Hits from The Sixties...

Hit From the Sixties For Today…
 
That song, ‘Keep on Runnin’, by Manfred Mann in the sixties, wasn’t just about running.
Of course it wasn’t.
It was about staying on it, persisting, persevering, developing resilience.
 
Resilience is a kind of emotional stamina. It’s when you summon the original feeling that got you started in the first place. Persistence is the ability to self-motivate, get you over the bumps, through the gaps, round the obstacles.
 
That’s what got you to where you’re at now, where you’re wondering when it all gets easy.
 
It doesn’t. You grow into it.
 
You’re facing difficulties because you’ve risen to a level where the jumps are higher, the incline is steeper, you’re getting closer to where your current summit is.
 
A well-lived life is never easy. And rarely is it fair.
And it’s equally uneasy and unfair for most other people.
 
If you want the easy life, you’ve got a choice; opt out. Life mostly just seems difficult because of what it is you’re striving to achieve. Or because of how you think or feel about it.
 
Neil Francis wrote in his wonderful article last week about how people at the top end of anything faced and dealt with challenges that most of us can’t even imagine. That’s because they’re in the unknown. They’ve never been at that level of existence before, and there are no university courses or business methods to tell them what to do. So they have to use their instincts, experience and their own judgement, and play the game as well as they can.
 
It can indeed, be lonely at the top. But that’s part of the price that accomplished people are ready to pay.
 
Anyone who’s had to raise his game at any time will tell you this. And I guess that that goes for all of us at some time or other.
 
If you’re a fifteen year-old tennis player who’s put among the grown-ups in a game, and no allowance is going to be made for inexperience, size, power, and all the other armouries of the better and more seasoned players, your only option is to compete.
 
Or leave the court.
 
In those circumstances, in any situation in life, you may search for, and find, resources, abilities, strengths, you never knew you had, or had forgotten about. You rise to the occasion and find that you come alive, alert to the most remote advantages, quick to see anything that can help you, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to survive, or succeed.
 
Most people find that when a crisis has passed, that they actually miss the sense of energy and creativity it generated. That’s personal growth.
 
So, when the fifteen year-old goes back to his peer level, he’s at a distinct advantage. He plays with an altered attitude and manner.
 
The game hasn’t changed. He has. He knows things about himself and the game that none of his own age possibly could.
 
The same goes for Life. Difficulties, problems, obstacles, depending on how we respond to them, are what make us who we are.
 
They prompt us to DO, rather than think about, wish, want. This may be helpful to you when you face a problem, to see it and open your mind to a solution, any solution. Be willing to consider anything; you don’t have to decide to do it.
 
Ask yourself, ‘How can I cope with..?’ ‘What can I do about…?’ ‘Where can I get ….?’, ‘Is there someone who could deal with this..?’
 
The instant you ask yourself this, you send your brain on a hunt for the answer. Your mind opens to the channel, and keeps on searching, even when you’re not consciously aware of it. That’s how Eurekas are found.
 
Always look. You may be amazingly surprised at what you find. But if you don’t take the trouble to look, it’s unlikely you’ll see even what’s right under your nose.   
 
So, open the eyes, open the mind.
 
Start today, and good luck with it.