On Life 28 – Flexibility – May, 30, 2014

   Walking along the path of life, we often stand still before making decisions and facing choices in life; man finds himself in need of some time and makes a pause in his journey. In the process of making decisions, even the daily simple ones, I would stop at man’s confusion upon finding the available choices unacceptable or uncomfortable to him.

   The walkers in the path of life shall realize that they would inevitable make decisions even if no pleasing choices are there. Most of the life situations impose alternatives which may be incompletely pleasant or comfortable to us. However, we have to make choices, man needs to learn how to build inner ability to make choices among what is found on the real ground, and to turn this reality into the purpose he seeks.

   For example, if man seeks a certain study or work, yet his wish is not fulfilled for him, he then shall select what is closer to his personality and nature in order to be capable of achieving success, otherwise, he would have a miserable life, void of any success.

   It is said, “People blame their circumstances, yet I do not believe in circumstances, as successful people in this world are those who search for the circumstances they want, and if they don’t find them, they make them on their own”. Thus, in case the circumstances and the choices do not afford what you seek, be flexible and modify your means to attain your goal.

   Man has two ways in life; either to keep waiting for the opportunities and the fitting conditions for what he wants, and in this case, I think he will wait for long in a dreamy world of wishes he made for himself, locking it in his thoughts only for it has no presence in real world, or to be accustomed to making the opportunities and the fitting conditions through bearing suffering, labor and unsatisfying alternatives, until success is attained and his wishes become a reality.

   Along the path, try not to focus on what you want only, lest you would lose the value of what is really around you and get lost in a world of dreams and delusions. Thus, be flexible, accept the reality and change it, because it is said that “a flexible person knows how to think differently; he keeps trying to think in different ways until he attains what he wants”, the more flexible man becomes, the stronger and more successful he turns out to be. Do not let life conditions wreck your ship of dreams, hindering it from reaching its destination, but rather learn how to sail amidst the storm; storms and winds are the makers of a skillful sailor who reaches the success shore. And on life we are still sailing…

The General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center