Pat Mesiti: The Most Common Responses To Life Crises Are Denial, Resistance And Acceptance

By Author: Alex Carlson
Total Articles: 25
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Each one of us faces crises in life that take different forms and different shapes. For an adult, crises could be facing bankruptcy, loss of a friend, or a death in the family. For a man, a crisis could be the loss of a job. To a teenager, a crisis might be to have a pimple on a first date. In a way perplexing to men, some ladies face a crisis when they break a nail on an important outing or cannot find the right pair of shoes to match a dress. In these latter examples, time often reveals a latent humour in the crisis that we never realised when struggling to overcome it.
There are three common responses to crises. The first is denial. We tend to bury our heads in the sand and hope the problem will somehow mysteriously and painlessly disappear in a short period of time. The second common response is resistance. This is when we fight what's happening or fight ourselves in a futile effort to somehow regain something that is lost. The third response is acceptance. We may not necessarily like our situation, but we acknowledge it is real and we are willing to deal with the truth of what is going on around us no matter how ...
... severe or how difficult that problem might be.
Amazingly, denial and resistance generally prolong the pain and delay the resolution of a crisis. In contrast, acceptance of these crises opens the door for us to hope. Harrison E Salisbury said, ‘There is no short cut to life. To the end of our days, life is a lesson imperfectly learned.' How true are his words - we have to move out of denial and resistance and learn to accept and move on. For me, life is a continual process of change. I've learned to be brutally honest, to accept not just my failures and shortcomings, but also my strengths.
I have been wiped out financially, emotionally and even spiritually, but each time I have looked back on what made me successful, regathered those principles that made me successful, and put them into operation again. I have had to hang on to what I believe. During one of my worst crises, I spent a lot of time in the unwilling and unresolved attitude of resistance. At times I blamed others for my situation, but mostly I blamed myself. Yet blame is ineffectual; it's a form of resistance because it doesn't really change anything. At times I lingered in denial refusing to believe what was happening. I hoped it was a bad dream that would go away. It wasn't until acceptance hit me that I could begin to rebuild, realign and reassess.
It has been said that the pace at which we learn is in direct proportion to our determination to rise above doubt and transcend the limitations. Part of learning is to become responsible for our own lives and actions. Whether you like it or not, you are ultimately responsible for your actions and decisions, regardless of circumstances.
The great poet John Keats said, ‘Failure... is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true'. When you live in denial and resistance you delay finding out what is actually true.
Challenge
Don't live in denial, don't keep resisting: learn to accept and move on. Make sure you are the kind of person who moves on to acceptance and therefore on to change.
Other Motivational Books by Pat Mesiti
Attitudes and Altitudes
Pat Mesiti at his best! This book addresses the "how's" of leadership. It deals with vital principles such as leader development, how to network people and how to bring out the best in those around you. Pat Mesiti speaks on: growing big people, passion, leadership, mentoring, encouragement, attitude, credibility.

Dreamers Never Sleep
Pat Mesiti, in his comical yet challenging way, will show you how to: replace wrong perceptions with winning attitudes, deal positively with change, define your destiny, go beyond the 'norm', handle failure and discover what success really is and how it can affect your world.

Opportunity Knocks
If you are one of those millions of people around the world waiting for an opportunity to take your life to another level, then this book is for you.
1) recognize opportunities
2) grab opportunities that come your way
3) Persevere with opportunities
Wake Up and Dream
Discover the power of personal vision and how your dreams can help change the world.
The various topics include: how to rise above the limitations of your past, defining your dream, developing a plan to make your dream a reality, developing character, skills and attitudes that facilitate change, and unlocking the gifts and talents of those around you.
To obtain more information on Pat Mesiti's Motivational Books, CD's and products, or to book Pat as a Motivational Speaker for an upcoming event please visit www.mesiti.com