Embracing Bad Times ~ Obtaining Wisdom

Sometimes in life, wisdom comes after a great fall. Failing at something sometimes gives us the chance to reflect on what went wrong.

Bad times force our brains to push ourselves to the limit. Analyzing things from a completely different perspective. Sometimes revealing things which were previously invisible to us. Unlocking the key to greater understanding.

Wisdom is commonly associated with age. But sometimes it may not necessarily be true. Wisdom comes to those who has undergone enough hardship and those who has pushed themselves to the limit.

The key to wisdom is continuous effort in improving ourselves. Human mind is a very powerful tool. By optimizing it, a lot of things become clearer. We will be exposed to the bigger picture where everything becomes logical. The previously unbearable circumstances become less traumatic.

2 kinds of people out there. One continues to lament over their bad experiences. Another one sees bad times as a chance to reflect and improve.

Majority are the first type. Those who fall and never recovers. That is why there are more losers than winners in the society. A common knowledge, 20% of the population owns 80% of total wealth in this world.

The question is which one do you choose to be?

The only way to obtain greatness is to be different than the rest of the flock. To completely outperform our peers especially in the way we think. Eventhough we are still young, try to use our mind as if we were 20 years older than our age.

Most people succeed in their 40s or even 50s because that is when their wisdom is at its peak. If we have a much more advanced mindset, being successful in our early years is not an issue. If the controller (mind) is functioning properly, we are bound to reach our target no matter how many detours (failures) we need to take.

Reacting to your Good and Bad times - a great read

I came across this book a couple of months ago. I was attracted to it due to its catchy title "Peaks and Valleys". At that moment I was at my low point in life. Thanks to my girlfriend for buying this book for me. I hesitated on whether I should buy the book since I rarely finish the books that I read. But nevertheless she bought it for me without any hesitation. Apparently this book is special.

Basically to summarize the content of the book.

In life there are ups and downs. Well in this case the author illustrate it with "peaks" and "valleys". This book teaches simple practical things for us to overcome our valleys. Valleys refer to our down period. Sometimes we cannot avoid bad things from happening, but what we can do is to control how we react to those things. By doing this, we can actually change our valleys into peaks. By having a positive mindset, good things are bound to happen to us.

Peaks on the other hand reflect good times. Some people became complacent during their peaks and ended up falling into a deeper valley. One thing that we should understand is that peaks and valleys are always connected. Only by going through valleys would we be able to reach higher peaks. So once you understand how everything works, life becomes much more simple. There is no need to complain or question why bad things happen to you. Once you know that it is only natural for good and bad things to come and go, you will be able to accept it positively. You can focus your thoughts not on the bad things that are happening to you, but on how to reach a higher peak than before.

The logic involved in this book is very simple, but in order to fully understand and be able apply it you would need to go through some of the lowest points in your life. For my case, this book was something that came at the right moment.

I feel that now I can really appreciate the good things that happen to me and I am more grateful and positive for all the bad things happening around me. And once I have this kind of mindset, no valleys would be too deep for me. I am able to look at things from a broader perspective and am continuously learning from my errors and past mistakes.

So for those of you who are feeling very down and you feel that you have lost your sense of direction, you may want to spend a bit of your time by reading this book.

Cheers!