YOUR LIFE A-Z:VALOR

Valor is the High Road of Determination

VALOR

Personal bravery and determination when facing a challenging and dangerous situation is a good description of the word VALOR.  Some of us shine in crisis situations and fall apart when the coffee grinds slip to the side of the trash can rather than into the garbage bag.  VALOR in day-to-day life rises to the occasion of living a life of conscious choice.  Conscious choice means practicing VALOR in the midst of a broken sprinkler, coffee grinds on the floor and that one extra demand from a child, spouse, friend or family member.  Personal firmness not to give into old behaviors but to practice VALOR as a daily commitment to excellence is important for personal courage and happiness.  Let us face it.  Life is not smooth; something is always interrupting our unconscious plans and creating havoc with our daily schedule.  Determination to practice kindness, patience, and compassion in the middle of your personal chaos is a conscious choice of VALOR.  Even when you want to scream, cuss, or throw something you consciously focus on your breath and choose a courageous choice of VALOR, responding with compassion instead of rage or hatefulness.  VALOR is the high road of determination when you are tired and the last straw has broken.  VALOR is the bravery to say, “I am sorry.  That was not appropriate.”  Challenging situations are the day-to-day situations that are always coming at us.  Meetingsituations that present us with emotional danger with VALOR is living positively in the present.

YOUR LIFE A-Z:TOUGH

DON'T MESS WITH ME!

TOUGH

Get TOUGH.  Build a sense of resilience to bounce back from life’s obstacles and difficulties.  As you know life is full of them and we cannot allow life to throw us down the chute into defeat.  Get up, dust off and go back to your desire, goal, or dream and accomplish it. It is okay to cry and then wipe away the snot and start all over again.  Be TOUGH enough to withstand arduous situations and people who hurt your feelings.  You can be TOUGH.  Lazy people are not TOUGH.  You can TOUGHEN up and overcome life’s hardships.  Ground Zero is something all of us can learn from.  The enemy might take out the structure, kill and harm those in the area at that moment, but we will overcome all of that and start over at Ground Zero, because we are TOUGH.  Mary J. Blige sings these words in The Living Proof in the movie the help, “it is gonna be a long long journey, it’s gonna be an uphill climb, it’s gonna be a tough fight, there’s gonna be some lonely nights, but I’m ready to carry on.”  Get TOUGH and carry on.  Get your climb on, so what if it is TOUGH?  It may make you want to quit.  We all feel that way from time to time, but just because you want to quit does not mean that you quit.  Get TOUGH and get on with your life.  Stop whining and be TOUGH.