Queen Elizabeth, 91 years old today, is the longest-serving monarch in the world and recently gave an interview for the first time, with a journalist in front of her, who asked her questions at the same time. This rare appearance of hers excited even more the British and the media, who found her particularly approachable, honest and with a strong sense of humor.
The first thing I keep from this news is that journalist Alastair Bruce, who has been covering all these years of Palace issues, has besieged her for 22 years to give him an interview. And he succeeded! It is another example for those who believe that the persistence it is a key characteristic of all successful people. (And this, of course, is a truth that we have seen proven in practice.)
Because persistence is about steadfastly sticking to a course of action, an idea, or a goal, despite the obstacles, difficulties, or discouragement we may experience. Persistence connects you to commitment, the self discipline and the action. It gives you the mood to face difficulties calmly without complaining or blaming others. It has the ability to make us look for ways to get through the obstacles that are in our way, without looking for excuses to avoid them. When we stick to our goal, we do our best and we don't give up easily!
The second thing that stuck in my mind is the fact that in her interview Queen Elizabeth, as she recalls details of her coronation that took place 65 years ago, makes jokes about the size and weight of the crown...
"Fortunately my father and I have the same head shape. But once you put it on you have to stand there the same way. Just stay there. You can't look down when you make a speech, but you have to raise the paper with your speech up. Because if you don't, your neck will break and the crown will fall," she says of her crown, which weighs about 1.2 kilograms. "So you understand there are some drawbacks to crowns, otherwise they are very important things," he continues.
At another point, he says that the ride through the streets of London, in the golden carriage and from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, where the coronation took place, was "horrible" because the vehicle did not have good suspensions at all... At the same time, he adds, that the dress she wore was so heavy that when she was asked to walk down the aisle of the Abbey, at one point she "stuck" and could not move forward.
Maybe now you are thinking: "wow, problems the world has"... But if we think about it better we can say that for this man, who has grown up in such an - ideal for many - environment and has created his own values and beliefs within that, those are probably real problems too.
The fact is that something that you are currently experiencing as a problem, maybe, someone else experiences it as luck. And what you experience as a failure, someone else might experience it as an experience or a lesson that made them better. What you experience as a dead end, someone else may experience as an opportunity for change. If we exclude the essentially serious problems of survival, the rest of the conditions could be considered problems or challenges or whatever, through each person's subjective view.
What is certain is that there will always be problems, if we continue to think in that direction of the problem and not in its possible solutions. Even if we meet in heaven, very soon we might say "that's nice, but..." As soon as the "but" starts coming in, that's when the problem starts. A permanent perpetual search for "the best" that when driven by the unsatisfied, never stops and constantly experiences problems.
Does it never stop?
Unfortunately never.
How satisfied are you with what you already have?
Because if I'm not satisfied with what I already have I'll never be satisfied no matter how much I get. Because that's how I've learned to think. It's a matter of mindset.
What is your mindset? Are you enjoying what you have while evolving or are you lacking? Are you looking at the problem or the solution? Or do you use clever excuses?
Antonis Kalogirou in his book "the Dynamics of Success» tells the story of a university professor in America who once gave a lecture on alcoholism and the problems it creates. Also in the packed room was a group of about thirty-five alcoholics who had been brought in from a nearby institution in the hope of being helped by those who would listen. At some point in his speech, the professor took out a can from his pocket and asked for two glasses to be brought to him. He put water in one glass and alcohol in the other, opened the can, and after calling the attention of the audience he took out a live worm, put it in the glass of water and said:
"Watch, please, the worm's efforts to get out of the glass, and see what happens next."
Then he took the worm with tweezers and put it in the glass with the alcohol. The worm naturally died instantly. The professor then asked his audience:
"What did you understand from what happened now?"
Then one of the group of alcoholics jumped up and said to him:
"I realized that when I drink, I kill germs."
All of us see the world inside of us every day.
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The article was published on epixeiro.gr: www.epixeiro.gr/article/76573
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