Turning The Lemons That Life Throws At You Into Lemonade

Truly, the need for change in America’s education system is greater than ever. Technology provides an opportunity to enliven inspiration and innovation within every child. If augmented properly, technology can be an enabling force to ensure ever child is lit up and excited about learning and shaping their future, particularly children with special needs who are often underserved or lost in the cracks of inefficient and dated education delivery models. The contrast was not subtle. As if a switch had been turned on, I began to see life much differently. Things that used to matter to me faded away as other priorities and stimuli competed for my attention. Certainly, the medical and emotional challenges my wife, son, and family experienced in a short duration of time had a profound impact on all of us. It was as if one day I woke up and realized I had been changed. My brain was rewired. For a long time I had felt the desire to grow further, to build and pursue the future that could bring me joy, happiness, wealth, recognition, and love. For some reason I began to feel a sense of freedom from a constant growling and inner conflict between my id, ego, and superego. Define and live by the rules that work for you.

Where I End And They Begin

Do not live your life for anybody else. Get out of our head. Too often, our overly critical thinking brain rules our mindset and behavior. Our brains are hardwired for survival. Taking risks are not intuitive for most people. Resultantly, we can be our own worst enemy when it comes to personal growth, happiness, and fulfillment. The freedom to flourish in life is as much a result of an emotional, spiritual, and psychological mindset as it is a result of environmental or material advantages that encourage manifestation of our human potential. Power and leadership are subjective. Most people try to attain them throughout their careers and in the titles they work hard to achieve and identify with. Those that have it often abuse it. The reality is that power and leadership are traits everyone can manifest and wield. You do not need a formal title to live a life with purpose and to be a leader.

Make Sure You're Sure

You just need to be yourself and allow your intellect, passion, and energy shine through in all that you do. I owe it to myself and you owe it to yourself and your immediate family to be your best self. We should follow the money. Having money does not equate to personal wealth, happiness, or security. But you should not fear or loath a healthy pursuit of money. If you are like millions of others who find yourself financially stressed, follow the money to get to the root cause of your unhappiness. What you may find is that money is not necessarily the problem. Rather, something altogether different is what distresses you. We shouldn’t sweat the small stuff. Life is full of up’s and downs. What you think is a big deal today will likely look miniscule ten years from now. We should take care of our mind, body, and soul.

Full Of Emptiness

Exercise, eat healthily, drink more water, turn off all electronics and go for a walk. Egotism, unfortunately, often supersedes spirituality and selfless service to others. Be mindful of how much your ego drives your behaviors, relationships, and happiness. Also, think about your life’s purpose. We are all here for a purpose. Work to understand what motivates you, what makes you feel energized and alive. How can you bring your best self to every situation? Leading a better, more dignified life begins and ends with your ability to live up to your fullest potential. It is in our service to others where we begin to create meaning and understand why we are here. Death is a natural and spiritual part of everyone’s lifecycle. Our comprehension of life is limited to the physical form of our bodies. We fear death largely because we do not know what, if anything, is beyond the certainty we have when living in the here and now. To fear death is futile and diminishes our capacity to live and love today. The sooner we accept this reality, the sooner one can begin truly feeling alive and living an incredible life. First and foremost, the world wants to see our smile. Secondly, it wants to know that we are open to what it has to offer us, so when we are kind to others, they in turn will be kind to us. Demonstrating eagerness for life and for relationships and showing gratitude for others’ time, energy, and resources is what lifts us. Let your spirit and energy shine through. There is only one you. Do not let other put you down or temper your personality to fit their view of who you should be or how you should act. You are at your best when you are allowed be your best. Respect this privilege, and more importantly, never let others disrespect you if you feel you deserve respect. Each of these reveal and validate the human ego for survival. Our greatest efforts are selfishly spent on how we want to be perceived, liked, and loved rather than how we should love others. Often they face their personal challenges in spite of real despair over their economic, environmental, and social conditions. This is not a story about turning the lemons that life throws at you into lemonade. We all know we can put a positive spin on life’s difficulties. It is about realizing that even in our darkest of hours we can cultivate and elevate a spirit of hope and humanity to become higher versions of ourselves, and as a result, better the lives of the people and the world around us. To start, let me say I did not even realize how much my family and I were suffering. Over a relatively short period, so much had occurred in our lives that jumping from crisis to crisis began to feel normal.