Apr
Wiped out? The Joys of Starting Over
The devastating and emotional feelings that one experiences when their world seems to have come to an end makes them feel as though they were trapped between the sword and the wall with no apparent means escape. They feel trapped and left stranded with nothing to look forward to but a bleak future.
I know it sounds like the stuff of poets and impractical philosophers, but from my own personal experience, I know that it can be the most exciting, productive and fulfilling time of your life.
“Starting over” is not new to me. In my more than 50 years as an independent consultant occasional down times were a way of life and it often became necessary to start over again.
But none reflected the scope and all-inclusive negative impact as when hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. My wife and I were right in the middle of it. We were forced into a survival mode for more than 4 days without any real food or drinkable water, excessive heat in the 100 degree range with no electricity for air conditioning, lights or anything else. We lost our home and all the treasured possessions we had collected for over 60 years.
My car was under water so we had no transportation. Telephones were out so we had no communication other than to receive news of the hurricane’s destruction and human suffering on our portable radio. Compounding this problem, we had suffered a major financial loss that depleted our “emergency” fund.
Our circumstances seemed insurmountable. But in many ways, this catastrophe was the proverbial “blessing in disguise.” I had a clean slate to start with. The only thing I had to build on was my past experiences, my professional talents and a discovery I had made many years ago when I was faced with, what I felt, was more than my fair share of problems.
This discovery was the foundation upon which I built an exciting consulting business as a professional problem solver. I had proven the viability of this discovery to the benefit of a widely diverse client base that included many of the giants of American business. I was now my own “client” and forced to prove this discovery’s effectiveness in overcoming the effects of Katrina in my own personal experience.
There are two ways of facing a problem.
The first and commonly accepted method was to resort to our human inclinations to:
- 1. React negatively to the problem as an obstacle blocking our progress
- 2. Adopt a defensive attitude and see the problem as an enemy with whom we must do battle and defeat and
- 3. Embark on a course of activity designed to dominate the problem and find the answer or solution that will eliminate it. This position creates anxieties, pressures, stresses, worries and fears that impact our personal and professional lives. This approach is still being implemented by Katrina’s victims. Its ineffectiveness is obvious in the overall recovery efforts.
The alternative approach is embodied in my discovery which my wife and I implemented and were harmoniously removed from the disaster area, resettled in New Hampshire with all our needs being met. I’ve been told I should retire, but at 85 I’m just getting started!
I have written a book outlining the principles embodied in my discovery. I am sharing it with others seeking an alternative to the three “C”s of Conflict, Chaos and Confusion. Entitled, “The Science of LIVING BETTER FOREVER,” this book outlines the impersonal continuity of logic and reasoning of irreversible natural laws and principles that are defined by Webster as, “the creative and controlling forces of the universe.”
The absolute authority of these laws and principles will destroy any problem, regardless of their nature or apparent severity, with scientific certainty because in the infinite structure of the universe anything that would claim to oppose it is, in Webster’s words, “fraudulent, speculative, illusory, artificial and not fixed in time.”
Other articles in this blog delineate many of these principles. Study and think deeply on them. Make them a part of your very being. Reject the elements of the problem’s definition. Keep your mind open to be receptive to the “controlling forces of the universe.” This defines and establishes your mindset, which Webster tells us is that which “determines and influences events and circumstances.” These “events and circumstances” are the cause of your life experiences and reflect the harmony, balance and love of a universe committed to your well-being.
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