Think about the title “Your Peace, Salvation or Perdition may be Only a Step or Two Away or Apart on Life’s Path” and meditate for a minute on it, if you would. There is no need to read any other words, just read that title above because it says quite a bit, at least for one moment, if you will permit yourself just that moment or two.

Of course, you may not have even a minute to spare. You may be in a hurry to get an immediate, all-inclusive, perfect answer to any question you ask for that is the typical path of many who travel the web and the internet you know. You may not want to spend time seeking a response here that you yourself may well be able to provide. Am I suggesting that you may have the answer, the solution, the remedy, the answer, already within you? Read on, but please first just stop, take a moment, and think right now of how many steps away you are from one or more of the following:

• Starting something new
• Turning a corner 
• Making an important decision 
• Finding good and true answers
• Doing something you might regret
• Making headway
• Losing ground
• Gaining a foothold
• Becoming bold
• Grabbing the reins and taking control
• Finding someone or something important  
• Falling into the abyss
• Rising up high and above the chaos and the confusion

Recently, a personal event brought this concept of weightiness, issues, events and being bogged down directly into my mind and heart.

I have a nice, 19.6-ft boat with a 90 HP, four-stroke, Honda engine and the boat, although fairly heavy, moves along well at up to 20 to 30 mph depending upon the passenger load. Recently my son, Tom, reported that the boat seemed sluggish and unresponsive, so off to the dealer the boat went for a check up and repair. A few days later the dealer said we were fixed and we set the boat back in the water and I proceeded back to the dock. However, along the way I noted the boat was still quite sluggish. Since I had to leave that evening I left the boat for some friends to use for the next day or two. Then, two days later, I suggested to my son that we go back up and check things out once again for I had a big suspicion about the boat and its problem. That day we checked the boat and found that the transom of the boat was filled with water that virtually covered the complete bottom half of the battery compartment also. The bilge pump had failed after a decade of use! Soon after this discovery, I carefully drove the boat close to the shore of the lake and back to a convenient boat launch-and-retrieval ramp. At the ramp we loaded the boat onto the trailer, pulled and angled the rear of boat up and out of the water, removed the drain plug, and proceeded to dump almost 200 to 300 gallons of water over a span of 15 minutes of continuous and full draining. The cumulative weight of this amount of water equaled about 1600 to 2400 pounds of water, i.e., a ton of water, more or less. Wow, a ton of water! That would be a ton of non-passenger weight in addition to any passengers. The Honda engine was working to move a boat that weighed a ton and water within that weighed a ton. That was extreme weight overload!

The drain plug was replaced, a new bilge pump was installed within minutes by Tom, and soon the boat was merrily cruising along on choppy lake waters at 30 mph. What a difference unloading, unnecessary and harmful weight made for that craft.

• there are signs and symptoms of problems that cannot and should not be ignored
• there is a need to correct and remediate, change and remedy problems, otherwise you may sink
• sometimes even a professional may miss a problem (yes, the boat shop missed the water problem)
• personal initiative and insight can work out a solution to many problems or difficulties 
• you need the right tools and equipment, advice and instructions to turn things around and make good things happen

 Taking Control of Personal Life and Issues is an Important First Step

•  establishing a plan and developing a healthy, positive and optimistic attitude of yourself and your life. Being an optimist does not hurt in this whole process, for if you are a pessimist you will have a negative attitude about any and all solutions proposed here or anywhere. 
• Remember that pessimism goes a long way toward destroying any hope or promise of a better tomorrow. Therefore, never become or remain a pessimist and never give in to "it can't be done or undone", "it can't be changed" or "nothing good will ever happen." That kind of thinking simply locks you in to defeat, loss, mental mud and mire and the loss of traction.
• Always consider positive thoughts of action to turn things around, to move forward and to overcome obstacles and win for the right causes and purposes in life.
• Train yourself to read, think, and organize better. Theoretically, with all the free, good and readily-available, self-help services (such as this site thinklivewell.com and many others which encourage good and clear thinking), most people can begin to organize and order their lives, set priorities and make better choices. That turn around of your life and within your life can begin moments after you make those decisions for real, personal life changes and actually activate yourself and begin to move in those new life directions – you become "born again" and have "new life". Did you hear those thoughts and receive them? They are so good that I will repeat them and you can say it out loud too: That turn around of your life and within your life can begin moments after you make those decisions for real, personal life changes and actually activate yourself and begin to move in those new life directions – you become "born again" and have "new life".
• Celebrate and applaud your successes. Sometimes you may be the only cheerleader for yourself and your family. If you have good friends they will cheer too and encourage your success and new life and new birth. Becoming a new woman or new man is actually a wonderful and outstanding experience.
• Never let a setback or failure condemn or bury you. Stand tall on the mud, quicksand or the obstacles in and around you and look outward and upward and move in that direction. Don't look back. Look forward, always.
• Learn from your mistakes and failures and be encouraged by every success. No one should be allowed to steal or imprison your mind, heart, soul or body. You are not just a thing or something. You are a person. 
• You are a special, unique creation designed with real and important purposes. There is no one like you on the earth and there will never be anyone like you. That is an amazing thought. Never let go of that thought and way of thinking.
• Develop and grow as a person, find your true and valued life purposes
• Never give up, reach high and deep to the heavens, for in looking up and into the light we overcome the darkness and become a star ever shining and bright.

To begin to be freed from debt and to establish a workable budget can work wonders for a life and personal integrity. Personalized diet, exercise and fitness programs can make a difference too and help anyone to start looking and feeling better.

© Donald Reinhardt, July 21, 2011    

Good Paths and Bridges are Always Needed for Life's Many Journeys,

Photo Credit: Bur. Land Management, Wolf Creek Falls and Little River, Oregon