“I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.

I can see all obstacles in my way.

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.

It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)

Sun-shiny day.

It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)

Sun-shiny day.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone.

All of the bad feelings have disappeared.

Here is the rainbow I’ve been praying for.

It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)

Sun-shiny day.”

Johnny Nash – I can see clearly now

The song above came into my head one day and just stuck. I thought it was so apt as I had made some changes in my life and had clarity about so many things. As I mentioned last week, it’s about finding that balance. The thing is, it’s not easy to find the balance if there is no clarity. How do you get that clarity? What makes the ability to gain clarity so important? In today’s world that seems to be so unpredictable and full of chaos, clarity is very often your greatest friend. It helps you to cut through the noise all around you and keeps you focused on what is important and what is not. At the end of the day, it’s not only about being able to see clearly when the dark clouds go but knowing and understanding the power you have. It’s about knowing what you can and cannot control.

What can you control? You can control your attitude. No matter the circumstances, you are the one that controls your attitude. You are the one to decide how you show up day in, day out. Do you show up with optimism knowing that it’s going to be a bright day, even if there are dark clouds, or do you just accept the dark clouds? It doesn’t mean that you ignore what’s going on around you and ignore the emotions that are there, it just means you accept and own them and decide how they will influence your next move.

You control your efforts. As you know, life is unpredictable, and you don’t always get the results you want, but you determine the level of effort you put in. It’s all on you, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a project at work, your relationships, or your personal growth and development. The commitment and the amount of effort are up to you, and how consistent is controlled by you.

You know that old saying: you can’t dictate what others do, but you can choose how to respond. If someone does something that upsets you, how do you respond? Do you react with anger or count to ten? Will you retaliate by lashing out, or do you draw the line in the sand and set your boundaries? Your reaction is up to you, but we are human, and I know it’s not easy to stand firm in your truth and push back against the ones that you know will push your buttons. Always remember you have the power to decide how to react.

The choices are yours to make when all the decisions of life are presented to you daily. You are the one that decides what should be the priorities. What to keep and what to get rid of. What to push and what to push back against. It’s important to know that these choices, no matter how small, can shape and determine the direction you take in life. The small things can make big impacts. The easiest way to eat an elephant is a small piece at a time. Small steps are important, and always remember it’s up to you because you control your destiny.

The way other persons behave is way out of your control. You can try to influence, inspire, or set the example of how to do things, but at the end of the day, you can’t control how they behave. Trying to control others and their behavior will very often leave you frustrated and drained.

The past is as it is: the past, it can’t be changed. Whatever happened before is now written in stone and cannot be changed, so work with it and don’t stress. Learn from the past and remember to own it, but never let it own you.

You can put in a tremendous amount of work and think you have everything down pat, and everything falls apart, and you don’t get the outcome you expected. This happens because life is unpredictable. Life is as you see it, and there is no formula that you can use to make it perfect, and therefore sometimes things end up being out of your hands. We can plan, but as the old Jamaican saying goes, “man a plan, God a wipe”. Which simply means that you can plan all you want, but life is so unpredictable that anything can happen.

So, do the words of the song speak to you? Do you see clearly or will you just continue to have the dark clouds overhead? Can you push aside the issues and work towards having everything work for you? How do you get clarity?

Let me know what you think; I really want to know, and I am sure others do too. Try commenting 👍🏽, but if you are not comfortable, reach out to me via any medium. I would love it if you would say something, anything, and tell someone. 🙏🏽 Your comments let me know how you feel and very often give me a totally different perspective on the topic. It could also spawn another blog. 😉. And you can never tell your comment might help others. Always remember life is for living, and you must always live your best life. #lifeisforliving #liveyourbestlife #gratefulforlife #faithgreaterthanfear

See you next Wednesday at 8:00 p.m., Bogotá time.