Build Upon

Symbolism: What is a Strong Foundation?

/ jmfelicjan / Leave a comment

Hi everyone, hope your well. So this topic is something that I learned a few years back. My dad had taught me this concept and I learned how important it is to have a strong foundation in anything you do not just construction work.

What is a Foundation?

Maybe some of you are familiar with this concept, if not that’s ok. As you can see with the picture above, that is the foundation of a building in the works. The concrete and metal rods are going to support all the walls, floors, appliances, people, and so many other things. If this all wasn’t in place, the floor built above it would collapse; which also means that any floor built above the second floor will come crumbling down as well.

That being said, building upon your core morals and values is no different. You need a strong foundation to do so.

Why it’s Important to Have a Strong Foundation

Having a strong foundation keeps things stable and afloat. That’s a general way to put it. Building upon a foundation takes time. The end goal is different for every person. Some things take more time to build and create.

However, building or creating something comes with setbacks. Things don’t always go the way you plan. Things break and there are delays; that’s just life. Whatever it is your building or creating can come start to crumble along the way.

The same can be said if your trying to eliminate bad habits and replace them with good ones. The concept applies to those who are rewiring their mindsets to stop negative thinking and negative self-talk to positive self-talk and positive thinking.

If things start falling apart, it’s not the end of the world. If you have a strong foundation, you can rebuild without having to start from scratch. If you try to incorporate a new habit into your life it’s not always easy. You have good days of progress, some days you don’t; then there are those days you take a few steps back.

The Consequences of Not Having a Strong Foundation

Not having a strong foundation can bring everything down and it’s harder to pick yourself up from that. Mentally, fear can set in and cause high levels of anxiety and depression. Some people don’t like to start something from scratch after they spent so much time building it or creating it. As demonstrated from the pic above, though the real reason for why this building came down is unknown, the point is that it will have to be rebuilt from scratch.

So ask yourself this, do prefer to create something fast and build upon it risking that the whole thing will need to be rebuilt from the ground up if something happens to it? Or do you prefer to build something and take your time while solidifying a strong foundation?

Wrap Up

If you struggle with building a strong foundation in different aspects of your life, your not alone. It took me time to create one and people are in the process of creating one, rebuilding from scratch, and building upon a foundation already established right now. Fear, uncertainty, high levels of stress, sometimes depression, and chaos can occur if a strong foundation isn’t established mentally. Quality is important; if you build a foundation right, it will last a long time, and you will be happy that you did.

Take care, stay safe, and remember your not alone and you have worth in this world.

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Symbolism: What You Build and Create is Different Than Others

/ jmfelicjan / Leave a comment

You are Your Own Person

My very first post when I started this blog was a post on comparing yourself to others. This concept is a real struggle for some people. So for this symbolism post I thought I talk about in another perspective.

As we get older, we begin to create our own lifestyle. However, other people’s lifestyles can make us feel jealous and envyness. Sometimes we focus our mindset towards what others. This can be because they either have qualities, traits, or material things that we want or we think their way of life is than ours.

So I want you to focus on the first tree in the center of the pic. What do you notice? It’s not a huge tree. It looks to be in good health. It has a handful of branches that aren’t real big or long, but it has a bunch of green leaves.

Someone planted this tree and mother nature has been good to it and taken care of it. Now this tree didn’t get this way over night or in 1 week. It took time for it to get this way. Just like when you build or create something big like a house or a diorama, it takes time and effort to complete them.

Now don’t get me wrong, some things can get done in a day or less than a days time. The point is that every big business or actors successful TV and/or film career didn’t come about in a short time. That business success and fame took time to grow.

Now look at this pic. What’s different from the first? Well there are more trees. These trees are very big. They have more branches and they are longer and stronger. These individual trees have way more leaves on them.

Each of these trees are in good health and they have been around for a long time. Now think back what I just mentioned about the first tree. These trees have had more time to become what they are.

Overall Point

Success isn’t always achieved overnight or in a days time. The bigger and biggest things take time, energy, and effort to develop. Everyone starts from a different starting line. If you have built and created something and it’s only gotten as successful as the progress of the first tree, that’s fine. Don’t let the success of people and the creation of other things (the big trees) discourage you.

You don’t always know the full story. Those that make it appear like everything is going great and problem free, may be hiding some huge problems. If that’s the case, you should feel lucky that you don’t have to deal with those huge problems.

Some people only like talking about their successes which isn’t a bad thing. However, this can give push people away and intimidate them into thinking that they are not good enough or failures. They may think that nothing wrong ever happens to that person.

Now this goes into how someones mindset is. If it’s a pessimistic one, then that can cause unwanted stress. If it’s a optimistic one, someone can be happy for the other person’s accomplishment and maybe even get inspired from it.

One last thing, don’t put down or make fun of whatever someone else has created and built regardless of the size. A lot of work and passion went into creating whatever it is. The person who created it probably feels proud of it. Be nice to one another.

Take care, stay safe, and remember your not alone and you have worth in this world.

Symbolism: Foundations The Ones We Can See and Can’t See

/ jmfelicjan / Leave a comment

When it comes to building anything in life, you always need a solid foundation to start out with. Building a skyscraper for example needs a strong foundation to be built upon. The Empire State Building, Washington Monument, the Sphinx, or the Temple of Heaven wouldn’t be what they are without firm foundations. Not all foundations consist of bricks, wood, nails, beams, stones, concrete, or other building materials.

A lasting, strong, and meaningful relationship with a friend, loved one, business partner, family member, etc needs a strong foundation too. As time goes on, you build more and more on top of your foundation. You continue to expand reaching new heights, learning new skills, and acquiring new kinds of knowledge.

Build Upon

Once your foundation is well established, you can start adding more. In the picture above, these construction workers are building the next part of the building. They wouldn’t be able to do that if the foundation at the bottom wasn’t strong and keeping things up.

Going back the relationship aspect, taking the next step can succeed if the foundation is solid. For example, say you decide you want to marry your girlfriend after 2 months of dating. What you should ask yourself is if the foundation of your relationship is strong enough to make the leap into the engagement phase and then into marriage.

How well do you really know her? Do you know her likes and dislikes of foods, movies, pets, hobbies, etc? How well do you and her handle and resolve arguments? Are you willing to spend the rest of your life with her and living with her day in and day out? Do you sympathize and empathize with her and vice versa? Does she contribute you what you contribute to the relationship?

All these questions are the building pieces of a foundation. If you can’t answer some of these questions, your missing a piece or pieces that will be needed to not only keep the foundation strong, but those pieces are needed to be built upon in the future.

Changing things up a bit. If you want to marry your girlfriend after 2 years of dating, that’s a different story. Chances are both of you have spent a lot of time getting to know one another. You both know each other’s likes and dislikes. You both know how to handle and resolve arguments. There is a strong connection between the two of you where you don’t second guess each others actions. With these things in mind, your in better shape to live together and spend the rest of your life with her.

Wrap Up

Foundations help shape us into who we are. They are also what keeps big buildings standing. If a building was missing pieces as it was being built, that can spell trouble, but it wouldn’t be catastrophic. If the foundation is solid, what’s broken can be fixed in an easier way.

Now if the building was missing pieces and the foundation wasn’t solid, there is a chance the foundation could crumble and then nothing could be built upon it; the foundation would have to be started from scratch. Think of this in a relationship aspect. Arguments and fights can cause damage to a relationship. Sometimes pieces need to be put back together and the stronger the foundation, the easier it is to pick up the pieces.

Take care, stay safe, and remember your not alone and you have worth in this world.