Your current life: a blessing or a curse?
By Dr. Joan Marques

Ever found yourself in doubt about the way your current life is evolving,
and how you should look at it? To put it plain: Ever wondered if the status
quo was actually a blessing or a curse? Perhaps not. But for those who did
wonder, this article may be a soothing consolation that they are not alone
in their predicament. And since I have not done any research on the topic,
other than some soul searching, I cannot tell for sure how large a
percentage of the readers of this little write up will be able to identify
with the here presented perspective.



Before reviewing this unanswerable query a bit more intensely, it might be
useful to state some crucial facts: Life is a sequence of decisions we make,
and there's actually no telling whether our decisions will work out or not.
The success rate of the outcome of our decisions has to do, at least
partially, with our input after the decision has been made, and for the rest
with the generosity of the stars.



So now, once you have made a decision -- and there will, of course always be
those bystanders that will come up with tons of reasons why you have either
acted too fast, too slow, or without sufficient consideration of all
factors -- you will probably be running across moments in which you thank
heaven for your fortune, yet, also moments in which you wonder what you had
been smoking when you decided to step into the boat you're currently sailing
in.



And at these points, depending on the intensity of your emotions, you have,
once again, a set of choices: you can continue to follow the road you chose;
you can decide to discontinue the status quo, count your losses, and turn
into a different direction; or you can adjust some elements of the situation
in hopes of making things better. Yet, again, neither of these decisions
harbors the guarantee of succeeding everlastingly. One or the other may have
to do with the fact that you, being human, are also subject to continuous
change, and that the decision you made yesterday, no longer matches the
person you are today, or will not suit the individual you will be tomorrow.



Now, returning to the possible ambivalence in perception about your current
life with consideration of the facts stated above: One can ask the question
whether there is such a thing as continuous contentment with the choices one
makes, regardless of the effort one invests into the successful
implementation of these choices. For no matter what the nature of your
decision is, and the environment in which it transpires; work, home, or
elsewhere; the moments of doubt will most probably appear. And, as stated
before, it will depend on the intensity of the doubt -- when, how, and how
frequently it surfaces -- that you will have to decide what your next step
will be.



Life seems to be all about strategies. And strategies are subject to change.
Just like decisions, and just like us. Nothing seems to last:

§ If you're living alone, you'll regularly dread the loneliness that
this can bring, with no one to laugh and cry with, or to hold you in moments
of elation or grief. Yet, when you have a partner, you may now and then find
yourself reminiscing about the good old days when you were single and did
not have to put up with the other's queers and qualms.

§ If you are running your own business, you will regularly dread the
heavy toll of making all decisions on your own, and not having a business
partner who could contribute with insight, effort, and finances. Yet,
whenever you decide to merge your enterprise with a counterpart, you may now
and then find yourself reminiscing about the times when you could make
decisions much faster, and did not have to go through endless seeming
deliberations about possible strategies toward future successes.

§ When you are employed in one work environment you may regularly
dread the backstabbing mentality and the hidden agenda's of most of your
colleagues. Yet, when you change jobs, and finally get settled into a new
workplace, you may come to the conclusion that this new environment brings
along a whole new set of treats and dissatisfactions, and you may,
subsequently, even find yourself now and then reminiscing about the good old
colleagues you left behind in your previous workplace.



So, yes, change is good. But because change causes a changed situation,
while you, as a person, are also changing all the time, and while the
people, places, and situations around you are changing as well, you may find
your level of contentment being elevated today, yet being way downhill
tomorrow. And you may find yourself wondering, whether your current life is
actually a blessing or a curse. Hard to say, I guess…



Dr. Joan Marques,

December 25, 2005

About the author:

Joan Marques emigrated from Suriname, South America, to California, U.S., in
1998. She holds a doctorate in Organizational Leadership, a Master's in
Business Administration, and is currently a university instructor in
Business and Management in Burbank, California. Look for her books "Empower
the Leader in You" and "The Global Village" in bookstores online or on her
website: http://www.joanmarques.com


It is better to live in serene poverty than in hectic abundance. Everything
has a price. The price for nurturing your soul is turning away from
excessive stress, destruction of self-respect, and the constant strife in
lifestyle with the Joneses. But it's worth it.