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by: Gary Szenderski

The Search for Solace

A Sixty-Word Short Story: *

Carl struggled with the waves of negativity that seemed to pour into his psyche on a daily basis. He tried to ignore the news, the social media feeds, and the sometimes-serious complaining about the state of the world overheard in checkout lines. He looked to escape the noise, find a respite, and calm his weary heart. He found refuge within.

And more…

Sometimes it seems that the world is spiritually bankrupt, often barren of joy and full of doubt. Not a great place to be, yet here we are. But as Alexander Pope famously said in 1734: “Hope springs eternal.” And with it a chance to escape today’s ennui and find a moment of inspiration and peace of mind. Today, Hope and its big sister Faith are alive and well as we find ourselves in the midst of Passover and Easter. These very holy days are not only filled with ritual, prayer and history but they celebrate a new life where God wins and we’re all able to tap into the power of peace, and fellowship – a time and space where true solace can be found.

All of us need a way to escape the burdens of life and distress and each of us follows our own path to find what Carl from our story desperately needed. He eventually went inside himself to calm his own inner turbulence. Like Carl, when we find ourselves stuck with bad news all around us it’s hard to just turn it off. In fact, we can’t. We’re encased in an onslaught of negative news and distress where social media is playing with our minds, feeding us untruths, products that don’t work, and digital traps that steal our identity, money and sense of self. Whew! Sorry. I didn’t intend to be so negative but wow it’s hard to ignore.

That being said, fortunately, we have a gift from our Creator which gives us the ability to change the narrative for ourselves. It’s called free will and it’s the most powerful tool known to man. It enables us to choose not only what we experience but how we absorb it into our psyche. We get to decide how “things” good or bad will affect us. It’s not so much ignoring things as it is filtering and categorizing them. Our free will is designed to help us take charge of how we see our world and put a positive spin on whatever needs to be spun. This whole paragraph is my spin on how to frame the moments of our life in such a way that fits with who we are, not who we’re told to be. When we access our power to be the master of our thoughts, we gain the upper hand. We emerge from the darkness, and we create our own sanctuary. A place where solace can be found and we’re in charge of what happens next.

The Final Thought: Prayer, meditation, mantras and ritual open a channel to the unknown where we can connect to our source and ask for what our heart seeks. It’s the fertile ground where all things are possible and we’re in the driver’s seat.   

* The Premise (Opening short story): Always 60 words. No more. No Less. For more stories like this and information about my books, please visit www.szenzone.com

Szenzone – Stories of life and the power to change yours – is sent via email by request and is published weekly or thereabouts. For back issues or to receive this publication directly please email [email protected]  © Gary Szenderski 2025 All Rights Reserved. Gary is an author, branding specialist and teaches at the University of California in Irvine. He specializes in helping people and organizations navigate change – if you or your company needs assistance contact Gary directly.  Gary resides in Southern California and welcomes your comments.

by: Gary Szenderski
From the Book of Szen

When Things Go Bad

“So, I’m down and so I’m out but so are many others. So I feel like trying to hide my head ‘neath these covers.” *

Sometimes things come at us and we feel helpless and simply want to hide. We wonder what we did to deserve the bad times and how in the world we will survive. It’s just one thing after another in waves of disappointment and fear and even the strongest of us lose faith. And of course, when we lose faith, we lose everything.

For example… a father was taking his two young girls to school. He had to stop on the way to buy some gas. He looked in his wallet and saw seven dollars – five and two ones. The ones would go to his daughters for lunch, and his last five dollars would go into the tank. As he watched the gas pump counting out the last pennies he possessed, he looked at the car he was driving (a very old Oldsmobile with no air conditioning, power steering or radio and bald tires to boot) and wondered how in the world he would be able to take care of his children. Business was horrible and the rent was late. The click of the pump brought him back to the present and he had to hurry to get the kids to school on time. He jumped into the car and sped off, but he had neglected to take the hose out of the gas tank and pulled it right out of the pump, dragging it behind the car as a metaphor for his own personal nadir. He wanted to cry…

“But I’ll keep my head up high although I’m kind of tired. My gal just up and left last week, and Friday I got fired. I know it’s kind of funny, but things can’t get worse than now.” *

Bad things can happen to good people. Negative things can happen to positive people. And unexpected things can happen to people that plan. Such is life and often the yin and yang of our existence treat and exposes all of us to situations that beat us up, bring us down and zap all remnants of positive energy right out of our psyche. How we react in these situations determines to what extent we can be controlled by what’s going on “outside” versus what we know to be true about ourselves on the “inside.” We could lose money, love, and people in our lives and begin to feel that somehow, we deserve the bad luck and that it’s entirely our fault. We also know the pain of not being able to help someone we care about navigate through difficult times, perhaps we even have first-hand experience: Be it divorce, family death, illness, job loss or whatever, it often feels like the pain, stress and sorrow will never end.

However, even though we may slip into an ennui of pity and desperation, we can’t forget that the engine inside of us is still beating with a force of will that is legendary. The same willpower that creates heroes from POW’s and inspiration from darkness works inside each of us to bring us through the challenges we face. An inner sanctum of positive power is available to help us succeed in the midst of defeat and thrive amongst the barren landscapes we sometimes face. Not my law; God’s law.

I’ve been told and I believe that life is meant for living and even when my chips are low, there’s still some left for giving.” *

In the face of a mental, physical, financial or emotional meltdown, here are two things to remember:

1. You are not alone. You may feel like you want to be alone or maybe that no one understands or cares, but that is shortsighted and just plain poor thinking. There are people in your life that care and can help, even if it’s just listening to your plight. Invite them into a dialog with your inner and truer self and you’ll be surprised at the positive outcomes you can create.

2. Seriously, you are not alone. ‘Nuff said.

* Lyrics from the song entitled “Cycles” performed by Frank Sinatra.

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The Final Thought: If any of you are reading this, feeling like you’re on an island and want to talk, please respond to this email and we’ll have a chat. I’m all ears.