February 11, 2014
In order for our minds to be at peace, we need to have a sense of direction and a sense of purpose. If you lack that you may start to feel depressed. A good example of that is when you are looking forward to achieve a certain level of success that you assume is going to open for you a big door, whether it be a career path, getting into a big college, or a competition. If something were to happen that prevented you from achieving that, you could begin to feel lost because the only thing that gave you a sense of purpose and direction was getting to that level of success. As such, you may subsequently start to feel depressed. However, you can avoid that by looking at a dead end as the beginning of a new road.
In order to do that you must learn to let go so that you can embark in a new direction. In the book excerpt that I posted in this website I describe how to separate our feelings from the events that we feel attached to. The excerpt that I posted is a fraction of the chapter in the book but it gives you an idea of what it takes to let go of such feelings. One of the keys to letting go is to get involved in various activities that are self-fulfilling while in pursuit of the goal that means so much to you. This way when you reach a dead end you can look at all of your self-fulfilling activities and find an alternative goal. This is how you begin a path to a new road. If you fail to build self-fulfilling activities then you will experience a sense of loss and a void if you do not achieve the level of excellence you were aiming for and, thus, you will take longer to fill the void with richer goals and adventures.
If you fail to plan on alternative goals, then whenever you find yourself at a dead end be aware that in life a dead end is a product of your mind. You have the power to change things through resilience, tenacity, imagination, and hard work. Only if you give up you fail in life. If you do not give up you are still on the run to achieve the level of success you have worked for and can continue to experience the sense of purpose that can give you peace of mind.