Do You Have Quality of Life?

Do you live like this lobster today?

Do you know about the worsening condition of your business or career, but you feel you can't stop its downhill slide?

Do you know that your personal life is going down the drain, but you feel you can't do anything about it?

Are you afraid to admit to yourself or embarrassed to tell other people that you have personal or financial problem?

Are you stuck with credit card debts because you can only afford the minimum payments; and you can't get out of the vicious circle because the interests are creating even bigger debts?

Do you sweep the guilt and worries under the rug and wish and pray hard that they will go away?   And, do they always crawl out of the rug to haunt you again and again day and night?

If you find yourself in the above situations, then you may be living inside the oven.

Like the lobster, you try to adapt to an increasingly hostile environment.   We know what eventually happens to the lobster.  No matter how adaptable the lobster is in the oven, it will be cooked in the end.   From our perspective, we know that death for the lobster is a question of time.   From the lobster's perspective, however, the water just gets warmer and warmer.   It is unaware of the inevitable even on the course to its death.

Will the same thing happen to you?  Will you die because of your problem?   It's possible, but unlikely.  (what a relief!)

But...

Because you always feel you can't do anything about your problem, you do something about yourself and your life instead.   When the problem pops up every time, you adjust your comfort zone to adapt to it.   A small sacrifice and "understanding" here and there to make it through the day.   A small sacrifice and "understanding" here and there so you don't have to face that monster of a problem right now (!), because you're very busy, because there are so many important things you need to attend to.   Like.... worrying about how to cover those bills aching on your desk.

What's really happening is your quality of life is deteriorating.   This means you are now unable to do, acquire, or own what you could before.   And depending on the frequency and impact of the problem on your life, you also have to endure increasing degrees of discomfort and embarrassment from time to time.   All these are consequences of your lifestyle - not of the problem as you may believe - and you feel you have "no choice" but to accept them.  (well, the truth is you chose to live this way)

Because you don't die from the adjustments, and it even seems that you are making it through in all these years, you begin to believe that this is the way to deal with your problem and all the other problems it creates.

What you don't realize, however, is the problem is chronic and it does not disappear in time.   If you don't do something about it, the problem will never go away.   It will stay and continue to make your life miserable.  And it gets worse as years go by.  

In time, your confidence will quietly drain out of you.  What you once valued in life will also depreciate and become colorless.   You will feel tired and exhausted all the time because your spirit and morale are always down.   These happen gradually, so gradual that you don't notice the changes taking place    The changes usually take years and they cloud your sensibility as you adapt to your "warped" lifestyle and mindset.

Your condition is similar to that of the lobster, time works against you and not in your favor.   So the longer you try to endure the experience, the more you suffer.  But, of course, you don't know you are.   After all these years?  You've become used to the process.   It does not agitate you with heat, but it lulls you to your grave.

Life is not quite about simply living on.  It has to have quality.

You're not a lobster, so you have a choice about what kind of life you want to have.

Always strive for a better quality of life.