Let’s say you receive a gift for your birthday. It’s a game that will bring you great joy, but you put it in your game closet and ten years later you pull it out to find it still in its cellophane packaging. Did you lose something?
Someone buys you a book. This is a life-changing book that can revolutionize your life. You put it in a prominent place in your library expecting to get to it soon, and twenty years later find it still sitting there dusty and unread. Could something or everything in your life have changed? ...For the better?
In every person there are certain strengths and weaknesses.
Some people are chatty, some are salesmen, some are artists, designers, marketers, entrepreneurs, teachers, encouragers, emotional, intelligent, wise, spiritual, good looking, charismatic, leaders, managers, paternal, nurturing, compassionate, thin, tall, fit, athletic, dreamers, mature, socially aware, sensitive, or full of faith.
And some people are not.
Yet, no one is full of all the positive characteristics with little to grow in. No one has all the skills necessary to succeed in this world and never need apply themselves. In fact, I would hazard to say that most men and women feel inadequate in many areas of their lives.
Giving up
I would say that when your life has gotten to the point of watching over two hours of movies, television, computer game playing, or some other miscellaneous time-killer each day, then we are giving up on improving our strengths or our place in life. We have begun compromising our purpose and plan for life and settling for mediocrity. And it is usually when we have given up on improving our own life that we begin looking for a free handout… and settling for a life of insignificance.
No one sets out in life to be fat and unhealthy, just as no one sets out to be lonely or poor. Somewhere down the road of life, we see a chasm between our dreams and what we see as reality. We begin to say things like “I wish I had a washboard stomach, but I hate sit-ups.” Or “I’d like to have enough money to buy a house or new car, but I’d have to risk this job to get a better paying one.”
As we see the effort it takes to improve ourselves we begin making decisions to watch TV over working out. We choose to chat on the Internet rather than learn some new skills. As we make such decisions, the consequences are we lose our dreams and goals one by one. And eventually, we hit a point where we just survive doing the minimum required for life.
And in return, we lose a lot of happiness, joy, friends, health and eventually our values in life.
I’ve seen too many people living off some sort of governmental welfare and allowing themselves to be content with the world’s no-effort, responsibility-free handout mentality; the only thing they are ambitious for is more handouts. These are people who could get a job, volunteer or otherwise better their lives. They are smart enough to begin a small enterprise or baby sitting or yard work for extra money. But they have moved so far from their life’s purposes that all their efforts are to make no effort at all.
And they still call this life.
But What Investment Will Increase Life
The old saying… Buy Low and Sell High probably made sense in some historical time. Today, Real Estate lies at sky rocket prices. The stock market is shooting up like a rising star to the fading glory of a major crash soon. (for more information see http://hope4glory.com/Investments.aspx) About the only thing left to invest in is the best thing to invest in: YOURSELF!
To make a difference in your life, there needs to be a decision, a choice that you want to actually make a difference. All transformation comes from the inside to the outside. There are thousands of diets. But none of them will do you any good unless you choose to follow them. You can buy all the exercise equipment in the world, but buying equipment or a gym pass doesn’t make you fit.
Three cats are lying atop a couch. Two cats decide to jump off. How many are left? Three. Making a decision doesn’t mean there will be any action behind it.
Catch a Dream
A decision is a critical first-step. This is the direction to head. We will lose 30lbs. We will work out 30-minutes three times a week. We will study accounting, economic-trends and business management in preparation for starting a small-business. A decision gets the head pointed in a particular direction. But action doesn’t necessarily follow. You may see the way you want to go, but most people still won’t put in the action to get to where they want to be.
The second critical step and the one most people leave out is you have to visualize the outcome of your decision. What will it look like when you have achieved your goal? What changes are going to have appeared? You need to find your reasons for change. You need to develop inner strength to perform patterns of healthy action. This is the investment that your body, mind and soul are hungering for.
You need to make a decision to make a change.
There is one way to find out if you have actually made a decision for action… and that is to write down your dream.
If you fail to write a personal, passionate and deep desire of your heart… you don’t have a dream. Maybe you have a dream, but it’s not big enough to allow you to struggle through the comfort zone of your own life and make a change. If you don’t have a dream, if you don’t have a vision… you don’t have life.
I dream of a six-pack abdomen. Yet, it is vanity for me. I just want to be found attractive. Thus, that dream is an inadequate reason for me to make a change in my abdomen. There has to be a reason to break my comfort zone and vanity or superficial motives are not enough.
On the flip side, my wife told me we were pregnant. My goal is to create an additional $100,000 of income by the time she gives birth, so she may never have to return to work again. This runs in the core of my values and beliefs that she has the option to be a stay-home mother. This is a deep personal, passionate goal of mine. I also know it is achievable in today's world. I will do my best to achieve that goal by June 10th 2007. I will succeed.
Look in the Mirror
So now I ask you, what do you want to change? Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to gain strength/ muscle? Do you want financial gain… independence? Do you want to know the opposite sex better to find a worthy mate? Maybe you want to upgrade your association and hang out with more ambitious, social or artistic people.
Only you know what desires are firing around in your heart. Believe me there is no seven steps to becoming a mature healthy person. There are no formulas for telling you who you are. It is quite possible the change you want to produce in yourself is not the one you feel deep down inside where you want to be.
I have a woman friend who was scared emotionally growing up. She adopted feminist beliefs as a defensive mechanism. Yet, inside she felt empty. She may have dreams to become a better feminist… but she really longs for healing. She desires to be at peace with her true femininity.
Desires don't ever lie. The wounds we recieve, often when we were young, leave scars in the fabric of our souls. These scars are the coverings, armor, that insulate us from receiving more wounds. So when we are looking for our heart's deep desires, search those desires which will cry out from the DNA of our being not the superficial lusts of our self-protected wounds.
I know this is not easy or rational. You may have to ask for help. There are some people who are very relationally intuative, they may give you a fair assessment of your self if you ask for it.
Yet, maybe your desire is for something that is but the fruit of a deeper issue? I ask you to take some time and sort out your feelings and desires. Look deeper than superficial desires to find the soulful needs lurking below. If you want something that will just give a short-term impression or financial gain, you are not looking deep enough. If your dream doesn’t impact vital areas of your life or moral values, you will give up on them. The true desires of your heart are long-term emotional needs that will fuel your character and identity.
Life Was Meant to be Abundant
What makes the difference is making the decision to make a change. We can turn tragedies into triumphs. We can find our full potential. We can learn how precious life is and not take things for granted. We can realize that wasted time is time we will never have again.
How many years have we lost… wasted in frivolous activities that have no importance to our lives today?
That question scares me to the point of action. I lost about eight years of good vital potent life that I exchanged for comfort, leisure and inactivity. I have nothing to show for those years except the example of what I never want to follow again. I hope you don’t have a similar story.
The abundant life is following your dreams. Develop a realistic future vision. This is one of the most powerful transformation techniques ever developed and often the most overlooked.
Search your heart. Write about your passionate goals. Determine your future vision. Develop some action steps to achieve your goals. Then work those steps while your vision dominates your mindset.
With your vision or dream before you… you will suddenly see more and more ways to accomplish your action steps and push you on your way. You will become more motivated to pursue your dreams the more you work towards them. Then fhe more real the dream becomes.
Remember your goals and dreams come from inside. This is also where all of life, happiness and joy come from. Your life cannot be transformed or motivated by pleasing people, competition with others or superficial desires. The more your vision is personal and corresponding to a desire of your deep heart, then the more likely you will achieve your dreams.
If you don’t make a decision or take a stand then the only chance left will be out of your hand. There are things that we fear when our purpose is not clear, but the only way to live life is with abundance, my dear.
Take a quick look at a snippet from Dr. Seuss’ “Oh the Places You’ll Go!”
The Waiting Place
… for people just waiting.
Just waiting for a train to go
Or a bus to come, or a place to go
Or the mail to come, or the rain to go
Or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
Or waiting around for a yes or a no
Or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
Or waiting for wind to fly a kite
Or waiting around for Friday night
Or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
Or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
Or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
Or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That’s not for you!
Take time and proactively seek your vision. Then move forward and create a better life. You will achieve.
I believe in you.