How to be S.A.D.

Smart;

I know that I'm fallible, flawed and erroneous. I'm imperfect. I make mistakes. I goof. I blunder. I bungle up things sometimes. But I know that making mistakes doesn't define us unless we allow it. We're not defined by our errors or imperfections. What matters is to fix them. It's not "Am I perfect?", but nay "How do I deal with my imperfections. By sweeping them under the rug and negating them? Or by fully and unabashedly embracing them, taking responsibility for them, and then learning from them ... fixing them ..?"

It doesn't matter if we make mistakes or not, we all have our nemeses, shortcomings and weaknesses. That doesn't mean we can't change them. They don't define who we are. We do. We have the choice to own up to them, admit to them, take responsibility for them. We do not learn anything from life if we think we're right all the time.

How we respond to our nemeses, how we deal with our shortcomings, how we handle our imperfections and weaknesses, mean everything. Let's don't hide or dissemble our faults or imperfections, let's embrace and own up to them all the way.. lock.. stock.. and barrel. Learn from them and rectify them to the best of our ability. That's how we overcome them. And that's how we become Smart.

As the sage proverb reminds us: "There is no shame in not knowing, the shame lies in not learning."

Anti-fragile;

When we fail, when someone hits us, trounces us, outwits us, outmaneuvers us or clobbers us, we can choose to either give up, or get up and fight back. We can choose whether we stay down or rise. We can get disheartened, deterred, discouraged, even dejected, Or, we can choose to use any odds and any hurdles, challenges or downfalls to our advantage, and leverage them. To make the best out of every situation. When we get hit, we can choose to weaken, wane or becomes debilitated, or we can choose to grow stronger and better from our hardships, defeats or any negative circumstances that may betide us. The secret to a happy, fulfilled and cordial life goes through learning how to dance in the rain.

As Nelson Mandela once said,

"The greatest glory in living, lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

Dangerous;

We are oftentimes lost in the incessant and unrelenting whirlpool of life's challenges, issues and problems, thinking that we have a lot to lose. There are those who have got a lot to lose. There are those who have got some to lose.

And then, there are the indomitable ones; the invincible ones; the .. unconquerable ones; those that know they have got NOTHING to lose. Those who are so unshakeable and impregnable, nigh on impervious to life's challenges, problems and all that life throws at them. They take all of them with sangfroid, phlegm, aplomb and serenity. They are unflappable because they know cordially and viscerally, deep in their souls and hearts, that they've got nothing to lose.

Those people.. are inexorable! They are so hubristic in themselves, they believe in themselves to such a degree that nothing that befalls them has even any chance of perturbing or rattling their inner state of peace and acceptance. Their outlook on life is that its a journey, it will have its ups and downs, it will be tough and very difficult at times, it will push them hard, but they know they will always be ready to push back harder. They know how to live, fully and wholeheartedly.

To not fear anyone or anything. To be fearless. That's power. Dangerous power. Because all of that means that they will stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and they will savour every moment of it. They will enjoy the journey. They will live. They will embrace and accept all that comes crashing unto them. They are the most dangerous type of people out there. A good kind of dangerous. Benign, not horrid. Thoughtful, not detrimental. Loving, not inimical.

They live fully, love fully and unconditionally. They forgive. They accept people as they are, but pay sedulous care to put them where they belong. Because, on their journey, they know they've got nothing to lose. They aren't bothered by not being super rich, or by being in retard of others in terms of material possessions. They are grateful and cordially thankful for everything and everyone that they already have in their lives. And they couldn't be more so. They don't care a hoot about titles, positions or other types of things or entities that are ostensibly real, but what are in fact mere mental constructs of the human imagination. They know they already have it all. So why not live and act like so?

Because, The secret to having it all, is knowing you already do.

"What if we woke up tomorrow with only what we were grateful for today?"