Events that take place in one's life are certainly more subtle than they might appear. But sometimes the universe presents us with unexpected situations that seem too big for us to bear. How do we respond to these events? Is our current methodology of responding the best we can do?

In the Big Picture, if one believes in an afterlife, then death itself and its meaning certain can carry with it a big question mark. In terms of unexpected and seemingly negative events- like the loss of a job, the end of a long friendship, a demand for payment on money you just don't have- can seem like a negative event. But sometimes that very negative even can force us to find a better job, a more enduring relationship and a better, faster and more profitable way to make. But that, sometimes requires us to take a different attitude towards the unexpected and the apparently negative. Sometime, we have to use Jiu-Jitsu on the Universe.

Actually, this is a metaphor. Jiu-Jitsu is a martial art known for using one 's opponent's force against him. It is a method of leveraging a seemingly smaller amount of force against a greater one. When Archimedes said, "Give me where to stand, and I will move the earth," he was referring to the principle of leverage. If the lever is long enough, Archimedes could conceivably move the Earth itself.

In a recent film, the Secret, fifty-two teachers speak of their form of leverage in the wake of unexpected events. Their long levers are responses to seemingly negative events, responses filled with gratitude, forgiveness and positive expectation for the future. "I will find a better job. I will find a better relationship. I will find the money to pay this bill." One could even say, "I thank God for my new job, my better relationship, for finding the money to pay the bill, etc." After all, in these types of cases, one doesn't even know what the future will hold. Why bother to take a negative route, when, indeed, one could use positive thinking and feeling to keep one on a better, more productive path?

One of the techniques used in the movie The Secret is live a life expressing gratitude daily. The practice has been around for centuries. All truely great people of the past and present know the secret of expressing feelings of gratitude daily to attract more great things into thier lives thus to defeat the seeming negative effects by the using power of spiritual Jiu-Jitsu, a force empowered by the potentially positive forces innate in every human being.