A happy retirement

Because we mostly react instead of think, our actions are based on insufficient information. We grab for a solution without thinking deeply about the context of the problem: e.g: We try to cheer up a depressed person by making her realize that her life is not that bad and that the sun is shining, only to find out we have made her even more depressed. She now feels guilty about her feelings, worthless, and more alone in her unhappiness.

You find yourself embroiled in several struggles or battles. You seem to get nowhere but you feel like you have invested so much time and energy already that it would be a waste to give up. You have actually  lost sight of your goals. Instead it has become a question of asserting your ego.

You need some detachment and perspective. Remind yourself that winning an argument or proving your point really gets you nowhere in the long run.

After conquering their challenges characters are “reborn” with greater knowledge and power than before. They teamed up with friends to save others, and in the process saved themselves.

What this means for you: Take stock of what you accomplished. Enjoy it.

After all the lessons learned in the journey, characters can finally face their challenges. But sometimes even all the preparations aren’t enough and someone they help earlier in their journey unexpectedly comes to save the day.

What it means for you: Never pass up an opportunity to help someone else. You never know when they will return the favor.

It is difficult to fight an inner battle if you do not know what you are fighting.

Get to the root of the problem by putting a face on that demon. Identify the real problem that is holding you back.

Don't try to fight your inner battle until you have leveled up. The inner battle you're facing never goes away completely. It just becomes easier when you are prepared.

• Remove all the junk food out of your house until you’re better equipped to handle it.
• Drive a different path to work so that you can avoid Burger King and McDonald’s.
• Take a month off from going out to bars.

What you're going through is just a chapter of your life. The rest of the story is still unwritten. Once you emerge from a difficult period, a blank page will await you to change the record.

At the moment, everything feels confusing, but hindsight will be 20/20 vision. 

Define your success. It is critical in order to know yourself. Success could be your health, career, friendships, being a good spouse or parent.

Difficult times in life require us to redefine our objective, to modify them to fit our new situations. What does betterment look like to you? Is it better health, better grades, healthy relationships? Write down your priorities and work towards them daily.

Jordan Peterson observed that virtues aim for balance and to avoid the extremes of the vices. Cultivating judgment about the difference between virtue and vice is the beginning of wisdom.

Modern relativism asserts judging how to live is impossible, because good and virtue are relative. Thus relativism’s version of “virtue” is “tolerance.” This leads to people broadcasting their tolerance as a form of self-promotion, and secret vice, which is also known as virtue signaling.

Order is where the people around you act according to the established social norms, remaining predictable and cooperative. Society is simultaneously structure and oppression.

Chaos is where the unexpected happens. 

They are the transitions and moments of disruption that offer unique opportunities for insight and wisdom.

The constant handling of big and small obstacles and setbacks, ironically, is what provides meaning to our lives. It is almost as if a Gateway or threshold has to be crossed, signifying the commitment of the journey from the ‘Hero’ who is able to successfully complete the ‘test of life’.

Life transitions are the interesting chapters of our internal autobiographies, that provide us with the opportunity, tools and the reason to transform ourselves for the better.

We need to take small steps, or ‘microsteps’ to accept these transition moments, visualize and plan out the change, shed our old ways, unveil our transformation and the resulting new self, and to storify the entire transition.

Whether it is about the 'secular' or the 'buffet' Buddhism, individuals admit embracing these practices as they prove more efficient both from an emotional and a financial point of view.se

One of Buddhism's most popular teaching is the so-called 'impermanence. The term refers to the idea that everything has an end, no matter how difficult might seem to deal with at a certain point in time.

• Gore watchers typically have low empathy, high sensation seeking, and a strong identification with the killer.
• Thrill watchers typically have both high empathy and sensation seeking;they identify themselves more with the victims and like the suspense of the film.
• Independent watchers typically have a high empathy for the victim along with a high positive effect for overcoming fear.
• Problem watchers typically have high empathy for the victim but are characterized by negative effect (particularly a sense of helplessness).

• Dr. Carl Jung believed horror films “tapped into primordial archetypes buried deep in our collective subconscious – images like shadow and mother play important role in the horror genre”.
• Horror films are watched as a way of purging negative emotions and/or as a way to relieve pent-up aggression.
• Horror movies are enjoyed because the people on screen getting killed deserve it.
• Cultural historian David Skal has argued that horror films simply reflect our societal fears.

Today, instead of slaying a dragon, he has to slay his flawed notion of manhood. He has to prove his inner-hero courage by becoming a fully empowered, authentic, emotionally open and honest man, first with himself, and ultimately with everyone.

Men need to learn to be emotionally honest in relationships. When a man musters the courage to share his deepest truth, he creates a platform for his inner hero to develop.

A man who is his own hero doesn’t surrender to fear, and never allows fear to dictate his behavior. He stands up to his fear because he knows how to move beyond it. 

• Be aware of your emotions such as fear, sadness and shame.
• Writing down your feelings or doing certain rituals or activities to cope up with the loss is a great way to transition your life.
• A ritualistic gesture becomes a statement and a metaphor for your emotions to take a physical form.

Shedding of something we have long clung to, like a certain mindset, delusion, habit or dream, is part of the messy middle.

It clears the unwanted parts of your life, creating space for something new to blossom.