Sustenance X; Our Pillar of Support, the Source of Strength

"If your world were to end tomorrow and today would be your last day, will you be satisfied with your life?"

That's something I'd often ask myself at least weekly to keep myself in check mentally. There goes a saying that one should "live everyday to the fullest" and that's what I abide to personally, everyday if possible.

Everyday either during my bus ride home or when I'm in the shower, I'll think about my day; what can I improve on and if I'm satisfied with my day's work.

Though it may seem morbid, I'd like to think what would happen if the world stopped tomorrow. What if I died tomorrow? Would there be a smile on my face as I part? Or will I regret in agony and wished that time could be turned backwards?

Of course, I'd hope that it was the previous but more often then not, I find myself in regret and despair and more so, fearful of that day. The day when that "tomorrow" really arrived.

We as Humans live by our own philosophies, and our own believes. Religion dictates and orientates these thoughts and the way of life but what about those without a direction in religion?

For myself, I believe in my own ideas, philosophies and perspective. To some, it may seem ignorant not to get involved in religion but I feel that everyone has his or her own right to decide what is right and wrong. I might get involved in religion but don't see myself doing so in quite some time.

Comparatively, I adhere strictly to my personal belief. I foster high expectations and hopes for myself, even above the threshold of what others expect from me.

This is due to my persistent belief that when one fails, the person that you're going to let down most isn't your parents nor your educators but yourself.

When one fails, no other person will feel just about what you're feeling, especially if prior to the attempt, a high standard has been set by your very own sub conscious mind; it makes falling all the way down to the bottom much much harder to deal with.

Failure constitutes to dissatisfaction which leads to the mentality of pessimistic views (refer to previous post on Satisfaction) which trust me, will cloud your day and make it seem terrible.

Personally I dread days like these. Partly because of the pressure and partly because it'll be in infringement on my personal belief; I would not be satisfied if the day was my last.

Regret, for instance is a terrible "device" fabricated that will literally, ruin your life, make no mistake about it. There is nothing worse then to live your life in regret.

Though personally, I may not have experience massive regret, I have read books that articulate the point clearly, some even going to the extend of describing regret as a "curse" that'll haunt continuously.

Won't that be terrible? To live everyday of your life in agony till your last? I'm sure no one will want that to happen to them.

There has to be a way in the design to counteract symptoms of dread as such.

Is there?

There is no definite solution to a problem as such due to its diversity and subjective nature; everyone has different problems in their lives.

But there is this one general idea which I term "Sustenance X" which I'm sure everyone has in them. Whether they know of it, however, is another completely different matter.

So what is this "Sustenance X"?

The word "subjective" is self explanatory. Sustenance X can be anything, anything to a person that will give them that little bit of push and strength to go on when the world is seemingly at its darkest and when all seems to fail.

I'm sure its not wrong to say that Sustenance X exists in all of us as without it, we as humans will not be able to survive any emotional or mental breakdown.

For me personally, My Sustenance X is not only the people around me (my friends and importantly, family) but also, my personal belief and motivation. To me, this is extremely important as what drives me (my motivation) is fueled on the base of my personal beliefs.

I believe to succeed, I believe not to fail and I believe to give my all in everything I attempt, no matter the situation. More importantly, I believe in not looking back at your day and regretting as to me, that's the worse feeling one can ever get; a feeling that you're helpless.

My Sustenance X drives to me to the objectives I personally set for myself and it plays a vital role for without Sustenance X, I would have lost the drive to succeed in life, which effectively renders it useless.

That would be tragic indeed as one losing his or her drive in life often results in the less then ideal end. It is no surprise that in the world we're living in today, many people lack a galvanized Sustenance X in their mentality for the taxing society erodes away the mental resistance we as humans develop.

Stress is one thing but the drive and motivation to do well is another. The stress factor plays contrary to the drive of the person partly due to discouragement which really pierces the mental defence of people.

So how do we build up this defence? How do we further define Sustenance X?

First off, I feel that goal setting is really important in one's aspect as it interlinks with the core component of the defence; Motivation. This cannot be stressed enough as with a strong motivation, the drive to do well and succeed will be evident.

Opening up about one's problems will also help greatly as the people around you influence the way you think the most. Rely on your family especially, as they're the ones who'll stand by you no matter what and they'll never give up hope which I think is a strong link of importance.

Positive values are also a good way to strengthen the willpower of a person. Even more so if the person himself, beliefs in them.

Thus everytime I review my day be it in the shower, during my bus ride home or right before I go to bed, I'll think of my dissatisfactions in a different light.

Yes though I may still have a certain degree of regret if my day doesn't turn out well but instead of mauling over it, I'll see what can I do to IMPROVE the outcome and to avoid a similar experience.

My goal to live each day to the fullest, in this way, will not be compromised and when the day really comes, I'll have no regrets.

So ask ourselves that if today was the last day of our lives, would we be satisfied?

Let us work towards finding and strengthening our "Sustenance X" and only then will we be a more complete person as a whole.

Opportunity Strikes; Why Do We Hesitate?

I spent the past two day of my life over at one of my friend's place. Basic activities included the Xbox 360, the Internet, Youtube and a couple of guitars.

Amongst the many videos we browsed, we were particularly addicted to this one:




"hey hey! yea, yat's rught, ya bat'er run."

We were so addicted to this particular clip that we tried mimicking the clip, especially the voice of the turret, which had like an Irish accent. I must say, we were quite fascinated (and even up till now we're still trying our best in perfecting the accent, lol).
The rest of the stay pretty much revolved around GH3 (guitar hero 3) and an assortment of other Xbox games (yea i know, pretty boring if you ask me) and oh yea, not sleeping much.

The video gave me a good laugh.

However, as i looked back and reflected, the video does contain a certain degree of truth that applies to our daily lives.

You see, i feel like many people nowadays are afraid. Afraid to take opportunities, afraid to venture out of their safety zones and more importantly, afraid to fail. Very few people are like the blue character in the clip and are afraid to "venture out into the unknown" and that's probably going to contribute to their stagnant position in the society.

The presence of the turrets surrounding the perimeter is what contributes to the fear in the characters in the video. They know that they'll be shot down and are afraid to venture out, even though they're curious to know what's out there.

This often happens in life.

Very often in life, when opportunity strikes, one is often reluctant in making use of the opportunity and giving it a go. That reluctance is understandable as not all opportunities are worth taking; it largely depends on the situation, outcome and risks involved. However, the common mistake is that people hesitate acting on good opportunities, thinking that it might not be such a good idea or that they're insecure and unsure.

Another point i would like to bring up tackles the links and perspective that people draw when i say the word "opportunity". Many often imply that when i say opportunity, it refers to business deals and money making. That is a strong misconception.
Yes, though opportunities are evidently used in the business world, but I personally feel that life itself is full of opportunities; there is no such limitation.

The only limitation, I feel, is oneself. Yes, very often or so, you find that the only thing stopping you from attempting or going for an opportunity is yourself. It is all in the mind, and as mentioned, insecurity is the main cause of it all.

They say that "opportunity knocks only once and after, its gone". I beg to differ from this claim. I feel like in certain situations, its ourselves that make and create opportunities. Opportunities will not just come by or drop from the sky for every cause there is an effect.

I think what we should all do is basically banish all our insecurities and not be afraid to venture out of your safety zone. As the saying goes, "Its better to have tried and fail than to not try at all". It is only then that we'll be able to succeed and learn a little something extra.

Thus, let us eradicate our insecurities and find out what's really "out there"!