The Journey Towards Becoming Better Will Not Be A Perfect One.

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I have a belief that there comes many periods in nearly every person's life where some kind of awakening happens. You know the kind of awakening that happens when a person feels something deep within their spirit that sends vibes that there is time for a change? It's almost like an epiphany. While some may ignore these messages and not take any action, many of us choose to embrace these awakenings with a deep passion. Those that choose to listen to themselves and take the steps towards become a better individual, often develop a passion for self-improvement that almost becomes obsessive. That type of obsessive passion can often lead to an added pressure of wanting to be perfect while on the journey of self-improvement. While striving for perfection can be a motivating force, we all know that achieving perfection is virtually impossible. This not only applies to life in general, but also the journey one takes towards wanting to become a better person as well.

What's going on ladies and gentlemen? Welcome to the second entry of 'Brad H.'s Perspective' for 2016. Like always, I hope that everyone has been doing great, and hopefully the year thus far has been both peaceful and positive for you all. As for me personally, the new year has been going pretty good so far. For those of you that read the last entry, you may already know that my grandmother celebrated her 82nd birthday recently. Well now there is another upcoming birthday for another person that is special to me, and that would be my younger sister. Although my sister and still young and will only be turning 24 years old on her next birthday, I'm still grateful for both her and my grandmother being able to celebrate turning a year older. Alright, now that I've gotten all of that out of the way, lets go ahead and talk about how the journey towards becoming will not be a perfect one.

Like I mention in my blog entries, a person's individual viewpoint on any topic will vary from person to person. The goal here isn't to focus on what may be right or wrong, but rather using this platform as an outlet to express my opinions on topics that I think about. Through that process of thinking and expressing, the hope is to leave anyone that may read these posts with something to think about. Back in the year 2012, I wrote an entry titled 'Focus On Becoming Better, Not Perfect'. If you want to check that particular blog entry out, you can read it here. Today's entry will somewhat piggyback of that post, however, since its been nearly 4 years since I had written that post, I'm going to attempt provide a more clearer and fresher perspective on today's topic. Also, with what I've learned from experiences in the past couple of years, along with just becoming a few more years older than what I had written back then, I feel that I have a greater understanding of this topic now. Besides, the awakening that I mentioned people having earlier in this post is something that I can attest to experiencing myself.

There are many different kinds of awakenings that a person can have. Whenever a person has the kind of awakening that motivates them to strive towards acquiring more knowledge or becoming a better person, there will be all kind of emotions and thoughts involved. Now when we say becoming a better a better person, what exactly does that mean? It varies from person to person but from my perspective, choosing to become a better individual is something that starts with something that is often simple. For example, lets say that a person that drinks alcohol or smokes cigarettes has an awakening that calls for them cut out those vices right? It often begins with slowly cutting back on participating in those acts until the individual gets to the point where they no longer crave those things. We all know that any kind of positive change doesn't happen overnight, and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone that can put down any bad habits cold turkey. I'm not saying that it cannot be done, but its not likely. The main point is that whatever awakening that a person has towards becoming better will be a journey full of ups and downs.

I feel that one of the biggest drawbacks that we have towards the journey of self-improvement is pressure. I'm not talking about the pressure that others may put upon us whenever we're on a journey; that's already going to be a given. I'm talking about the pressure that we put upon ourselves. While the proper amount of pressure can be a good thing towards helping in keeping us honest with our goals, the pressure that we put on ourselves to be perfect in our journeys is one of our biggest hindrances from my perspective. We often put so much pressure on ourselves to do well, that whenever we do slip up and make a mistake, we end up on a downward spiral that often puts us right back at square one. Now what happens after that? Normally, all the progress that we've made; whether its been big or small, has likely been undone. Whenever we make the choice to stop a habit we deem as bad, we must understand and accept that the journey will not be a perfect one.

We're not perfect people, so whatever journey that we're on towards improving ourselves will not be perfect as well. Whatever vices or habits that you're trying to break from your life, think of them as stages. Lets say that you go a certain amount of days without participating in a habit you're trying to rid out of your life right? View the days that you succeeded as one stage, and then set goals towards reaching the new next stages and so on. Eventually, you'll build up enough resistance to the point where you won't have the need for those bad habits. When that starts to happen, that's when you'll know you're beginning to change for the better. Again, it varies from person to person, and you should never judge your progress with others. If you happen to slip up and make a mistake or relapse on your journey, don't go and undo the progress you've already made by falling back into your habits permanently. Pick yourself back up, and look to go even further than you did before you slipped up. I'm going to sum this up by repeating something that I heard someone say recently. The goal should be progress, not perfection.

Alright folks, I think I got the point that I was looking to make across. With all of that said, I'm going to go ahead and close out this entry of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'. As always, I'd like to thank everyone who joined me today, as well as in the past. My hope is that some meaning and understanding can be gained here, and even if there isn't, I still appreciate those of you for your support. Feel free to leave any feedback or thoughts on this topic. Hope you all have a great week ahead, and I'll see you all in the next one. Peace!

©2016 Bradrick H. All Rights Reserved.

Strike A Balance In Life(Being Positive, and Being A Realist).

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Balance is not only a a very important word, but an essential lifestyle tool. Without balance in our everyday lives, it would be near impossible to view things on an equal plane. Balance isn't only limited to our physical being, but also our emotional status. It's important to look for and find balance within our minds as well. In my opinion, it's one of the key components that that keeps viewing everything around us in the proper perspective of life. Once again this is ya man Brad H. Hope you all are doing well, and welcome to another edition of 'Brad H's Perspective'. Thanks again for reading.

As you can no doubt tell, this week's topic deals with striking a balance in life. Most of us have heard of that saying; "too much of anything is bad for you." Whether you find that old saying to be true or not, it's a fact that keeping things on an equal plane is the best chance for living a balanced life. For example, if a college student parties way too much and doesn't study enough, they're probably going to end up not making it through school. That's just one example out of many that we could use, but the most important thing is that we must learn to find balance through good and the bad that comes with life.

There will always be good and bad times in life no doubt. Some of us bask in the good that comes with life, while others run when the bad approaches. A lot of people maintain a positive attitude when things are going well, but completely lose that attitude when things take a turn for the worst. Some people are too positive, almost to the point where they become naive -- while others never display a positive mindset, and constantly expect the worse to happen. I personally feel that it's important to be positive, but balance that positive attitude with a realist outlook on life. Reality continuously shows us that some people are not who they always claim to be. It also shows that for every occasion that things are going well, the potential of bad occurring can be lurking right around the corner.

I guess I would say that the main point that I'm trying to get across is that life will never be perfect, but it's important to look for balance. Always look to balance out the negative factors in life with positive thinking, but also maintain a realistic approach to your problems. It's never wise to lean too far to any side, but rather find a common ground somewhere in between. That's pretty much it. Well thanks again for tuning into another edition of 'Brad H's Perspective'. I always appreciate and welcome feedback. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week, and we'll back at it again soon. Peace!