{"id":154,"date":"2011-05-30T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T01:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/?p=154"},"modified":"2011-05-30T13:00:10","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T01:00:10","slug":"life%e2%80%99s-challenges-surfing-life%e2%80%99s-big-waves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/life%e2%80%99s-challenges-surfing-life%e2%80%99s-big-waves\/","title":{"rendered":"Life\u2019s Challenges: Surfing Life\u2019s Big Waves"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- Easy AdSense V2.99 -->\n<!-- Post[count: 1] -->\n<div class=\"ezAdsense adsense adsense-leadin\" style=\"float:right;margin:12px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"ca-pub-8279754544979895\";\r\n\/* self improve3 *\/\r\ngoogle_ad_slot = \"2464079329\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 250;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\nsrc=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script><\/div>\n<!-- Easy AdSense V2.99 -->\n\n<p>I recently received an invoice from my lawyer \u2013 for what exactly I\u2019m not, as what he\u2019d done for me didn\u2019t really match the bill!    He said he was \u2019dispatching\u2019  invoices to various clients to \u201ckeep the wolf from the door in these challenging times\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>These are, indeed, challenging times.  We face unprecedented economic circumstances at present, we\u2019re constantly faced with the ups and downs of everyday normal relationships and we are frequently confronted by the trials and tribulations of business and work.  However the only real challenge we face is the challenge within.   \u201cHow will I react when faced with so much crap coming at me?\u201d  as one client put it to me on a recent visit.   \u201cIt\u2019s damned difficult to stay focused when you\u2019re in the eye of the storm\u201d said another. \u201cHow am I supposed to stay focused when my personal life is crumbling around me?\u201d another client once asked.<\/p>\n<p>All these challenges are nothing more than life\u2019s \u201cbig waves\u201d.    Life is like the Volvo Round-the-World yacht race.   If you\u2019re participating, you know that there are going to be lots of big waves so you prepare in advance and make sure that you\u2019re adequately equipped to handle them.   As a result, you\u2019re able to ride those big waves.   It\u2019s the same with life\u2019s ups and downs.   You are certain, because you\u2019ve seen it everywhere, that life is full of these big waves.  So, just like the yachtsman, you need to be prepared and ensure that you\u2019re appropriately equipped to ride those waves.    Now, I\u2019m not talking about being prepared in some vague sense \u2013 I\u2019m not just suggesting that you be on your guard.  I\u2019m talking about <a href='http:\/\/www.gurdy.net' target='_blank'>practical personal development<\/a> \u2013 about developing the kind of <a href='http:\/\/www.gurdy.net' target='_blank'>clarity of mind and mental focus<\/a> that will enable you take real action in the face of what life throws at you \u2013 rather than crawling back into the normal cocoon of knee-jerk reactive behaviour that normally makes matters even worse than we think they already are.<\/p>\n<p>And, considering that life is lived moment to moment, you\u2019re going to have to be up to each challenge, moment to moment.  In other words, before you set sail every morning, you need to <a href='http:\/\/www.gurdy.net' target='_blank'>focus your mind<\/a> in the here and now \u2013 not focused on the day ahead, the day ahead will present itself one moment at a time.   This means that whilst you\u2019re drinking your breakfast coffee, that\u2019s the only thing you\u2019re doing \u2013 inhaling the aroma, tasting the sharpness, feeling the heat of the cup in your hand, watching the steam curl off the liquid\u2019s surface, feeling the warm liquid run down your throat, listening to the sound as you swallow. <\/p>\n<p>You need to turn yourself on each morning.  Otherwise, you will have decided to participate in life\u2019s yacht race in a rubber dinghy.  If you get drowned, you\u2019ll only have yourself to blame.<\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fwisdomhealthprosperity.com%2Fselfimprovementmastery%2Flife%25e2%2580%2599s-challenges-surfing-life%25e2%2580%2599s-big-waves%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe><div class=\"addtoany_share_save_container\"><div class=\"a2a_kit addtoany_list\"><a class=\"a2a_dd addtoany_share_save\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/share_save\"><img src=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-content\/plugins\/add-to-any\/share_save_256_24.png\" width=\"256\" height=\"24\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\nvar a2a_config = a2a_config || {};\na2a_config.linkname=\"Life\u2019s Challenges: Surfing Life\u2019s Big Waves\";\na2a_config.linkurl=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/life%e2%80%99s-challenges-surfing-life%e2%80%99s-big-waves\/\";\na2a_config.onclick=1;\na2a_config.show_title=1;\n\/\/--><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/static.addtoany.com\/menu\/page.js\"><\/script>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently received an invoice from my lawyer \u2013 for what exactly I\u2019m not, as what he\u2019d done for me didn\u2019t really match the bill! He said he was \u2019dispatching\u2019 invoices to various clients to \u201ckeep the wolf from the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/life%e2%80%99s-challenges-surfing-life%e2%80%99s-big-waves\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"addtoany_share_save_container\"><div class=\"a2a_kit addtoany_list\"><a class=\"a2a_dd addtoany_share_save\" href=\"http:\/\/www.addtoany.com\/share_save\"><img src=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-content\/plugins\/add-to-any\/share_save_256_24.png\" width=\"256\" height=\"24\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\na2a_config.linkname=\"Life\u2019s Challenges: Surfing Life\u2019s Big Waves\";\na2a_config.linkurl=\"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/life%e2%80%99s-challenges-surfing-life%e2%80%99s-big-waves\/\";\na2a.init('page');\n\/\/--><\/script>\n\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1662,1655,1649,1659,377,1652,1658,269,1661,1656,461,1047,1650,1874,1653,1660,1651,282,276,1654,1648,1647,1657],"class_list":["post-154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-self-improvement","tag-big-waves","tag-challenging-times","tag-clarity-of-mind","tag-cocoon","tag-cope-with-stress","tag-economic-circumstances","tag-eye-of-the-storm","tag-focus-your-mind","tag-invoices","tag-mental-focus","tag-personal-development","tag-personal-life","tag-reactive-behaviour","tag-self-improvement","tag-surfing-life","tag-surfing-waves","tag-trials-and-tribulations","tag-ups","tag-ups-and-downs","tag-vague-sense","tag-volvo-round-the-world","tag-world-yacht-race","tag-yachtsman"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wisdomhealthprosperity.com\/selfimprovementmastery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}