The Importance Of Why A Change Of Scenery On Occasion Is A Good Thing.

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One thing that I believe that we all can agree with is that we all change as we get older. The changes that we all experience come in a variety of both good and bad things, but the idea of we as people staying the same way that we were when we're younger is just an illusion. Of course there are going to be traits that are particular about us as individuals that we will maintain even with age, but the acquisition of life experience and wisdom that we gain throughout our lives will naturally change us. I think that people for the most part grow into a certain state of monotony as we become older. What do I mean when I say this you may wonder? I think that we as people become accustomed to doing and seeing the same exact things on a daily basis. Our reality at various stages of our lives becomes somewhat of a comfort zone for us. We somewhat fall into a stage where we've become accustomed to doing and seeing the same things over and over again, and this becomes a repetition for our lives. Now this is totally fine and works for some people, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. There are some people that have seen and experienced so much in their lives that they're content with their reality. However, there are also those people that aren't totally at peace with whatever reality that they find themselves living in, and there is something inside them that is telling them that there is something more to experience. In today's world that we're living in, not everyone is able to constantly be on the go and seeing new things. However, a change of scenery sometimes can totally help with unrest of the monotony that many of us find ourselves in.

Greetings to everyone out there! This is your guy Brad H. back at it once again, and I'd like to welcome everyone to another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! Thank you in advance for everyone that stopped by for another week of positive vibes and and inspiration that can hopefully be some positive food to feed our spirits. Hopefully everyone has been doing pretty good since the last topic, and as always, keep your head up if that hasn't been happening for you as of late. Try to keep in mind that things are never as good or bad as they may seem. So there wasn't any specific news or event that I wanted to bring up in this portion of the topic, so I figured I would address something that happened to me personally this past weekend. I celebrated another birthday last Sunday, so I am now officially 37 years old (young). I must say that this was probably one of the more memorable birthday's that I've had in recent years. The reason I say this is due to the fact that this was one of the few birthday's in recent memory that I spent out of town. When I say spending out of town, I mean spending the night in another city rather than just going away for the day. So I spent the weekend in Ft. Worth with family, and I must say that although I'm not normally one to make a big deal out of my birthday, my folks really went above and beyond to make the weekend enjoyable for me. I finally got to see the movie 'Black Panther' in 3D, and I got to spend time with my folks that I only see a few times out of the year. The reason I bring all of this up for you guys is to remind you all that although people like myself see birthday's as just another day, many people do not. While your birthday is primarily about celebrating another year of being alive, it's always thoughtful to keep in mind what you mean to those that care for you. You being alive to see another year is not only a gift in its own right for you, it is also a gift for those that care about you. With all of that said, I want to thank all of my family and friends for a great birthday. Alright, now it is time to get into the topic for the week of why a change of scenery is good from time to time.

So now that I've gotten on my soapbox for the week, it is now time that I go ahead and get into the usual disclaimer that I give weekly before addressing the topic at hand for the week. I'll start by saying that we all have different viewpoints when it comes to life. None of us will always agree or see eye-to-eye, so the goal here isn't to focus my ideas and beliefs on anyone else. The primary goal here is to provide inspiration for us all, but also to hopefully encourage others to maybe see certain things in a manner in which they may not have before. I totally get and understand if others may not agree with me, and that is fine. If you happened to find yourself here reading this, I appreciate your coming by no matter what you happen to believe in. So how did I happen to arrive at discussing the importance of why a change of scenery is a good thing? Simply stated, it goes back to last weekend being my birthday and spending it away from my normal surroundings. Because I was in a different area besides what I am normally accustomed to, I was able to see things and meet people that I more than likely would not have had I not had that experience. Now as I mentioned previously in this topic, people that are used to traveling a lot will likely not be able to relate a lot to this topic. Just like the monotony of many of our lives is surrounded in one particular place, traveling frequently to a lesser extent probably feels somewhat monotonous for those that do it on a regular basis. For this week, I am mainly talking to those people that are stuck in the realm of monotony, and are finding that they aren't fully satisfied with it.

So as I have stated and established already for this week, many of us fall into a level of monotony as we get older. Some of you may find that you almost become ritualistic in the way that you go about doing things in your life. You probably watch television at the same time everyday, or you may eat dinner or go to sleep at the time that you're accustomed to. Now in talking about monotony when it comes to things such as this, I don't necessarily see it as a bad thing. I believe it can be beneficial to us to practice certain habits at specified times. I say this because when you find that you do things on a set schedule, you often know where all of your time goes, and you're able to plan your time more wisely. When I refer to monotonous behaviors, I'm in no way saying that they're bad. However, from my perspective, a life of monotony can be unhealthy to a certain degree. When I say this, I'm speaking in terms of being stagnated to the point where you're not experiencing anything else in your life besides the monotonous activities that you engage in daily. Now I want to stress again that living in this manner works for a lot of people, and that is totally fine. That said, there are also those out here in the world that live in this manner, but they are not truly happy and fulfilled living in this way. The reason that I say this is due to the fact that just a few years back, I was exactly this kind of person. I was living a life of monotony thinking all was good, but there was something inside of me that just didn't feel right. I didn't quite understand it at the time, but there was a desire to see and try out different things.

Since I frequently use health and fitness comparisons as examples on here, I'm going to go ahead and switch it up and do it again (sarcasm). Yes I was trying to be funny there. But I want you all to imagine someone that runs a few times a week at a track that is just one big circle. This runner goes round and round and doesn't see anything new or different during their workout. Now lets take that same runner and say that he or she decides to run in an area that is different from the track. Lets say they're running in an area where there are different sights and views around each corner, etc. Now of course everyone is different, but I'm almost willing to bet that the runner that we're using as an example in this scenario will find that their more invigorated after having that experience of seeing something different besides their normal routine. This is exactly why I think a change of scenery on occasion is a good thing. A change of scenery can help be a spark to help us become more alive on the inside. Also, a change of scenery or experiencing things that we're not always accustomed to can be a form of growth. From my perspective, life should always be about growing and learning new things. The problem for many of us is that when we become a certain age, we often feel that there is no need to for growth. I can't speak for anyone else, but this is a notion that I totally disagree with. As far as I'm concerned, regardless of your age or how much you've seen, there is always something new to learn as long as you're alive.

I get that monotony and being set in our ways with age is something that is part of life, and I'm in no way saying that anyone needs to switch up their lives or routines completely. I'm simply trying to encourage us all (myself included) to not be afraid to try and see new things every now and then. Again, from my perspective this is important because growth comes from experiencing things that we're not accustomed to. If you're the kind of person that only sticks to events in your area, try to go outside of your area and experience some of those things if you're able to. If you're trying to get into shape and you're doing the same exercises to get fit, I encourage you to try and learn of other exercises that can help keep you motivated to keep sticking with it. From my perspective, we should strive to be people that are constantly trying to grow and expand, so I believe that changing things up sometimes is one of the best ways that we can do this. For me personally, my birthday this year represented a change of scenery, and I am personally happy with the outcome that came from it. It was just another one of the many reminders that I've had over the years to remind me that there are so many things to do and experience in this world outside of what we're used to. So with all of that being said, a change of scenery is important to personal growth in my opinion. Be mindful that no matter where you are or what you're doing, there are so many things outside of your personal realm that are happening. You don't have to be a part of it all, but there is nothing wrong with sometimes making the effort to be a part of it as much as you can.

Well that is all that I got for this time around my people. It is time for ya boy to go ahead and sign off for another week. As always, thanks go to all that took out the time to read another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! That is really something that can't be said enough. I hope that there was some understanding and meaning that was gained from this that served as being helpful to someone's life. Any and all feedback is welcomed, and if you have any questions you can hit me up on Twitter @BradrickH. I hope everyone is having a great weekend, and I'd like to give thanks to my family and friends for a wonderful birthday last weekend. I'm truly grateful. I wish everyone out there the best, and I hope everyone has a good week ahead. Take care, stay strong, and I'll see you all in the next post! Peace!

©2018 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

The Only Way To Be Rewarded For Your Suffering Is To Endure.

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"You're already in pain, get a reward for it." Those are the words from popular motivational speaker Eric Thomas in his viral video on Youtube titled 'The Secret to Success'. I'd highly recommend anyone who has yet to view this particular video to give it a look. Mr. Thomas touched on many important points in that video, but the words he spoke that I quoted earlier have been resonating with me recently. As human beings, we're naturally inclined to give up whenever we're facing any kind of adversity we're not accustomed to. It's almost as if our bodies and minds are programmed to shutdown whenever we're confronted with something out of our levels of comfort. I believe this notion applies to every aspect of our lives regardless of what type of challenges we're facing. I believe the biggest thing with facing obstacles that do not coincide with our level of comfort deals with growth. Having a willingness to endure in times of hardships is how growth happens, and growth is one of the biggest regards that comes from suffering.

Hey, how's it going ladies and gentlemen? It's your guy Brad H. once again, and welcome to another installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I'm back at it once again to give my perspective on another topic that I feel will not only be beneficial to myself, but hopefully to you all as well. At least that is my hope. I hope that you all have been maintaining since the last time we spoke, and like always if that hasn't been the case for you, keep on holding your head up high. Things can always get better or worse for us, but the better will not come without some effort and a positive state of mind on our part. As for me personally, things have been pretty good since the last installment. Some of you may know that I'm a San Antonio Spurs fan, so you can imagine that I was disappointed to hear about the retiring of longtime Spur Tim Duncan. I've always admired him as a player, and I hate that I never got to see him play in person. However, after such a long and distinguished career in the NBA, I suppose it was about time for him to get out. Thanks for the memories Tim, and I'm certain most fans of the Spurs feel the same way. There are also a few birthdays happening within my family the next few days. Actually, there was one celebrated yesterday. One of my cousin's will be turning 18, and his little brother celebrated his very first birthday yesterday (June, 20). Also, today is my grandmother's youngest brother birthday. It's kind of amazing when you think about how much time seems to pass so quick. I can remember when the 18 year old wasn't even a year old yet, and now he is grown. I can also remember writing last year about the birth of his younger brother whose birthday was yesterday. Kinda hard to believe that it's been a year already. At any rate, although I will be seeing them both, I want to say Happy Birthday to both Biggie and Zay, as well as my great uncle Grover. Now that I've gotten on my soapbox for a bit, it's time to get into this week's topic that deals with being rewarded for your suffering.

Like I always mention in my writings, a person's individual viewpoint on a topic will always vary. My focus here isn't to put too much credence into what may be considered to be right or wrong, but rather to give anyone that reads these posts something to hopefully think on and evaluate further. If that happens to be the case for you personally, then these entries are doing exactly what they're intended to do. The main thing for me here is to use this platform as a way to express my views and opinions. If anyone happens to feel differently or disagree with my views on this or any of the topics I write about, that is totally okay with me. So we're going to be discussing how enduring our struggles is the the only way to be rewarded for your suffering. Besides drawing inspiration from Eric Thomas as I mentioned earlier, I've been dealing with some personal issues as of late that I'm looking to see through to the other side. It's not anything serious or life-threatening, just some habits that I'm trying to cut off that I feel will give me a better clarity of mind, body, and spirit. We're all aware that it isn't always easy to break habits, and sometimes there will be some pain and suffering on the journey towards breaking them. However, I do believe there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and that's what I keep telling myself on my personal journey.

Now what is suffering? What exactly qualifies as suffering? Everyone is different and have different interpretations of what they consider to be suffering, so it's purely subjective for the most part. The official definition of suffering that I found is; "the state of undergoing pain, distress, or hardship." When the majority of us think of suffering, we normally liken it to something that deals with the more serious aspects of life. Examples of this could be the loss of a loved one, financial hardships, or dealing with chronic illnesses and diseases. These are only a few examples of suffering, and I think we can agree that they are definitely the most serious examples that I'm going to provide. Unfortunately in most cases, these examples often come with no real rewards or benefits. While all of these examples, as well as any other serious forms of suffering is both unfortunate and sad in many cases, I want to address suffering from a lesser perspective than the examples I mentioned. I'm aiming to view it from the perspective of having to endure the suffering that is required in order to achieve something you may want. I'm talking about the kind of suffering that we sometimes purposefully choose to put ourselves through in hopes to see a greater reward in the end.

So what I am referring to when I talk about the kind of suffering that we intentionally choose to put ourselves through? From my perspective, I'm thinking of various achievements and goals that we may be striving to reach. It doesn't always have to necessarily have a tangible reward at its conclusion, but the completion of it leaves you a sense of joy and accomplishment that can't be bought by any price. I want you to think about this for an example. Imagine someone running in a marathon or any kind of distance related race. Throughout the course of testing your body to the limits and physical rigors required to finish, there is going to be some form of pain and suffering along the way. Now imagine the person running the race quitting at the halfway point because it has become too uncomfortable for them. Think of it like jumping out into the deep end of a swimming pool without a life vest. Now I'm not saying that a person should push themselves to the point of harming their body. However, the point I'm trying to prove that quitting while we're facing any kind of adversity won't leave us with a sense of fulfillment if we know we didn't do our best with whatever task is at hand. You can liken it to one of those feelings we have when something is wrong or missing in your life, even if everything else may be going right for you.

Before I bring this post to a close, I want everyone to realize that regardless of what kind of suffering you may be enduring, whatever you're dealing with is exactly where you're supposed to be at that moment. I'm one of those people that doesn't feel that things happen by accident. Furthermore, I want to stress this point. Anytime you're facing challenges that are causing you pain and suffering, that's probably where all the change and growth is happening in your life. This is the exact reason to keep on enduring when you want to give up. The only way to truly test your character and know what you're made of is if you're willing to go through the pain and suffering that is required. It's kinda like a rights of passage in my opinion. Again, we're always going to have that inkling of doubt that wants to trick us into giving up because it doesn't feel comfortable. However, like I mention in most of my writings, this is where the power of the mind comes into play. We can get through nearly anything with a strong and healthy mind. So to all my friends out there facing challenges, keep on enduring if you're able. There is always a greater payoff for your suffering if you're willing to stay the course, and I truly believe that we'll become better people at the end for our willingness to endure.

Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to go ahead and end this one. I believe that I was able to get my point across in this installment of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. Thank you once again to everyone that stopped by. My hope is that there was some meaning and understanding gained by this post. Of course if that wasn't the case for you, your visit here is always both welcomed and appreciated. I hope that everyone has a great weekend ahead, and feel free to drop any feedback or comments. Alright I'm out of this joint so until next time, I go by the name of Brad H., and I wish you all peace and positive thoughts. Peace!

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.