about yourself, pull out this document and read to yourself what you’ve achieved thus far!
  
  
• Whenever you’re stressing out about an event that you have to organize or co-organize, just contemplate about how insignificant this event really is when perceived within the scope of all the doom of the world: think of the hungering and the starving; think of the wars and the mistreated; and your stress will not only seem futile, but you will suddenly see matters in a broader perspective, and perhaps you will even start reorganizing your priorities. Most people waste a large amount of time on issues that are merely expensive, but don’t contribute to the well being of humanknd in general. The greatest reward from each act is the awareness that what you do will lead to the betterment of at least one other soul.
  
  
• Every day brings its own hardship, but it’s own beacon as well. The art is to see this beacon, especially on those days when the hardship takes on a size that threatens to destroy you. For, if you can discover the beacon in your experiences, you have achieved one of life’s greatest tasks: you have learned.
  

Joan Marques emigrated from Suriname, South America, to California, U.S., in 1998. She holds a doctorate in Organizational Leadership, a Master's in Business Administration, and is currently a university instructor in Business and Management in Burbank, California. Look for her books "Empower the Leader in You" and "The Global Village" in bookstores online or on her website: http://www.joanmarques.com