As I listen to others around me, I hear a common theme that the nature of life is to struggle.   Do you believe that life is mainly filled with struggles?   What about the thought that we create our own struggles and life has little to do with our struggles?

What Is Struggle
The definition on Dictionary.com is to: contend with an adversary or opposing force; to contend resolutely with a task, problem, etc.; strive: to struggle for existence.

Areas Where We Struggle
There are several broad areas where most of us bump into struggle:   relationships, weight, finances, and work. 

I have my own business so have a different perspective about entrepreneurs.   In the past, I was an employee of an owner-occupied business and today this is my business niche.   I definitely prefer being a consultant rather than an employee.

How do you deal with an owner or a difficult manager who is unreasonable, demanding and driven and expects you to be an entrepreneur when you want to be an employee and have a life of your own outside of the business?  I know this last sentence quickly sums up the feelings most employees have when working in this type of environment.   Now, not all owners create unreasonable expectations, but if you are in one, you understand unreasonable.

Do you ever get frustrated, annoyed or angry with another person?   Silly question…isn’t it.  We all react to people, places or things in our lives that don’t seem to work for us.  Some things that bother me:

• The bus ride that made me late for a client’s meeting, 
• having to wait on line, 
• healthy food is much more expensive than junk food and is rarely on sale, 
• wet weather that permeates every cell of my body and I just can’t get warm, 
• someone not doing what they promised

I’ve spoken to several people since writing my last post “Is Peace Possible?”.  The responses varied from blank reactions, in agreement with me, or “be a realist and that peace is not possible.”   Where does the truth lie — in our own beliefs around the possibility of peace in the world and our willingness to be partners in change?

Does anyone else suffer from this annoying habit “one more thing to do before I leave for the day?”    I’m always rushing for the bus or am a few minutes late meeting someone because I did one more thing.

I’m not sure when or why I started this habit, but probably when the kids were young and there was always one more thing to do.  I remembered when I lived in San Francisco, before kids, I walked to the bus stop in a leisurely fashion with plenty of time to spare.   Actually, life in San Francisco was more relaxing and it’s unfair to compare New York City living to it.

Today is Valentine’s Day and immediately I thought of people I love.   How can I let them know they are important and special in my life?   Then I thought, “what about me?”  How do I show myself that I love “me” and I’m special in my life?

What flashed in my mind immediately is that I’m tolerating too much in my life.   How do I know that I’m tolerating “stuff?” I can tell by listening to my internal thoughts of frustrations or the complaints that I express to others.  

I have a list of good intentions that I add to my ‘to do’ list.   Wouldn’t it be great to have a magic wane and puff all our good intentions become realities?   Well, as we all know, that doesn’t happen.  What does happen to all those good intentions to lose weight, watch less TV, exercise, go back to school, or spend more time with our children?  They simply lose strength and drift to the wayside, although we never forget them.

I’m coasting along my path in life, minding my own business (well not exactly) when a significant change comes into my world.  Have you had this experience?   One day you have one reality and the next day it changes.

I have a close friend, the type where you hang out with and talk about everything and nothing in particular and I am comfortable to be me.  She has a wonderful smile, cute sense of humor and is a great problem solver.   We have shared children, boyfriends, other friends, and business together and have formed a deep relationship built from all the layers of every day life and being there for each other the last 24 years.  I trust and treasure our friendship.

I had this great conversation with a friend on Friday night. We are all at the wonderful age where we have raised our children, build our careers and now have time to think about what we want to do. Yet, we have all hit a wall and are not feeling that terribly excited about life these days. What causes this inertia? We have built strong routines and habits and they take over all the daily choices we make.

What do you think about change?    We all have our reactions to change…some things we are ready to let go, others we hold on to dear life.   All around us change is occurring without our permission.   As the seasons change, so does our lives.   How do you handle change from the outside?  Even more important how do you initiate change in your life?