To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them. I’m sure you’ve heard these famous lines from Hamlet. Traditionally, they’re interpreted as Hamlet wrestling with life and death—whether to endure the pain of existence or to end it all, afraid of what might come after. He’s stuck, frozen by his fear of the unknown, unable to act. This is the common reading of Hamlet’s soliloquy, one of indecision and mental paralysis. There is a Hamlet in All of Us When life becomes overwhelming, when fear starts ruling our minds, we too get stuck. We wrestle with that same question— to act, or not to act —and the fear of what might happen if we do something stops us from moving forward. When faced with overwhelming challenges, we often find ourselves paralyzed by fear—fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of consequences. We get trapped...

Your Environment Doesn't Determine Who You Are... YOU DO Very often , when we feel stuck, we remember the old saying that our external environment—the circumstances, the people around us, the situations we encounter—Molds who we are and what we do. I confess that in facing my current struggles, I've found myself pulled by this mental trap. I've repeatedly told myself that my environment is imperfect, my situation is unconducive, that I am in an oppressive, negative, and bleak grey environment. This has led me to a state of helplessness, hopelessness, and feeling engulfed by negativity. Beyond Influence Yes, our environments and circumstances, the people, the situations—they do influence us. But only to the extent that we allow. Today, through this blog, I want to challenge both myself and you. Challenge the mindset that you are a product of your surroundings. The Internal Battle Within us, every day, two equal and opposite forces are born. One is oppressive, whisperin...