It is amazing how many people struggle with the list of 100 things they want to do in their life time. Life becomes so hectic and difficult for most people that they can only focus on what is going to happen today, tomorrow, next month and maybe, only maybe, next year.

I think if you scanned people’s brain, you would find that their brain is busy, busy, busy, thinking about the dishes, the bills, the alarm clock and shopping with only small breaks for planning next month’s birthday party. Most people are in survival mode. When I ask about next year or what is going to happen in ten years, they look at me as if I fell from the sky.

“Ronit, you are nuts. There are so many things we need to sort out now that we don’t have time to think about next year”. And life goes by and gets taken over by city council payments, lunch boxes and stress.

I am busy too, with laundry, cooking, driving the kids to and from school, working and washing the dishes, but I say, “There are so many things we need to sort out that we cannot afford not to think about next year or what we want five or ten years from now”.

I think the sad thing about people is that they do not understand they are dying (read my story about Jasmine Banks) and that life is short and if we do not have dreams and wishes, we miss out on one of the most important thing in life, hope.

Pandora’s Box

In the Greek mythology, there is a story of a box Zeus gave Pandora with the clear instruction never to open it. Because Pandora was so curios about the box, she opened the box and released all the evil, disease and sorrow in the world. Her curiosity released sickness and suffering, hatred, jealousy and greed. Realizing what she had done, Pandora tried to close the box, but it was too late.

When she thought the box was empty, a tiny, shiny, fluttering spirit came out of the box. It was hope.

Yes, I know there was so much stress and sadness in that box that people are too busy with all the bad spirits they forget that hope was there, although hope is the only thing that can overcome all those bad things.

I think the sad thing is that people need to go through a crisis to understand the importance of dreams and start planning for the future. Many clients I see are so stressed with what is happening now, they are so reactive and in survival mode, that planning is out of the question. They have lost hope. They have lost the belief that they have any control over their life. Funny, but sometimes I feel that coaching is a business of helping people find the hope in their own Pandora’s boxes.

How to win the battle against the bad spirits?

Stop blaming Pandora for what happens in your life and remember that each of us got the box at birth and released the bad spirits. Do not try to push the lid back onto the box. It is impossible and a waste of too much energy. There will always be bad stuff in your life, and hope is the answer.

• Stop counting bad spirits and start counting hopes.
• Happiness was there before the box. Find your happiness.
• Surround yourself with optimists. Their hopes are awake and doing their job and at the same time stay away from pessimists, or you will have to handle their bad spirits too.
• Make a list of hopes for the day.
• Make a list of hopes for the week.
• Make a list of hopes for the month (you get it, right?).

Make the list of 100 things you want to do in your lifetime. It sounds hard, but it is important and very effective in sending messages to your subconscious that you are focusing on the good things in life, rather than the bad things. Be creative. Feel free to write about all the love you want, all the money, all the feelings, all the fame, all the abundance, all the toys, all the relationships and all the comfort. You deserve it all.

Thoughts are contracts we sign with our subconscious mind. Hopes are contracts the subconscious is happy to fulfil

Ronit Baras