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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

It took only one human to invent electricity, one to discover the theory of relativity, one doctor to cure polio, and one man to lead the civil rights movement of the 60s. Albert Einstein had a problem, Jonas Salk had a mission, Martin Luther King had a dream, Thomas Edison had a goal, and hundreds like them had the same courage to live out their dreams no matter what that entailed.

Albert Einstein once said ‘It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.’

Martin Luther King had a dream that many were afraid to listen to, yet he told the world about it.

Jonas Salk tested the initial polio vaccine on his wife, daughter, and himself.

Thomas Edison failed thousands of times before he revolutionized the world by inventing the incandescent light bulb.

All of these men were not afraid to be themselves, and trust in who they were, especially when times were rough. They knew the obstacles they faced caused everyone else to run in the opposite direction, however they stayed the course because they believed in themselves, no matter what that meant.

The question is, are you afraid to be yourself and live out your dreams?

This is not a challenging question, but rather one to be contemplated for a bit. You see, I can admit that I was very afraid to be myself for a long time. If you would have asked me then, I would have told you you were crazy, and probably tried to fight you (ooooh, to be young again).

Finding ourselves

Being who we are can be very difficult at times, especially when it conflicts with those around us. That is why there are so many mean people in the world. They are mean because they are afraid to be themselves, and some, rightfully so. Being themselves has caused others to mock, pick on, or worse, even physically hurt them. The world can be a tough place when you try to walk your own path. However, the end result is you wind up where no one else has before.

Being honest with ourself is another daily challenge we all face. Are we really listening to ourselves, or are we listening to our own excuses? It is the complexity of our mind that can make self honesty such a challenge. Yet, if we can truly be honest with ourselves, our life intelligence will grow at a rapid pace.

It took major surgery and a year of being stricken with a severe case of Crohn’s disease for me to see the importance of being myself. I was 18 years old, and faced with the prospect of never living a normal life again. After that experience, I started to chase what I love in life. There have been some bumps in the road since then, but somehow, I always wind up back on the same course toward my dreams. Sometimes a tragic experience can have an effect where suddenly, everything you thought was important means nothing now. In another words, your mind is cleared from all the bullshit we encounter in our lives, so it can see what really is important in our life.

Just Go Do It

Being yourself is not as easy as we might think. It takes hard, consistent work. Our brains are extremely adept at rationalization. So you may want to be that baseball player, but your brain will rationalize whether or not you can before you even try. You may think you are not big enough, or fast enough, or strong enough, or athletic enough, or even lucky enough. Whatever rationalization works best, your brain will find to avoid failure.

However, if we were never told such things, and wanted to be a ball player, we would simply just go out and do it.

What I have found is that being yourself is a challenge worth undertaking. It is like an individual revolution all inside your head. Suddenly, the straps are off, and you are free to roam the world fueled by your passion, without the chains of other’s judgement and/or opinion to hold you down. Every decision you make is actually decided internally, and not through three phone conversations and your Facebook friends list.

Standing Out is a Superpower

Being yourself is the only true way to stand out from the crowd, and conquer your dreams. You may think and feel like everyone else, but we are all unique in certain ways. It can be our passions, dreams, goals, or simply confidence that we can go where no one else has gone before, that separates us from the pack. Whatever it is, it is certainly worth pursuing.

Becoming an individual is like having a superpower, and not the crap super powers you see on twitter either. It is a superpower of individuality. No longer will you have to have others think for you. No longer will you accept the spoken word as fact. No longer will you live an ordinary life. It will become extraordinary, because it becomes your own.

Life in pursuit of your dreams is a sacrifice many of us are unwilling to undertake. There is much bark, but little bite when it comes down to the moment of truth. I think this is because the first, and hardest step, is going out on our own and simply being who we are, no matter what that means. People may not admit it, but there is a certain respect we have for someone who does their own thing, even if it’s not our thing. If we were to dig deeper in our psyche, I bet we would find that that respect is based on a hint of jealousy we have not done the same.

Everyday I work on being myself. I discover new things, work on my weaknesses, and continue to grow. We all do, whether we realize it or not. Some days are better than others. I can safely say that it is not a steady climb up the mountain. Some days we climb up, and some days we fall down. However, if we keep pursuing that goal, there is only one possible destination.

If you need a reminder stronger than this, check out the stories of Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Jonas Salk, and Thomas Edison. Believe it or not, they were not that much different than you.

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

“The whole world is nuts. The only difference is the kind of shell we wear to protect us.” – Pj

Maybe it’s me, but lately I think everyone is a little on edge. I would imagine it has a lot to do with the economy. ‘Everyone is hurting out there, it’s just a matter to what degree’, a client recently told me. When money gets tight, emotions run high, and people can take out their rage in the strangest of places.

A perfect example of this is the other day. I was walking my dog through my development as I normally do. I live in a condo community, where you own everything on the inside, and they take care of the outside. You know, the basic definition of a condo. I stopped to talk to a neighbor about a stray cat everyone knows that animal control scooped up. I got the info I was looking for and continued walking. I stepped on the corner of grass in front of one of the condos when I heard a yell.

‘Hey, WTF are you doing? That’s the 2nd time I’ve seen you step on my grass.’

From out of their garage, this neighbor rapidly proceeded to get in my face with no shirt on. It was almost laughable. I explained to the dude that, first of all, it was not his grass. Second of all, you don’t have to be rude about it. If you would like me not to walk on someone elses’s grass, just ask politely. The dude acted as if he had snapped, and then regained control. He apologized briefly and just asked me to watch the grass he maintains.

Now, imagine being so angry in life that you are laying in your garage, waiting for someone to step on the corner of grass in front of a condo that you are renting. That’s right, not only does he not own the grass, he does not own the house either, yet he is worried about the grass.

I have noticed a rise in incidents like this ever since the economy started to decline. There seems to be more angry drivers, shoppers, customers, clients, and even business owners roaming about the world today. It is very tough out there right now, and the stress can weigh heavily on our minds throughout the day. Then, all of a sudden, one little incident can trigger a nuclear reaction. However, be careful out there. You never know when you might be messing with a blog writer who will tell your story to the whole world.

Even if you aren’t messing with a blog writer, it is important to not let the stress and emotions get the best of you. Currently, as I write this, I can think of many of my friends who would love to have their biggest challenge be navigating the current economy:

• My great friend, and ex-MMA fighter, who is now paralyzed after a motorcycle accident.
• My good friend growing up, who let drugs ruin his life, and now lives 50,000 miles away in Hawaii, unable to reconnect with his past out of fear of relapsing. He can’t even see his mother anymore.
• My sister’s friend who lost her sister in an automobile accident.
• A Cop in a town near me who’s 2 year old daughter just died from a rare sickness.

These are the kind of things that make us sit back and think that money problems are really no big deal. One way or another, we will get through them, and move on. Life is too big to stop for money issues, and so should we be. Why let some bills and debt ruin the days we are blessed to be above ground? So times are bad, economically. That does not mean they have to be bad overall.

I hope this post is a reminder to everyone of the important things in life. It sure is for me. It’s important to focus on your family, health, and happiness, not on the bills you can’t pay, or the job you hate. All of these things are changeable. None of them are life threatening, and in a few years, you may even sit back and laugh about it.

Until then, let’s all try to smile a little more during these trying times. Whether we are doing real good, or having the worst day, the fact that we are able to do one or the other, is really what we should be smiling about. I learned this first hand when I was hospitalized at 18 with Crohn’s disease. At the time, they did not know if I would get better. I remember all the little things I used to be concerned with kind of dissipated into thin air. They just seemed so trivial now that my quality of life was in danger.

Hopefully, it does not take a serious disease to teach you this valuable lesson. However bad things may seem, just remember, they could always be worse, just like they could always be better. At the end of the day, what’s really the difference? A good day is great, and a bad day makes you appreciate the good ones. Either way, we always win, no matter what our mind tries to tell us.

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

The secret of success is actually quite simple if you think about it. Success is just about those people who keep on going when everybody else would have stopped.

For those of you that read Yin vs Yang regularly, you have definitely heard me mention Fallout Shelter before. I have chronicled their story a few times to show how persistence, patience, and perseverance can take you anywhere you want to go.

Recently, they have achieved a small success and their future is looking brighter then a new pair of 20 inch rims. URB Magazine has a big contest every year, and Haylo’s song ‘Don’t Let Her Go’ was one of the songs personally selected to enter the contest. Since then things have taken off. Fallout Shelter has been selling clothing, meeting new fans, and even was contacted by a big time Artist looking for beats. It’s a small step, but quite a motivating taste of the possibilities that lie ahead.

This just goes to show, that once again, no matter what anyone says, or how road the rough may seem, one day, if you keep on pushing, all the sweat and tears will seem worth it.  In fact, you will treasure them forever.  It’s tough times like these where we are reminded the value of everyday things we take for granted. It’s tough times like these that make moments like being selected for a major contest so exciting.

Success is an ongoing battle we all take part in daily. Most times we fail, but sometimes we triumph. It’s those of us reaching for the stars that benefit the most from these small moments of triumph, for they can carry us through the rest of our life.

So here is a Yin vs Yang tribute to Fallout Shelter for continuing to attack their dream with relentless passion. If you are interested, you can help them out by voting here.

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Wednesday is usually Personal Development in Business, but today it’s just life in general…

Normally, a personal development post talks about what changes you can add to your life to make it better. However, this post is more about addition by subtraction.

You see, the other day, I thought of something that really has boggled my mind. I was thinking about the concept of ‘perfection’ that is held so dear in our society. Here is the definition from Oxford American dictionaries…

Perfection: the condition, state, or quality of being free, or as free as possible, from all flaws and defects.

Perfection is something we all hope to achieve in certain areas. It is a concept that is held in the highest regard. In baseball, the best a pitcher can do is throw a perfect game. In bowling, the best is a perfect score of 300. When taking an exam, we hope to achieve a ‘perfect’ grade of 100.

However, what was really bothering me was this question: ‘Does perfection really exist?’

Is there such a thing and is it natural? To me, perfection does not exist, except in the minds of humans. Animals, and other life, have no concept of perfection. Babies, when they are born, also have no concept of perfection. In fact, without the word, there would be no such thing. There would just be life.

The world is not perfect, by all accounts, but yet is it? Maybe the balance of imperfections and flaws is what keeps the world going. Maybe trying to make everything ‘perfect’ by human standards achieves exactly the opposite in life.

The yang of this yin is that because perfection is held in such high regard, imperfection is something we are all embarrassed about. Our imperfect body, or our imperfect credit score, or our imperfect relationship history, etc.,  is something we all tend to be embarrassed about at one time or another.

With this in mind, I started to think of a world where the concept of ‘perfection’ does not exist. Suddenly, everything started to make more sense to me. If you eliminate the idea of perfection, what you are left with is trial and error. On some trials, there may be no error. On other trials, there will be nothing but error. Regardless though, they are both held in equal regard. They are a trial. Perfection is just one possible outcome of the trial. It is an expectation that we create in our mind.

So why do we spend our lives striving so much for something that really does not exist?

We strive and strive to be perfect in school, college, work, business, our hobbies, and our social life. Yet, if perfect does not exist, how will we ever really achieve it? Why when we make a mistake, or fail to be perfect, do we get so down on ourselves? Being imperfect is actually the most natural thing on this planet, so why not enjoy it?

Two Simple Steps to Achieve Happiness

I challenge you to follow these two steps throughout the next day, week, or even month. See if this change in mindset does not effect you in the most incredible way. Whatever task you have at hand, or whatever goal you are trying to reach, I want you to try a different approach. Instead of trying to do everything perfect, I want you to try this…

1. Clear your mind of the idea of perfection. It does not exist. The task you are about to undertake is simply a trial. No matter how you do, you will have learned from experience and be better for it.
2. Focus on the task, and not the outcome. Do the best you can, and do not judge the results. Simply doing the best you can is all that matters.

I have found this thought process to be quite liberating. Suddenly, the pressure that society places on us to live these perfect lives is gone. Not only that, but now when I notice other people’s imperfections I realize, they are just like me. In fact, that’s what makes them unique. Where I have succeeded, they may have failed, and vice versa. All Human beings are equal in this regard. Never has a person lived a perfect life, so why do we strive to do so?

Striving for something that is impossible to achieve is only going to produce unhappiness, and a lack of satisfaction.

I think that is why, regardless of the incredible advances in technology, work, sports, and other areas of life, we as humans, and especially Americans, are never satisfied. Nothing is good enough for us, except a concept that does not exist except in our minds.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this matter in the comments section below…

If you enjoyed this, please share by Stumbling it. It is much appreciated.

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Monday is personal development through Jiu Jitsu…

Today, it occurred to me that achieving success in life is a lot like setting up a good arm bar. For those that don’t know, an arm bar is a submission attempt in which you use your body to hyperextend the elbow on someone’s arm. In training, and even fights, the person ‘taps’ before their elbow is hyperextended, unless they are rather dumb, which happens from time to time.

Today I was rolling with a lower belt in Jiu Jitsu. He was a stronger person than me, and weighed about 30 pounds more. I was on my knees in his guard (between his closed legs). He was ripping my right arm with all his strength, desperate to kick his leg over my head and apply an arm bar, similar to the guy on his back in the picture below.

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Now, trying to force a move on someone may work when they are less experienced because they don’t know what to do either. However, when dealing with someone more experienced, it’s a waste of time. This is because, one of the keys to Jiu Jitsu is…

Position before Submission

Before you attempt to apply the arm bar, you must first put yourself in a position to succeed. When my opponent starts pulling my arm, and sloppily wrapping his leg over my head, I immediately know what he is going for. Not only that, but there is plenty of space to escape through. This means my defense will be more successful than his submission attempt. He is trying to force my position, instead of properly setting it up.

The Set Up

After training for a bit, you realize that you must ‘set-up’ a successful arm-bar. You do this by applying the proper grips. Then you place your foot on the hip, rotate, slice your leg over their head, and apply pressure with your hips.  After doing these for a while, you realize the key is the first few steps. By making the first few steps successful, the rest of the move just flows. Once the grips are secured, and the foot is tight on the hip, the person will have a very tough time escaping, whether they know the move or not. Here is the right way to set up an arm bar…

Life is Like An Arm Bar

Life is very much the same. You can not force your way into any position in life. In order to reach your dream position, you must take the proper initial steps. Depending on your goal, it may take a long time, even years to achieve, but it is certainly worth the wait. Remember, it is not the speed that matters, it is the results.

The rest should be as simple as following your plan of action. The proper set up to any plan will make the final steps that much easier. However, if you take sloppy initial steps, your chances of success will diminish drastically, just like my opponent’s arm bar attempt. In fact, you could even wind up in a much worse position then when you started, just like he did.

Whatever you do in life, make sure you take the right steps and do it right. Put yourself in the position to succeed, or take the risk of dealing with the failure.

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Friday is Video Day…

Two days ago, at the tender age of 95, one of the most influential martial artists in history, Helio Gracie, passed on from this world.

He is one of the founders of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, also known as Gracie Jiu Jitsu. His list of accomplishments are too long to list. If you are interested, I certainly invite you to check out his Wikipedia page. His story is the stuff legends are made from.

The video up top is an interview from October of 2007. Helio talks about his long lasting legacy and what he considers his greatest accomplishment. As a student of Gracie Jiu Jitsu, I’d like to personally wish the entire Gracie family my condolences during this trying time. I have never met a bunch of nicer, more down to earth people than the Gracie family, and all those that train in their schools.

The video below, as explained in the voiceover, is s great example of why Helio had such a profound impact on the world of Martial Arts. It is two minutes of footage from Helio’s world changing fight against Kimura.

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Article by Peter J. Normandia. Follow me on Twitter.

Every Monday is personal development through Jiu Jitsu…

This past weekend, a very good friend and training partner of mine fought in his 3rd amateur fight. It was a close decision after a 3 round bout, with my friend losing 29-28 on all cards. For those that do not follow Mixed Martial Arts, basically my friend and his opponent battled for three rounds, and the judges decided that the opponent won 2 of those 3 rounds.

My friend was very disappointed, as any fighter is with a loss. When you have a fight, you have to train hard for months, making sacrifices in your diet, sleep, work and regular life. Imagine all those months of your hard work rolled into 15 minutes, or less, depending on the outcome. You can understand after a commitment like that how a fighter is upset after a loss.

However, it was not the first loss of his career that was really bothering him. Every fighter loses at some point. My friend was more mad at himself because he knew he was much better than his opponent. Honestly, he was heads and shoulders better than him, but he failed to show it. I have certainly been there, as I’m sure you have as well. I’m not talking about fighting in a cage. I’m talking about not seizing the moment when it’s there for the taking.

Carpe Diem

Lets not get it twisted. Life is complicated as hell. There are so many choices, chances, opportunities, and decisions, that it can make you crazy. However, if you break down life to its very essence and whittle it down to the smallest possible point, you will come up with this basic idea…

Life is made up of moments.

Life is simply moment after moment after other moments. They never stop until your life does. Each moment is special unto itself, bringing about some change in ourself. In fact, it is the culmination of these moments that define who we are. Without some of these moments in life, would we really be who we are?

The problem for us all, especially a fighter, is learning to seize the moment when we have the chance. Seizing the moment means that you fully understand and appreciate the moment during the time it takes place. You are completely aware of the moment, and nothing else. The future does not matter. The past does not come into play. You are simply living in the moment, unaware of anything else but what that moment brings.

The Latin term for this is Carpe Diem, popularly translated as ‘Seize the Day’. However, the meaning is inferred from the literal translation to ‘pluck, pick, or gather’ a flower. It was used to describe the joy of living in the moment and getting the most out of life. 

Getting Rid of Distractions

For a fighter, there are many distractions that can take you out of the moment. For example, thinking about the outcome of the fight, or what your friends might say, or what happens if you get knocked out. These are thoughts that go through every fighters mind, but they are not thoughts about the moment.

The moment of a fight is rather simple. You have an opponent in front of you who you must defeat. They will be coming full force at you, and you better be coming full force back. The fight itself is made up of many moments. Some will be triumphant, and some will be dangerous and test every ounce of your willpower. However, it is the culmination of these moments that determines the outcome.

The important thing, is learning to live in the moment. It is the only thing we have total control over. The object of a fight is to do your best, calmly, and efficiently, during every moment. The great fighters look like it’s a day at the beach when most people would be crying. They will look like they are about to lose, yet they are calm as can be. This is cause, to them, it is just another moment in the fight.

Living in the Moment

Growing up, I can think of a myriad of moments that I wish I had seized. If given the chance now, I’m sure the outcome would be different. The fact is though, once a moment passes, it is gone forever, never to return exactly the same. In fact, one of these moments was the day I had to fight for my blue belt. I got choked out by my same friend from this fight. He seized the moment after I tried to just pull off a lazy, highlight reel type move. It was a lesson I never forgot.

Inspired by my friend’s experience, and the fact that I have failed to live up to many moments myself, I have come up with a list of….

5 Tips To Help Seize Any Moment

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1. Clear Your Mind

The pressure is off. All you have to concern yourself with is the task at hand. There is nothing else.

2. Focus

What is the task you need to accomplish? Remember, I asked the task, not the outcome. If this was a fight, the task would be to beat up your opponent. It would not be to win.

3. Breathe

The most important part of any moment is breathing. It is necessary, and has incredible relaxing power. Take a few deep breaths to remind yourself of the moment you are in.

4. Enjoy it

No moment ever returns exactly the same so you might as well enjoy them all. Whether a good, or bad moment, there is always the gift of experience. Learn to love the moment, and watch how you flourish in them.

5. Have Faith

The number one distraction for most people during big moments is their lack of self confidence. Have faith in yourself. If you don’t believe you can seize the moment than you do not have a chance. Trust in yourself, as worst case, you will take home a great learning experience.

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At Yin vs Yang, we feel that humor is one of the best ways to deal with everyday life. Nothing provides more humor for me then my pets. Anytime I’m having a bad day, I simply chill with my cats and dog. They bring a joy to my life not possible to translate into words.  All the late night walks, accidents, vet bills, and annoyances that come with the responsibility of a pet do not come close to matching the joy they provide in life.

With that in mind, enjoy this video of some unexpected, and choreographed, animal clips. Being a pet lover, this definitely brought a smile to my face.

Enjoy the weekend!!!

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Most people out there always talk, or worry about how much money they make. They compare salaries for jobs. They get second jobs to supplement their income. They leave jobs to go make more elsewhere. Everything they do in life is based on the final end of year income. How much did that W2 or 1040 claim you made for the year?

Well, I’ve learned that this is the absolute worst way to judge your financial situation. In fact, it doesn’t matter how much you make. Your financial situation has very little to do with your income. It has everything to do, though, with your expenses, or what I like to call your ‘outcome’.

Expenses are the key to getting rich. As Robert Kiyosaki said in his book ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, the definition of wealth is how many days you can live without working. In order to live everyday without working, you must have more passive income than expenses. Passive income is defined as income you gain without having to do any physical work (i.e. collecting rent checks, music royalties, stock dividends, etc.).

In our education system, they teach us to do well, go to college, and get a prominent job with a great salary. However, let’s look at some of the jobs. Most doctors go to school for umpteenth years, and then get out and have to build their practice. They make nice incomes, but they also usually have very high expenses due to student loans and the cost of their education.

A doctor may make over $200,000 / year. But add in a family, education bills, insurance cost, taxes, natural debt, and everyday expenses, and your ‘Outcome’ is maybe about $50,000/year. Now let’s take a cop. A cop does not have to go to school for that long, if at all. He makes a salary of somewhere b/t $60 -$100k (at least in NJ). That sounds like a lot less than the doctor, but it’s not.

The cop has very little, if any, expenses. Being a cop, he gets a lot of ‘privileges’ and connections in the town. He spends very little money on anything except everyday expenses. He also only works 4 days/week, so he has 3 days to do something else to supplement his income. At the end of the year, he probably had the same ‘outcome’, if not better, as the debt-ridden doctor.

Now, not every doctor is left with student loans. Not every cop is debt free. It is not necessarily the job I am criticizing. I am speaking about the thought process this country teaches in its education system. They expect you to want to go out and make the highest salary, but they don’t teach you anything on how to handle your expenses, how to properly buy a home, or how to balance your finances. They expect you to learn it on your own.

Until a good friend handed me ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, my financial education was non-existent. I thought you got rich by making the most money every year. I didn’t know anything about passive income, balancing finances, or even what the real definition of being rich is. After I read this book, and countless others like it, I started to understand what it means to be wealthy. I made it my goal to further my financial education every day.

This made my goals easier to choose. It made decisions easier to make. I now had an education to base them on. The one thing that definitely stood out was….it’s not your income, it’s your ‘outcome’. It does not matter how much money you make, it’s how much you keep. Controlling your expenses is the key to getting rich, not your income.

I’m curious about everyone else’s take on the lack of financial education most Americans have. Feel free to comment on any situations you have experienced in your life that may be related. I’d love to start a discussion on this topic so we can all learn a little more…..

Yesterday, after a frantic last few weeks, my company, Reimagine, finally finished our first commercial. It took about a month or so to complete, from concept to final cut. Over that time period, I had to scramble for money, find odd jobs to pay some bills, sell off any assets I had, cut my expenses, and deal with all the doubt that comes with it. Yet, after yesterday, I can tell you it is all worth it.

There is nothing like the gratification you get from setting a goal and accomplishing it. No one can take it away from you. You set out to do it, you said you would do it, and then you actually come through. Accomplish enough of these small goals, and before you know it, you will turn around one day and realized you just accomplished your big one.

However, during the journey, it is not all peace, love, and happiness. There were countless worries, fears, arguments, doubts, and hecklers from all over. Up until the very last day, there were doubts about whether we would be able to finish on time. Looking back on it, I realized that all the worrying is simply a waste.

When setting out to reach a goal, it is not possible to see every time you inch closer. There are days when you get closer to that goal, and days where you fall back. It is not always a linear journey. The important thing is to understand this. That way, the days you slip back don’t affect the days you move forward. Some days are tougher than others. Some days can seem hopeless. But they are just a day.

Every day, new hope, new challenges, and new opportunities await us. However, sometimes on a bad day, we can feel like all is hopeless. We want to call it quits. We question the worth & the possibility of everything we ever dreamed of. We wonder if we should give up right there.

But then, on the next day, a phone call, or an email, or something rejuvenates us. We are back on track, ready to keep going. We forget about the last day and move forward. We don’t look back because everything seems all right again.

That’s because it is. The one constant is change. Things can’t stay bad forever, just like they can’t be good all the time. However, during the tough days, we can get emotionally caught up in the stress. Sometimes we don’t know how to handle it any other way then to worry. But there is another way. It just takes visualization.

Visualize yourself on the journey. You have a starting point, and a finish line which is your goal. Picture a line of roller coaster track between them. As a matter of fact, turn that line of track into a gigantic roller coaster with HUGE twists, turns, apexes, drops, and all sorts of scary loops. Now, I want you to visualize zooming in to a point on the track where you think you are on your journey. Zoom ALL the way in to that point so that both the starting point and finish line have long since disappeared.

Are you at the top of a drop, or in the middle of a loop? Where are you on the track? If you can’t see the finish line, or even the point where you started, do you even know?

Now, zoom all the way back out for a second and look at this as a roller coaster we created. It’s not so scary when you can see the beginning and the end, now is it? Our journeys toward our goals are very similar to this.

When we start out, we start slow, prodding our way along the track. The tough days are like the moments heading into that first huge drop about to spiral down at a speed humans should not be traveling. It’s those moments that make us forget for a second, hey, don’t worry, everything is going to be okay at the end. During them, though, it feels like the world is going to end. Our stomach drops, our fears rush through our body. This is just the way we freak out. It’s why at the end when we know it is safe, that we want to do it again.

Reaching your goal is like that ending. You pull into the track. The safety bar/belt pops open, and you realize you have made it back. ‘I survived!’ You hop off the track, and reminisce about the moments you were scared out of your mind. The same is true for your journey.

Enjoy all the twists and turns, but always remember the journey is just a roller coaster ride. Nobody gets on a roller coaster and expects a simple, easy ride around the track. They know it is going to scare them with loops, drops, curves, peaks and valleys, so they don’t try to get off during each one. They simply trust they are probably going to be all right in the end.

That’s why when their stomach drops and they feel like they are about to die, they smile and keep going. It’s just a roller coaster. If that’s what we are on, we might as well enjoy it. The same holds true for our tough times. Enjoy them, because just around the track is the ending we’ve been waiting for.