Tag Archives: personal growth

21

Confidence in That

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challenges_aheadEvery person in the world in the history of humanity has been faced with the fact that life is going to be complex or challenging at times. It doesn’t matter what skills and tools you possess, Einstein intelligence, classic beauty, superior physical strength, or massive understanding, you are going to at some time find that life is kicking you around like a rag doll. So naturally, your confidence will be shaken. However, these times are not meant to break you but to strengthen you. The challenge is the thing that will cement your belief in yourself.

Master the Game

It would be nice if life were easy all the time and we had the whole game mastered. But, instead, it is knowing exactly what to do and when. Should I change careers? Is this relationship right for me? Why do I have so many issues, and How do I deal with them?  All of these things are a part of the dance that is life. Life will give you periods where all is calm and nothing but happy times exist, but there are going to be other times that will not be easy. Challenges will most definitely come. And that is OK.

Stretch and Grow

The challenges and the difficulties that we face in life are the things that will force us to stretch and llchagrow in ways that we may never have done before. In fact, without these difficulties in life, we probably wouldn’t have the capabilities and talents that we have. Each hurdle that you have to get over is a teaching tool that has been placed in front of you to allow you to learn, grow and become better than you were before.

When you see a challenge in your life, don’t fear it. Embrace it. The difficulty isn’t going anywhere, and only your attitude and decisions will decide if you learn anything worthwhile or not. It is totally and entirely up to you.

Your confidence will grow as you master the lessons that each challenge brings you. As I see it, the secret is to appreciate, enjoy, and be grateful for the moments that you seem to have everything mastered. Happiness only comes in moments that are happening right now, not in the past or the future. Now. You can be confident in that.

21

My Growth

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One of the choices we have in life is to grow and become more every day we experience or not. In all situations, we are either getting better, or we are getting worse. Nobody ever stays the same.  Some may say, “why worry about growth? Just enjoy what you already have.”  That is true to some degree, but nothing is static. All things are constantly changing, and in many instances, we have a handle on moving in which direction you grow. I choose to pursue growth because it allows one to move toward something being a better human. Becoming your best self and provides a purpose for living. Without meaning, life becomes an empty exercise of activities, knowing something is missing. I want to have a purpose in every moment in life and continually seek to contribute to the world.

Don’t Fear Challenges.

I want to see challenges as an opportunity to become better, to learn, and to grow. So I want to embrace them and do my best to overcome them with strength, dignity, and courage. So many people avoid a challenge because it will be difficult or push them outside of their known talents and existence. But that is what life is about. You don’t have to travel far distances to experience new things and to grow. Challenges are the method life provides. So I want to embrace challenges with courage and understanding.

We do not know everything when we are born or at any stage of life. There are always new things to learn, and the challenges life sends your way are designed to allow greatness to come out of you.  Overcoming a new challenge is suitable for your self-esteem, confidence, and understanding of life and yourself.  Our number one purpose is to become our best selves.

Persistence Is Irreplaceable

Developing a stubborn persistence in the pursuit of things is another reason I prefer growth. When you have a weak mindset, it is straightforward to give up on a goal or a dream if the going gets too complicated. However, when obstacles come, don’t give up. Instead, keep working and develop a plan to get over, under, or around whatever is in your way. This talent is developed through choice, and it is one we will be working on for the entirety of our lives. All the great ones of history had this talent in their toolbox.

Once you decide to avoid difficulty and just quit, you have developed a habit that will stick with you until you learn to accept that not all things in life will come to you quickly. They take ongoing work and focus on overcoming.  When this talent is achieved, what can stand beyond your reach? Keep on trying, and eventually, the key will be yours to whatever door you seek to unlock.

Becoming Great

The effort you give to solve problems, overcome obstacles or meet challenges will determine your skill level at that thing. We are faced with different sorts of challenges every day. To do what we must exist in life, but digging deep inside ourselves to find the strength inside us will push us to keep working at the things we want to do.  Finding time to do something and to do it consistently will make you proficient at it. Seeking constant improvement is going to allow you to see the best that is going to happen.

The path to mastering anything comes with practice and repeated activity.  Keep working, try to become better, and improve. It is the same for learning how to draw or learning to tie your shoe. Practice until you become the best at it.  We are all capable of becoming great at almost anything with enough practice and work. One thing for sure without effort, you will not reach your best.

Learning from Criticism

It can be challenging to hear people be critical of you or your work. But there is an opportunity in that criticism to improve and become better. Some people criticize for no good reason, and others provide supportive, constructive criticism, which is meant to help you. Knowing the difference between the two is how you keep your mind calm, stay positive, and stay motivated. Look honestly at the work you have done and the person talking to you. Not everything is going to be great the first time you try it. However, development is essential, and that is growth.

Do not take critical things about things you create personally, the things you do may resonate with some people, but others are not going to appreciate it.  Expect it and know that it is not an indictment of you as a person. Still, they didn’t understand your work if the criticism is of a personal nature that is something different—probably caused by jealousy or attempted manipulation. How much faith you give will determine how much you are manipulated.  Don’t fear criticism; it isn’t worth it.

Find Inspiration from Others Success

That leads us to the success of others.  It can be hard to watch others reap the rewards, doing something you wanted to do yourself.  Jealousy will get you nowhere, but accepting and appreciating the talents of others can help you grow.  See what they have done and be positively critical to see what you might be able to differently or better.  Too many people waste time on envy or jealousy, and those two emotions will take you nowhere. Instead of working on yourself and your talents, you are sulking in the corner, wishing you were someone else.

Learn the lessons that someone else is teaching you through their success and use them as inspiration to move in the right direction.

“The journey is never-ending. There’s always going to be growth, improvement, adversity; you gotta take it all in and do what’s right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.” – Antonio Brown.

 

21

Player

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e2809call-the-world_s-a-stage-and-and-all-the-men-and-women-merely-players_e2809d-399x400Looking at the experience of living, I can only come to one conclusion, and that is that life is quite a production, like a well-organized play. Designed to teach you lessons along the way, fooling you into believing that you are in control and writing the script of your experience, but life supplies the stage for triumph or tragedy. Revealing slowly, evidently, and entirely that we are not wholly in control of this story but the mere beneficiary of the script. We are left to choose to become this or that, rich or poor, wise or ignorant, accepting or judgmental. We make many choices, but it is all seems to be a deliberate act, and we are merely the actors. Look at the production of your life. Do you like where the plot is taking you? Or do you want a change? The experience will allow you to influence your story if you are wise enough to do it.

Opening Act

Childhood is our opening act. It is in the production many of our personal beliefs stock-photo-10348904-opening-the-stageform. Beliefs are inherited or observed and become a part of us. Most of the assumptions we develop about life become deeply embedded in our subconscious when we are 7-10 years old.  The influences and experiences we have written on our scripts will be the most significant factor in our development. We are lingering in our subconscious mind, controlling our experience, making all the choices we are not consciously making.

Were the adults in our lives nurturing, or were they judgmental of us?  Were we encouraged? Was money a factor? Were we loved? All factors determine how limiting or empowering our beliefs will be through the early stages of life. If you never question these beliefs, then your play is being written by a seven-year-old. Look at what you believe and evaluate if it is accurate or something you want to represent you. That is one of the many choices you will have to make in your life.

Character Development

The next act involves growing up and getting educated. Our education is where we take our beliefs and see how it.

How many masks have you worn?
How many masks have you worn?

All fit in the grand scheme of society. I was fortunate to live this part of my play out in college. I learned where I fall in and which face showing to whom to receive the desired crowd reaction. Like any good actor, I performed what I needed to allow the production to move forward successfully.

Of course, a few missed lines were a few marks that weren’t quite right, but through experience, an absolute mastery developed.  We think we have developed the role that will take us through the rest of our lives successfully. But, unfortunately, we forget that it is all just a play, and we fool ourselves into believing it is all real.  During this time, we start to lose ourselves and our connection to our true selves.

This is it?

Eventually, as the play of life evolves, many of us are continually acting to our full capabilities. Still, over plot-holestime even the best-written and most action-packed game can become old and stale. We start to see the holes in the script, and no matter how hard we act, the holes get bigger and bigger. We all work all the harder, but finally, we have to ask ourselves the question that has not been in the script before. “Is this it?”

These thoughts provide a critical question that will lead to many changes in your play. Sometimes the transition to new production is smooth and seamless. A person is well-adjusted and willing to take the steps leading to the stage meant for them. More often, though, the transition is a bit more volatile. Leaving our play behind makes one question precisely who they are. “If I am not this character I have been playing all these years, then who the heck am I?”

Final Script Adjustments

In the end, there is a common thread in most of the great stories in history. The new production will end with all of our characters finding the truth they are looking for, becoming the hero they wanted to be or

Thank you, we all take a curtain call for life.
Thank you, we all take a curtain call for life.

getting the reward they desire. There are some tragedies out there, but there are far more hopeful, inspiring productions created every day.

As people start to realize they are in roles, playing a part, they see their power. The actor can take the script they have and make it into almost anything they want. As a person sees their potential and talent and starts to grow, life is your choice.  The beautiful play that is life becomes an instrument for expressing what is inside, not an opportunity to collect accolades, money, or personal recognition.

 

21

New Tricks

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doggieWe all know the old saying about not being able to teach an old dog new tricks, but I am here to tell you that an old dog may, in fact, be taught new tricks, sometimes the method of the lesson need to change, but the lessons can be learned. Sometimes it takes a painful experience and others just an open mind, but this old dog has learned many new tricks, and I continue to learn them every day. With each new morsel of knowledge, there is excitement for some new understanding and some regret for not figuring these things out a lot earlier in life. But we are all developing and need to be patient with ourselves and our abilities.  To learn is one of the great things about being a human being living free on the face of the Earth.

Learning is your responsibility.

Learning new things and taking in fresh information is one of the parts of living life that make it interesting. Show me canstock22929502the person who thinks he knows it all, and I will show you a person with no clue about life.

Each day, there are new things to think about, learn about and do that there is no way one person could ever complete, learn or participate in all of the learning opportunities present themselves. The only thing stopping one person from having more knowledge today than they had yesterday is their own mental limit on that desire. Choosing not to practice home learning.

The curiosity that we all innately experience is usually enough to push us in the direction of learning something new.  All you need to do is have thought and expose yourself to the ideas and experiences around that thought. The natural growth of the mind will take over from there, and personal growth will inevitably occur.

New Ideas Are Everywhere

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Follow Your Passion!

If you are looking for a new idea, all you have to do is meet a new person, open a new book, read a news article online, or stop at a location you have never been to before.

Look at things, and observe their attributes. What questions come to mind?  Being inquisitive is the fuel that will lead you to search for answers.  It is the fire to overcome your ignorance and comfort and reach out to new people and investigate new thoughts.

It doesn’t mean you disregard everything you have ever known or done, there are great building blocks in everyone and everything, but it does mean that you shouldn’t be afraid to question what you know and look to test that knowledge.  Don’t be afraid to grow, and it is what you were meant to do.

Seek Your Purpose in Life

What direction should your inquisitiveness lead you? In the direction that excites you.  I think we all have an internal tracking device inside to help guide us toward the things that keytolifelonglearning1make us happy.

If you see something and you are excited about it, that is a loud calling card for you to pursue.  In some form or fashion, you should learn about that thing.  Passion is nothing more than high-octane fuel for your ability to learn. If it is passionate about creating with wood, then create with wood.  If it is painting, then learn to paint.

If writing is your passion, then write and don’t care what anyone thinks about the thoughts you create.  Do what you are passionate about, and you will not only be successful, but you will enjoy life a lot more too. Seek your purpose in life at every opportunity.

You’re The Best Around, Push Yourself

This can be the most difficult thing to do because as we grow older, we become settled in our ways.  The comfort of routine takes over our lives until we get to the point you rely on the

Learn Something new, and you will become a new person.
Learn Something New, and you will become a new person.

Consistency to have life make sense.

To push yourself, you are going to have to step out of your routine.  No matter how old you are, it is possible to change your course, try something new, drive in a new direction, or just be yourself.

The limits of your ability are certainly never going to be tested if you follow the safe and well-trodden path that routine actions provide.  Step out of it, try new things, travel, meditate, read books of philosophy!  Try yoga!  Push yourself to go to places in the world and your mind that you never dreamed existed.

Learn, Learn, Learn

Learning is a life long advernture!
Learning is a lifelong adventure!

There is no way that I can express in words the excitement that learning something totally new can provide.  There is a question in your mind; you search for an answer, that question eventually will have an answer.

Then it will be replaced by another question.  Don’t ever stop answering those questions. Learn with all that you have.  You will never know everything, but if you stop looking, death will not be far away.

Learn what you can, discuss it with who will listen, and ask those who have more knowledge.  Using this model, there is absolutely nothing you can’t learn and nothing you can’t accomplish.  

21

The Path

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We should all seek truth in one form or another in our follow your pathexperience of life. The path to truth for each of us is more than likely going to be unique to our lives and will not look the same for any two of us. Following your path to truth is going to be a one-of-a-kind journey. So follow it with passion and allow others to do the same. Life is too short to spend valuable time being anything less than authentic and practice truth in all areas of your life. Only you can decide what that means for you.

Stick to Your Path

My personal journey has taken many twists and turns on the path of my life.  Many people have offered advice 20130415-053851and direction about the right thing to do. In the end, the only person who has experienced this trip has been me, and in retrospect, I alone can gauge each lesson learned and benefit from the wisdom these events have provided.

At the time, it may not have been evident to me or anyone else the value of the moment, but there has never been an event that hasn’t given me something. A tool or piece of knowledge about the world or myself has helped the journey move along the path. Sometimes you have to fight against your own emotions and settled thoughts but when you look through that, put your emotions aside, you will see the value in our experience.

As you move down your path, listen and measure others’ suggestions and choose the actions that resonate with your heart. Once a decision is made, move with that choice with all that you have. Don’t develop a preconceived attachment to the result. Just accept the results and take the value from them.

Help Guide Others

There is no way that you can tell another exactly what to do. Their path is their own, and the experience and story of your lifetools they need are unique to them. Even though you will all end up at the same destination, there is no “wrong” path to follow as long as you are not hurting someone else or limiting their lives. To support and encourage all people on their way. Some may get waylaid and stopped short of the ultimate destination, but that is their adventure, not yours. When asked, offer an honest assessment. When not asked, mind your own business and tend to your path. Be a shining example of how to live your life honestly and with a purpose.

 

 

21

Question

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Question everything and only accept those things question everythingthat prove true. How do we learn? There are several different ways that we can infuse our minds and souls with new ideas and knowledge.  However, each individual needs to determine the validity of each morsel of information for themselves, regardless of the source that is providing it.  I don’t believe anything except after individual investigation and introspection have proven it to be so. Finding what is true for you is vital to living an honest and true life. What beliefs you accept will determine your reality.

Don’t Be a Sheep

Just because a message comes to you from an authority figure, that doesn’t make it true.  When we buddhaaccept these messages from teachers, leaders, parents, politicians, or any other authority figure without questioning and/or investigating, we are diminishing ourselves and our own individuality.

That doesn’t mean that all you have been told is untrue. It means that knowledge is a quest for understanding discovered through personal investigation and research. Each idea can be confirmed or disregarded on the merit that you discover it to possess. Each of us owes it to our intelligence to question and research all ideas and theories to establish their truth for us.

Too many people accept ideas automatically from educational programs or religious doctrine. Without investigation and proof of the truth of something, it is just empty words.

Test, Investigate, Prove

Don’t allow other people to cheapen your existence question-everything-163x300and value to the world by accepting ideas without properly questioning them first. Without setting out to provide yourself with the proof of the existence of something or the validity of an idea, it should be considered invalid.

The alternative to this is to accept the truth of something blindly and without question. Once you believe that something is true, it will affect you and influence your life. Don’t you owe it to yourself and those you will influence to be as positive about information as you can? We are not designed to question, but it is through questioning that all proof is discovered.  Look into your heart, mind, and body for the actual truth of things.

Destiny in Truth

It is our destiny on our journey to choose our own path. That is a path in movement as well as in thought. Each idea that we know is true and valid will affect all things that come into our lives. So think, test, prove and grow in your own way. Listening to all, but believing only those things that are proven true. That is the way of your own individual path.

 

21

Positive Life

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It has been one of my experiences that people are as happy as they decide they will be. We make choices every day about our attitude by the thoughts we choose to entertain. Either you choose positive thoughts, which positive words and actions will follow, or you will move in the opposite direction. That is a negative movement with negative words and actions to follow. It is backed up by research shown in books like The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor. How you think can be altered to create a more positive experience in your life.  Here are some simple things to try to create a more positive outlook. Open your mind and see what you can supplant in there.

Practice Gratitude

Before you can be positive about life, you need to appreciate what you are fortunate enough to experience today. Too often, we focus our attention on the things we do not have and ignore the things we do.  A simple shift in focus to being grateful for what you have will increase your mood and create a more positive life.  Being more positive will make your life more enjoyable and even lead to better health.

The simple way to do this is to list all of the things you are grateful for. When you start your day, honestly give thanks for the good things in your life. They can be people you love, your job, the house you live in, the car you drive, the view you experience, the friends you have, a wonderful cup of coffee in the morning. Whatever you have to be grateful for, list it and think about it, and your mood will naturally become more positive.

Cultivate a Positive Attitude

In every situation, there are two sides, a positive and a negative.  Go into all situations with the idea that you are looking on the bright side of things.  Choosing before anything happens to look at things positively makes bumps in the road you encounter to be less of a barrier to success but more of a catapult to becoming your best. How can the same situation be viewed in two totally different ways? Mindset. Understanding that we are developing, learning people throughout life allows us to look at mistakes or bad experiences differently.  That they are not the end game, but a step on the way toward the end game.

There are countless cases of people who have managed through difficult times and gained a skill or lesson that allowed them to achieve ultimate success in the end. You will find the success of your goals by persevering through adversity, not being buried by it. A positive attitude is a fuel that allows this to happen. If you look at life as a game board, you are now not where you will end up. It is the next move that determines your future.  All experiences give us the chance to learn and grow, and it is up to us to grasp the lesson and become better.  A positive outlook will allow you to do this.

Limit Time Dwelling on the Negative

All of us are going to experience some negative things. Still, most often, our lives’ negative forces are not something we have experienced directly but something we are exposed to through society and the media. The media creates “news” that is designed to make you feel negative.  These negative feelings made you feel isolated from others and scared that people are out to hurt you. You have the option to decide how much time you spend focusing on the negative in your life, totally up to you. A person cuts you off in traffic, and you can spend your time thinking about what a jerk they are or send them peace because that is who you are.

Our thoughts’ tenor sends us down a channel of feeling that will continue to build on the initial thought you choose to pay attention to, either positive or negative. Limit the time you spend focusing on negative things, and you will experience more happiness and joy in the world. Focus on the good in your life and, for that matter, in the world, and you will be better off. Don’t let a negative action by someone else dictate your attitude. This is always a conscious choice. Make a good one.

Maintain Your Momentum Of Positive

Like exercising your body, you have to maintain your work on being more positive. If you stop focusing on gratitude or avoiding the negative, or cultivating a positive attitude, then you will most likely backslide into negative patterns that have been a part of your life.  If being happy and enjoying life is how you want your life to look, then focus on these and many other things that will allow you to be positive and positively look at life. It is all a conscious choice.  It starts with choosing to move toward the positive. Life is too short a ride to spend time complaining, crying, and feeling badly towards others. Time spent positively is a good time.

“The best project you’ll ever work on is you.”

“Be so busy improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.”

“Surround yourself with people who have dreams, desire, and ambition; they’ll help you push for and realize your own.”

The Brady Bunch Had It All Figured Out

 

21

Security

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All of the things we do every day are to find true safety and security. The relationships we build, the jobs we work, the friends we make, the places we go, everything we do is build this illusion of being safe and secure.  It is only an illusion.  No matter how hard we work to establish a life with no danger, we are all continually susceptible to suffering.  So, where do true safety and security come from?  It can never come from outside of you; it can only come from the inside of you. This is the only place it can exist and grow in any real way for any of us. The human experience is full of pitfalls and ugliness, along with the magic and beauty we can see every day. It is time you started looking at the things stopping you from seeing what is stopping you.  It is your limiting beliefs.

Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

Our beliefs have been formed over the experience of our lives. As young people, we look to our environment to see where we fit in and survive and thrive. We look at our role models and listen to the lessons we are taught.  We also are very good at feeling our way and where we fit.  When we find a situation causing pain or trauma, we create a limiting belief about it.  Pushing trauma away, hiding it inside of us, denying the suffering it causes and the pain you feel is creating a mess from your childhood that will affect you for the rest of your life until you make an effort to deal with your emotions around it.

The only way to overcome these childhood traumas is to learn to accept your pain. Whatever it was, no matter how big it was to you and your development, accept it. That doesn’t mean you approve of it, or like it, or forgive anyone for things they did. It simply means to accept it happened, you felt how you felt, it is over, you are still here.  Accepting it will take power away from that trauma, and you move past a hurdle of pain you have been carrying all of your life.  You will be able to move past it into a positive relationship, career, and life. Seems like a good deal to me.  Accept the experiences you have had in your life.

Building Real Security

Moving into a structure of real security inside yourself takes effort and conscious thought, but anyone can do it and become invincible.  First, be present at the moment at hand.  All we have is right now, don’t spend time waxing poetic about the past or worrying about the future.  Think about the future but don’t build an attachment to what has to happen.  Thinking of things you want to accomplish and taking organized steps toward these goals works. Obsessing and worrying about all the things you think can go wrong or must happen will not.

Accept yourself for the person you are. Just like you accept your past, you have to do the same with yourself. Wishing you were something or someone else is a slap in the face to you and the greatness you have.  Too many people look at their flaws and obsess about fixing what is wrong rather than looking at what is right and building on that solid and powerful foundation.  Successful people don’t deal from a place of lack, they work from abundance, and we all have abundance.  Open your heart to yourself and all that you have to offer.

Appreciate Life

Look at the world around you and celebrate what you see that is good.  There are always reminders of how great the universe is.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up with our own thinking we get run over by them.  Rather than appreciating the rain, we complain about it.  When it is sunny, we say it is too bright.  Look around you and see the wonder that is always right there. Feel a connection to it and celebrate it.  For example, you drive down the road and move past trees, lakes, birds flying, bright blue skies dotted with puffy white clouds, all pretty miraculous, but we don’t see them.  Appreciate it all, life is a short trip, and it will be over before you know it.  Don’t waste your time being self-centered and a prisoner of your thoughts.

Learning to have unconditional love for yourself and life all around you is one of the most difficult things to do.  We are constantly getting hurt, emotionally, physically, and spiritually leading to an almost constant healing process.  But as we heal, we learn, grow and become a different and most often better person.  Being yourself and giving that to the world is a true gift. Some people will break your trust and reject who you are. That is their problem, not yours.  You are one of a kind and incredible.  Be you, and don’t worry about being accepted by negative people with small minds and smaller conscious thought patterns.  Be the great you that you were destined to be!

Safety and security come through this path.  You can build huge walls around yourself, but they won’t keep you safe in the end. Only being yourself, being vulnerable, and accepting all of the things about yourself can bring security.  To do anything else is a definition of insecurity, and it is tough to be happy and healthy through a vision of insecurity.

Take action on your own vision.  Your emotions are a clue to what you need to work on. How you feel in certain situations will lead you to the issues in you that need acceptance and a place inside you so that you can move past them into the best version of yourself.

  1. “Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.” — Bruce Lee.
  2. “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Viktor Frankl.
  3. “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” — George Bernard Shaw.
  4. “The only journey is the journey within.” — Rainer Maria Rilke
  5. “They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.” – Confucius
  6. “We must become the change we want to see.” — Mahatma Gandhi
  7. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” — Will Durant
  8. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
  9. “What we think, we become.” – Buddha
  10. “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” — Napoleon Hill.

 

21

Power of Pain

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greatnessLife isn’t always easy. The path of least resistance is most often not going to be your path.  Hardships and chaos can make you wonder what this is all for. Why do we have to experience painful moments? What is the point?

I have found accepting the difficult parts of life to be the hardest lessons learned. They are painful and cause you to look deep inside of yourself to find the truth.  You can feel angry, upset, or out of control. Whatever your reaction to your life events, understand that the events are not going to change, but the reaction and growth you experience will.  So what is the point?

Strength is Revealed

We all have talents and skills within ourselves. Many painof these aren’t near the surface as we are developing. It often takes a tragic event or significant change in life to allow our talents to rise. The fire of the experience will allow you to become more aware of your skillset. They also provide you with the opportunity to develop them into a weapon of success.

As painful as events are to us, they allow for significant growth and the development of strength within. Going through a difficult time, people can rarely step back and get a perspective that shows this. When you are hurting, all that most can think of is just about stopping the pain. Some people never survive this difficulty, and the pain wins.  Yet, some are driven to unimaginable heights by the unfortunate events in their lives. What happens to you as an individual in your darkest hour is totally your choice to make.

You Contain Greatness Within

Once you decide to accept the circumstances you are in, you can also gain the lessons that life has to give you.  Life is going to change, and it is changing every second of each day. Once you reach the level of acceptance, then you can start to move forward. Life doesn’t end for you when you lose a job, a relationship ends, or the death of a loved one occurs. Life continues, and you choose what part of that you are going to be: an observer or a participant.

Life is never going to be perfect, and in the imperfections, the greatest possibilities for growth and triumph exist.  All great creations, inventions, and findings have come in this space of imperfection. There is no need to fear it or let the past tragic events of your life rob you of treasure. All people experience a tragedy of one sort or another, which is part of life. Will your tragedy define you, or does it propel you forward to greatness? That is the choice you have today.  When you look closely, you will always see the possibility of growth on the soul level. Challenges provide you with the opportunity to develop your greatness and talents.

“Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.”-   Fight Club

“Let go of the past.”-  Robert Greene

“Adversity is the first path to truth.”-  Lord Byron

“Great things never came from comfort zones.”-  Neil Strauss

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” –  Helen Keller