Why BAD turns to WORSE [and sometimes GOOD turns to GREAT]

             Why BAD turns to WORSE [and sometimes GOOD turns to GREAT]

Why do things turn from bad to worse ? And at times, the good things turn to great ?

Game changer, man. There is a game-changer and that is the NOW or LATER variable. When we are in the crossroads, the element of time will likely tilt things, time will either make or break things. You put things off later, it could be a game-changer [down the drain]. Whereas when you decide to do things NOW and not putting it off later, at the very least, you have a fifty percent probability of turning things around, and that's not a bad proposition at all.

At the other side of the coin, there are zillion reasons your mindset can dictate upon you that "I can't".  That's when you yourself puts up a wall, an immovable wall for you to hit head-on till it becomes a show-stopper.  God knows, you must have heard someone postponing to proceed with a pre-planned schedule because the skies are gloomy, because it might rain.  Poor grief.  If your next step hinges on something beyond your control like the weather and those atmospheric pressures entering PAR, you're lost, you're dead very soon and you're doomed to fail even before you start.

BAHALA NA ! Sounds familiar ? Yes, very much indeed. If BAHALA NA is a new jargon for you, here we go, to quote: "it is a socio-cultural value in the Philippines that is an expression of a FATALISTIC ATTITUDE towards life [especially when one is in a challenging situation where uncertainty prevails]". Too bad, this defeatist attitude has turned a hell lot of situations from BAD to WORSE. Leaving things to fate means giving up by default. Taking a step back is akin to giving up. And doing nothing all in the name of fate renders YOU inutile. If you are in a work setting, that makes you expendable and incompetent [and unfortunately it's YOU who pushed yourself to that cramped corner [and NOT your boss]]. At your home setting, especially if you happen to be the head of the family, that makes you no less than weak, a weakling at that, worthless and unworthy to be the responsible head of a family looking up upon you for you to lead and not abandon things in the middle of the road.

On the same breadth, how can we achieve goodness and yet end up in a state of stupor ? Whereas others even turn from good to great ? Look no further than the bemedalled athletes. They keep raising the bar ! They keep raising the stakes ! And in the end, they end up in a raised and lofty position, quite afar from the 'good state' he was in earlier. Come tomorrow, let's nip things in the bud. Turnaround a bad situation into a good one. And if you're in a good situation, don't settle for less, turn it from good to great. Which reminds me of my High School buddy [our class salutatorian] who lectured me when we were just freshmen at that time: "if you aim for sky, if you fail, you will fall on the tree top whereas if you aim for the tree, if you fail, you will fall on the ground'.

And here's my favorite one-liner from Alan Curtis Kay: "If you don't fail at least 90% of the time, you're not aiming high enough". But, and here's the big BUT, many of us fear to fail. We dream for a sure-fire success. We want no less a smooth path, no rough patches, no potholes, no cliffs and ravines. But hey, you earn your spurs when you become battle-scarred. Your mettle gets tested only when you embrace the difficulties lurking out ahead of your view. Which reminds me when I overheard a casual exchange between two close friends with one asking the other what are his plans because he remains jobless? He retorted, 'abroad' and when asked where, he shot back, 'wherever there is an opportunity'. Can you believe it, there's one too many options from A to Z, from Angola to Zambia, yet you can't even concretize your plan. To take a leaf from the gurus, your goal has to be SMART, i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Relevant and Time-bound. Take away any of these variables, your goal falls apart even when you hardly finished uttering a half-baked token statement.

Oh yeah, things are easier said than done but in real terms, how do we start, where do we start? Take a leaf from Henry Beecher, the respected American clergyman who espouses that 'The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day'. Oh that's a mouthful. To be blunt to a 'lazy dog', you got nowhere to go and achieve something unless and until you have set your task[s] for the day in no concrete terms and make yourself accountable before the day is over. BTW. How do I set the tone of my day, it's penning, writing the tasks I need to commence and complete, be it at work or at home. Have a productive and meaningful day ahead. Keep smiling though. We can make life light enough without taking our life lightly.😄