Life is a Series of Individual Choices

When difficult times in any area of our existence seem to hover in the horizon of our lives, my Mom used to sing this;
"I was sinking deep in sin (oblivion and confusing situations) far from the peaceful shore;
Buried deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry;
From the waters lifted me now safe am I."


In any given situation in our lives where some gloomy conditions appear along life's journey and that we had done our best, yet what we aspire for still fails or did not meet our expectations, then we had two choices to make; we can choose to despair and accept ourselves as losers in life or, we can choose to know and affirm our true value as dignified human beings.
"When nothing else could help, Love lifted me" was another song that inspired me.
When everything else fails and nothing else could help, all I do is to remember who I am. Remembering who I truly am and affirming my blessings and wholesome experiences with God and the Universe have actually made my life flow easily even amidst life's "tempestous waves."
Such collective experience during family devotional hours produced positive outlook in life which had become the strong foundation that our parents had instilled in us siblings.

Some people tend to despise those who adhere to some religious practices in the family. They seem to forget that, as the smallest social unit, the strength of a family relationship goes a long, long way throughout lifes twists and turns. They would brand religiously-inclined people or their siblings as being brainwashed. Strong family foundation generally makes a person strong when he goes through life's journey on his own.
Family religious practices such as praying together during devotional hour and going to church together are a blessing to a few family if done in the spirit of family fun; being together or in unity and family camaraderie, rather than being imposed by the parents as the only way to get to heaven, must be the essence of religious practices in the family. Fanaticism should be consciously discarded.

My siblings and I had developed strong self-value and high self-esteem because of the strong foundation we had experienced during our childhood.
In the process of personal growth and development, I had discovered a pattern for myself which I lived by. I can sense when things are not going right so that I can take charge of my life and choose what path to follow. When things really go wrong to the extent that I sometimes feel like everything seems to be out of my control, then I pray and meditate; this is my refuge, the source of my strength. Prayer and meditations, or praying and meditating are habits, hence they would have started ealy in life; this wholesome and powerful habit normally originates from family practices.
Lots of people talk about meditating but they just cannot do it consistently; they need to effort to develop the habit.
Any person who try to analyze me according to their shallow and acquired way of thinking, may say anything, negative or positive, that they perceive about me but nothing can affect me whatsoever because I know exactly who I am and I know that only me and my God can know who I am. No one else can know me and everything there is to know about me, better than I do; hence no one and nothing can run me down nor let me down except when I allow it to happen.
Remembering who I am and my "power" within that emanates from the Source of all Intelligence and which I had learned from an early age to be working for me, fades away or banish any negative influences from the wickedness of any human. I am protected by the Divine Guidance and Providence.

This is me;
This is my life; no one else can live my life for me in every second of it;
I appreciate everything that I am, everything I do, and everything that I acquire and possess;
I have a reliable power within me that works for me in every turn;
This power within me is my inherent gift from the Origin of all Powers and Great Intelligence that Governs Natural Laws;
When in difficulty and when nothing else could help;
This power within me lifts me up and raises me to a higher ground;
If I fail in one area of my life then I can turn and choose to focus on those where I am good at;
The deeper I sink into oblivion, the higher also I rebound;
Remembering this principle and pattern of my life brings me back to my true state of being.

These or something better now manifest for me easily and effortlessly in very satisfactory and harmonious ways for the highest good of all concerned.