FROM DREAM TO FULFILMENT

Filaments are the structural proteins of the cells in the human body, and form together to make the cytoskeleton, that provides the strength and rigidity of each cell. Good to learn something new every day of our lives? The human body must therefore be full of filaments. Not filments that are full. No, those are fulfilments (lol) – the writer hasn’t gone crazy; it’s the Festive after all). Filaments are corporeal, while fulfilment (the sensation from it) is cerebral.  Personal fulfilment in life is a golden target. Let’s explore a few of the many routes to achieve that; hopefully enlightening or thought-provoking.

 Stage

While this subject of the sense of fulfilment may be targeting the under-50s there is no stage in your life where the door is closed to achieving more. Because ‘not yet’ is what it’s all about. Your life is going to be longer than that. When somebody asks me whether I’ve brushed my teeth every night of my life, I reply ‘not yet’. Fulfilment is almost synonymous with achievement while the concept of success is so closely linked to wealth and status from other means, that it is inclined to exclude achievement in the less tangible sense. While, arguably, the best measures of success in life include many that are non-tangible, here are a few suggestions.

You deal with fear, as encountered from many sources. That’s a big component in the growing-up journey. Overcoming the small fears is secured by confronting them, thus generating the confidence and courage to deal with the bigger fears and challenges that inevitably follow. You find love and friendship. These are among the most powerful contributors to a sense of fulfilment in your life. Loving someone and being loved into the long-term are almost unrivalled, with happiness thrown in. You’re there when friends and loved ones can say: “It’s not what you are, or what you’ve got, or what you’ve achieved that makes me like or love you; it’s how you make me feel when I’m with you.” And don’t forget to love yourself too. You are unique; enjoy that. Feeling and showing genuine gratitude for what you are, and what you have, are essential for personal growth.

Anger

Learn to control anger, avoid hatred and embrace forgiveness. Nobody has asked you to be a saint. Being realistic, controlling anger should mean simply suppressing the bad symptoms. If they threaten to overcome you, then strap on the headphones and play some very wild music; or very calm music. Or get out for a run or a power walk in the fresh air. You must never hit women and children; period. The power created by forgiveness is amazing. It heals mental damage and prevents you from being the only one to continue suffering. Relatives of murder victims have even visited the murderers in jail to express forgiveness. It is proved to assist mental recovery. That search for peace of mind should be similarly adopted by everyone in every day of life. To live with inner peace is to flow with your life and experiences.

Having an interest in life and the world around you, and ideally a passion within it, adds so much to fulfilment and a sense of purpose. If you can make it your career and livelihood, all the better. Being open to ideas and opportunities – enjoying the ‘networking’, made increasingly available through the elaborate communication methods available in modern society.
Enjoying good health or fighting to achieve and sustain it, is vital. The quality of life is so directly linked to your state of health. Whether it be in diet or a determined, unerring commitment to very regular physical exercise (Oh, why did I get lazy recently just because it was so hot?). Usually, that’s entirely in your own hands, and feet of course.

Concept

Leaving a footprint, however small, in this world is important. Very close to the concept of preferring to give, than to receive, is where you take that proactively out to society. It may be assisting in a voluntary activity that benefits far more people than yourself or simply committing yourself to helping someone every day. Making a conscious effort to help people less equipped than yourself leads to thinking less about yourself and happiness in the long run. Failure is a normal part of the path to success. Thomas Edison, the great American inventor, responsible inter alia for the electric light bulb, said: “I haven’t failed; I’ve just found 10 000 ways that didn’t work.”

You need goals. Just like the guy who provides the ‘assists’ on the football pitch, you have to make your goals. Create the route to achievement with a set of strategies, then a roadmap and finally to a set of quantified and time-bound targets. Sounds like an overkill perhaps, but that’s the way to define a clear route forward to realising your goals, hence the popularity of the now somewhat clichéd phrase ‘going forward’. Money does not create happiness. But it does provide safety and stability which improves your sense of contentment and allows you freedom and resources to follow an honest and productive life. You should have enough that you don’t fret at the end of each month as the bills come in. Financial stability – it doesn’t have to be great wealth - definitely reduces worry and stress. How sad that not everyone is so capacitated. The Communist ideology sought to remedy that. But in practice, it simply didn’t work. The law of the jungle prevails.

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