Sometimes life plays tricks on us. The most intelligent students fail their examinations and hard-working honest workers do not get their promotions. Very healthy people die quite unexpectedly while people with various diseases live long. It is not easy to find answers to such problems.
To find an answer we should study the lives of people who had faced disasters. American inventor Thomas Edison’s large manufacturing facility in New Jersey was destroyed by a sudden fire way back in December 1914. He lost equipment worth more than one million dollars.
New beginning
Edison walked about the charred embers of his manufacturing facility thinking that there was value in disaster. He was not devastated and he firmly believed that there was a new beginning in his life. Edison and like-minded people follow a great principle of living: All good or bad situations are affected by the attitude we bring to them. You will make the best out of the worst situation only if you are a tough-minded optimist. Optimists always believe that they can do difficult tasks and come out of tragic situations.
Recent research shows that optimistic people succeed in life earning more money and recognition than pessimists. They are also healthier than other people and live longer than pessimists.
Time-tested methods
Psychologists try their best to motivate people and psychotherapists help those who are unable to face difficult situations. If you learn the techniques of handling defeat, dejection and failure, you can face life courageously. There are time-tested methods to solve your emotional problems and enjoy life. One such method requires you to rehearse success all the time. Most of us fail to pass examinations and secure well-paid jobs. When you prepare to sit an examination always think that you will be successful. Never entertain thoughts of failure. If you fail an examination, try again. I remember a school teacher who sat the Final Examination in Laws leading to the LLB degree failed to realise his ambition on eight occasions. However, he secured a pass in his ninth attempt and later practised as an Attorney-at-Law.
An enterprising man from the South prepared a balm to heal headaches and various other bodily pains. He went from house to house to promote his healing balm. Most people did not buy the new product. However, after a few years, he succeeded in selling the balm on a large scale. Later, he put up a pharmaceutical facility to produce the balm and various other medical products. His products are very popular in Sri Lanka and India.
Another technique is to find opportunities in failure. Regard every failure as a setback and a formidable challenge. Successful people are quite different from the general population. Sometimes, you may have to change course when you fail in your attempt to reach a particular goal. There was a young man who failed his law exams. He decided to give up law and study psychology. Today, he is a leading psychologist and a counsellor.
Focus on the possible
Most successful people focus on the possible. There are quite a number of impossible goals. For instance, all of us cannot become Members of Parliament or Ministers. But there is always a particular job you can do better than others. Always try to achieve that goal.
Some people think that they cannot succeed in life because of certain circumstances. Such a person would say, “I cannot study well because of my family” or “I cannot succeed in life because of my disability.” What they say is that they cannot change their world. The truth is that if you think that you are impotent, you make yourself so. Such people should realise that their actions can make a significant difference in life.
The well-known 19th century English author Thomas Carlyle was shocked when his maid mistakenly set fire to one of his manuscripts. At first, he was devastated, but after some time he recovered from the shock and began to rewrite his classic The French Revolution.
No one can do any job for a long time without taking a break. So, we see medical specialists going abroad to spend a long holiday. Even authors cannot produce books one after the other. They also need a break. When you come back after a holiday, you can do your job with a fresh start.
Your success in life is incomplete without helping others to achieve their goals. A widow was feeling sorry for herself when the New Year celebrations were approaching. She consulted a clergyman. He advised her to help an elderly couple who were in indigent circumstances. She found them living in a dilapidated house without the bare necessities. She cooked meals for them and spent a day in their house. Later, she told the clergyman that it was the best holiday she ever had in years. Similar choices await every one of us. Instead of entertaining pessimistic thoughts, you can stubbornly believe that optimism pays.
If anyone needs inspiration, they will have to study the life of Stephen Hawking who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21. Doctors told him that he had only two and a half years to live. In despair, he shut himself away waiting for death. However, using his strong will power, Hawking conquered his depression and valiantly fought the creeping paralysis. His genius for mathematics remained unimpaired and he relentlessly worked to revolutionise cosmology, the study of the universe. His book A Brief History of Time established himself as the world’s greatest scientist. The strength of his spirit should be a guiding light to anyone who feels depressed and miserable.
