How to Find Solutions to hard times

How to find solutions to the moral, physical and financial challenges facing people from all walks of life is, no doubt, the major concern of any right thinking person particularly these days when the global economic impasse bites harder every passing day. No matter how one may look at it, things are really very tough to an extent that it is a great Herculean task for a typical bread winner in a family, particularly those at the grassroots to adequately fend for their wards and put three square meals on their tables.

The resultant effect, however, is the ever diminishing purchasing power of a family which has been drastically reduced to an intolerable level and for that also the rate of crime in the neighborhood continues to shoot beyond the roof  particularly in our urban settings. Because many industries are now operating below their installed capacity for more than two decades now and the  provision of social welfare packages like water, electricity and security of lives and property which is the major responsibility of the government seems to be a mirage, the situation generally can be likened to “each to himself and God for us all”.

Whichever way one may look at it, there has never been a problem without solution just as there are no mathematical equations without answers. The practical theory, however, is that the answer to any mathematical problem is usually within the same equation.  The glaring fact is that the student often misses the formula or uses the wrong approach to finding the necessary solutions.

This point is not limited to mathematics alone it is equally applicable to life situations so the main issue to be born in mind always is the attitude.  Never have it at the back of your mind that ‘ your own’ is finished or that you have reached the ultimate end of your life because of the current hard times you are passing through. You should always take it for granted that you are bigger than the situation no matter how big and tormenting it may be since you are not the direct cause.

Never hold the erroneous view that things have completely gone out of hands and even if they seem to be so always think of the unseen divine hands that are always there for you depending on your manner of approach and pureness of your mind. It is always as clear as water that as human beings, we more often than not exaggerate our predicaments just as if we are the first to pass through such ordeals of life. That, exactly, is why some people resort to taking their lives by committing suicide which, can never, in the least be the solution to our ups and downs of life. It is quite a common feature which is not limited to males these days because women and children are equally culprits of this dastardly act of bestiality as reported by some of our newspaper tabloids. The issue is that they tend to forget that it is not the life itself that matters but the courage you put into it so when the going gets tough, you too must be a tough minded optimist and that is how to find solutions to these hard times.

The secret of living abundantly

The secret of living an abundant life may be a funny idea to so many people particularly during these very biting days  biting economic recession that make the down trodden masses wear long faces as a result of inadequate means of life sustenance particularly in the area of providing the commonly essential three daily square meals. The reason of its being funny is that they have never taken the pain to look inward enough and fish the reasons.

The issue facing so many people today is how to meet all their points of needs legitimately when all  hopes are dashed and disappointment comes from every points of life. It is not quite an over statement that so many people are so down with life, stressed, tired and feel so sad particularly when they reminisce over what type of good social life of abundance they were living a few decades ago and which is now part of their vital history. There are so many people out there who find it very hard to consign their affluent past to the dustbin of contemporary history and make a vegetable of themselves instead of moving ahead in accordance with the dictate of the present reality of the moment in life.

Since life itself has never been and will never be a bed of roses as it is often said there are certain few things we can do for the purpose of maintaining the secret of living abundantly and the following tips are very noteworthy.  These few things, no doubt, do not require any time or money but a complete overhaul of our attitude and the entire approach to life.

1.      Self contentment

No matter what our station in life may be, we must imbibe the spirit of self contentment by making do always with what we have instead of wanting to catch the moon while still at the bottom of the valley. This is the more reason why you should delete the word jealousy from your dictionary because if you are envious of  the people in the neighborhood there is no way for you to move forward from the same point. This is not saying that a healthy competition is not good, this is quite far from that.  The point is that if you feel so jealous of others you will just be putting yourself in a state of mental agony – an ill-wind that will never blow you any good no matter how hard you may try.

2.      Spirit of forgiveness:

As long as we inhabit this side of the great terrestrial divide, there is no way we shall not be tended to over step our bounds with others since to err is human while to forgive is divine, therefore we shall always look the other way if others either knowingly or unknowingly step on our toes for that is the law of nature. We equally realize that the more we bear the grudge of others, we hurt ourselves more because our best friend today may be our worst enemy tomorrow and vice-versa. This, however, is the secret of living abundantly.

Why the Social Welfare Condition worsens these days

How not to worsen one’s living condition these hard days particularly when there seems to be no end in sight to the ever rising harsh conditions imposed by the present global economic impasse continues to engage the thoughts of so many right thinking people. In this context one means sociologists, social welfare practitioners, psychologists and their likes across this great terrestrial divide over the past decade.

Whichever way one may look at it, the present global economic recession that started in earnest at the inception of this millennium over a decade ago, the living standards of so many people from all walks of life continue to degenerate into a worrisome condition that cuts across the entire stratum of the worldwide society. This is quite apparent not only in the countries of advance economy or G8 as it is called in the contemporary inter-governmental circle and that means the identified rich nations like the United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, Germany, France, China and Canada.

Gone were the days when it was easy to seek the Golden Fleece by citizens of developing countries or the so called third world in these countries because the social welfare situation in them are nothing to write home about as at now. Since they also feel the pinch in the entire vital ramification of the global economic impasse, they have no choice than to cut their coat according to their cloth. This no doubt, enables them to face the so hard socio-economic challenges confronting them particularly their youths all the way.

Going to any of these countries by anyone from the developing nation particularly in the southern hemisphere is just like the proverbial passing of the camel through the needle’s eyes. They ensure that whoever they perceive either rightly or wrongly as going to be socio-economic nuisance or liability to their countries are normally kept at bay through denial of entry visa no matter how convincing the documents they may provide as proofs of having sufficient means of livelihood or steady income. This is not limited to ordinary man in the street alone but also to top government functionaries and this is the reason why some desperate people, who because of the ever biting economic conditions in their respective countries always like to cut corners by presenting fake documents to consular officers of these embassies and missions who have devised many ingenious ways of fishing them out and impose very harsh sanctions on them.

Many of our youths, today, do not believe that they can better their lives by looking inward and render good services to their nations instead going to rot away in far away land where help, in whatever form, cannot come easily in case of inevitable need. This is because of their wild misconception that nothing good can ever come out of their own Nazareth or that Rome was not built in a day.

Their own home governments too do not help matter since their own meaning of democracy is quite a contradiction of what the founding fathers meant it to be. That is government of the people for the people and by the people while their own interpretation of it is government of the people, by the people for those at the helms of political affairs.

5 identifiable vices of the Never-do-wells

Life, no doubt, is like a football game in which there are three categories of people, the spectators, the officiating personnel and the players themselves. It is needless at this point to say that the players for the laurels are the fewest as compared to both the officials and the spectators whose number, in some cases, outdo both in thousands depending on the importance of the match.

It goes without saying that some of those that attend these matches may not be able to afford the three all-important daily square meals but must willy-nilly satisfy their curiosity no matter the cost to them. So this piece is about five identified vices that are the stock-in-trade of the never-do-wells and if you want to live a good life in its entire ramification you should shun them like plagues. Here, however, are the characteristics,

1.      Nothing is ever positive but negative.

In every circumstance of life, they never believe there is always light at the end of the tunnel and just like the spy sent by the leaders of Israel before the conquest of Canaan, the land that flowed with milk and honey who saw giants that could not be conquered as against the views of just two person -  Joshua and Caleb. This means, that for them, there can never be success no matter how hard they may try.

2.      Leaping before looking:

These kinds of people normally put their thinking cap on the wrong side of the head and act impulsively. Seeing to other people’s point of view is what they hate so much with passion and all they believe is themselves and nothing but themselves. For them thinking about the future is an anathema and what they so much particular about is just the ephemeral pleasure of today while saving for the rainy day is like fetching water from a hard rock.

3.      Loquaciousness

They are always in top form when it comes to issue of  useless debates particularly on matters of mundane interest, be it football, politics and issue affecting the society in general. You find them mostly at newspaper stands where they always deal with topical either rightly or wrongly, their motive is always to display their acute ignorance and mislead others in the process. Even when they are wrong, they hate being corrected because they see others as ignoramuses that are no match for them in the game.

4.      Giving up easily:

As far as this step of people is concerned, it is only tough time that lasts and not tough people and this is the reason why they are Jack of trades and master of nothing. To them as well, they always focus on success before work not minding the fact that that can only happen in the dictionary.

5.      Procrastination:

In their own warped mind, procrastination can never be thief of time so they are fond of postponing matters no matter how important they may be to their lives till tomorrow instead of dealing with them right now. The normal place you normally find them is always in the drinking joints, beer parlors or idling away the time  at unusual places with their likes. If you can identify yourself with these vices, it is better you retrace your step and start something meaningful right now since time and tide wait for no one.

Why Self-image is the main factor influencing your entire life

Life, as we all understand it to be does not matter so much better the courage you put into it and if you want to get on with it in its entire ramification, there is no reason why, you should not do your best to improve your human existence through by working so well on your self-image. This is because this inevitable phenomenon has painstakingly passed through the screening board of so many psychologists and philosophers many centuries ago and it continues to generate so much controversies by the present day highly reputed men and women of knowledge and wisdom as the records indicate.

While it is true that there are innumerable points of arguments as to what self-image is really about, the only point that is clear as water here is that the controversial phenomenon cannot be divorced from the way someone feels about him or herself and which accounts for his or her perception about the rest of the people . To some people, however, it may mean the way they posit themselves in the general world view and which make them stand out of the general crowd in the arena of life itself while to some it is the general way of seeing the other side of the coin and which is peculiar to them alone.

There is no gainsaying that those who entertains positive thoughts about themselves always expect encomiums and in most cases undue praises from every Tom, Dick and Harry while they so much resent whatever may induce negative opinion about them from the rest of the people not minding the fact that there is always two sides to a coin.

It may not be clear to so many people that image is a full-fledged spirit just like a normal human being and it is the way you mould it that it will boost your ego and this is the main reason why everything must be done to ensure that it does not suffer of any form degradation both of the body and also of the spirit so as to avoid its negative impact. If by any stroke of misadventure one allows one’s self-image to suffer negative tendencies from the neighbors, putting it back to shape is always impossible. This is because image is like a mirror or breakable vessel which, if falling on the ground, cannot be put together again.

It is quite common with women that if they regard themselves as not being able to live up to their own material and social expectations, they feel so dejected and always maintain a high degree of self-pity particularly when their husbands are of little or no help to improve the situation and in the long run resort to anti-social practices. This is because they seem to be mindful of the fact that life has neither been a bed of roses nor a bush of thorns forgetting also that behind every cloud there is always a silver lining and what so what matters is a little bit of patience and much wisdom and the reason why self-image is the main factor influencing one’s entire life cannot be farfetched.