Stalin and You

Stalin ended his life with a reputation of being a brutal despot that killed, destroyed and over lorded his people. A man that wanted to start again from ground zero and that meant certain death for a lot of people.That’s me above at his - Stalin's - museum just last week in Gori, Georgia. Gori also being the place of the last Russia invasion against Georgia, which resulted in the now infamous 5-day war in 2008. In the museum on the wall in the Kartuli language (Georgian) there are many quotes that would surprise you. One being from no other than Winston Churchill. Roughly translated he said … Stalin is a great person, genius leader and the right person for these critical times… He is a man that will make history make no mistake…"I stood for a moment to ask, "What went wrong?" What took the powerhouse Stalin into a state of destruction? An hour later after we covered the whole museum and Stalin’s actual home from childhood we carried on our drive to Bori where we have a summer home. As I sat in the back I couldn't help but think about Stalin and think about life and how life changes.Not just how it changes but why it changes, what happens when we don't move with the changes, what if we resist or what if we allow the changes to flow? So many question racing around my mind. My own life has two defining parts that's for sure. My first life was very different to my new second life.Will my third life arrive and what will it look like? There really is only one way to live a life of living and that is to create the life we need. I say need because most people chase the life they want and rarely think about the life they need.Why is that?Is it simply because we are all shaped to question nothing and accept what we are given?Stalin, of course, must have question everything yet it appears he took the leap of what he knew the nation needed into what he wanted for the nation. This, of course, led to disaster. So clearly there is a fine line between what you want and what you need. This world is all about what you want.They tell us daily, day in, day out about what we want. So the human mantra becomes I want one of those, I want that car, I want that computer, I want that house, I want this or that yet most will rarely ask the question… "It might be what I want but is it what I really need?" Here's an example for you.I met a guy that really wanted a new house. He wanted it so much there house would dominate his thoughts daily to the point that he worked more, got paid more, saved more until the time arrived when he finally got the house he wanted. He loved it, loved it, loved it. His wife loved it, his kids loved it, it was everything he and his family wanted. Yet the want came with problems and the problems kept increasing. The house he always wanted came at a price. It meant he had to work longer hours for the next 25 years. it meant he would spend less time with his kids. It meant that he would see his wife less and else because if he didn't keep up the hard work there would never be enough money to pay for the house he wanted, the car he wanted, the holidays he wanted and just about everything else he wanted. Then arrived the day when after working over 100 hours a week for 6 years he arrived home not to his wife and kids but to an empty home. His wife had gone and taken the kids with her. There was a note and the note said… "I thought this life was everything I wanted - it isn't and I can't do it anymore" That was it - his first life had come to a close. As he sat at home wondering what had gone wrong he asked himself this question… "I may have wanted those things but did I actually need them, did we as a family need them?" For the first time in six years his thoughts had shifted due to his cataclysmic event. Now he was asking about what he needed not what he wanted. He sat in his home alone as the 'for sale' sign went up and thought about the space that was never used, the garden that was far too big, the huge garage that could take four cars yet he could only just afford one. He needed a home that made him happy, he needed a home that fulfilled his needs not his wants.Stalin was the same. I read a little more about him after the visit. He knew his country needed a strong powerful leader that would direct them and guide them. According to world leaders in the museum that's exactly what he was. Sadly for Stalin and his country he shifted his focus from his countries needs to his own wants. The final result spoke for itself with Stalin living in fear and paranoia until his final day.What kind of life do you need?Do you need a woman that will spoon you, hold you and adore you?Do you need a man that will hold you tight at night, protect you in the daylight and stand-by you at all costs?Your home, partner, job, lifestyle, health and just about any other aspect of your life - are you chasing what you want rather than what you really need?My second life is a life of needs. My first life was a life of wants. Yet it takes a certain type of person to be truly honest and question everything that needs to be questioned. Here's a good measure about what needs to be changed in your life. Whatever you are doing how does it make you feel?A feeling is something that identifies more than just a pain. It identifies and emotion that we don't quite understand that can take us into destruction or into bliss.Does the pressure of paying all of your bills each month make you feel good or bad? I love paying bills and you know why?It now makes me feel good to pay them because paying them is a sign that my life is in order and I can afford to pay them, I am earning enough to pay them and that fulfills a need of mine which is to earn enough money to be comfortable paying my bills. Stalin would have had all his needs fulfilled being the great leader he started off as. The man in the story would have been an even better father if he had focused on his real needs and his families real needs rather than his wants. So … How about you?• Do you need to question more?• Do you need to give more thought to your needs?Of course that's your choice - just a thought. One thing I want to quickly share with you before I go. I have been busy writing my next book. It's a follow up to my first book Escape from Zoomanity. It's very different to the first and written in a very different way to the first also. I think you'll enjoy it, I hope you'll enjoy it. Hopefully, it should be done this year. The working title is… ZOOMANITY - Peeling Back The Layers on Humanity - My Letters To James I hope in some way this ramble did something for you. If it did I'd love you to share what with others - please comment.YoursAlan Forrest Smith