Barack Obama & 10 lessons to excel
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 at 11:54PM The inauguration of of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth U.S. President is meaningful to everyone, even if they do not know it yet. This man represents different things to different people, but in many ways, he symbolizes the realization of a dream.
Your own dreams may invite you to follow a similar road or, a road far less travelled. You may be inclined to ignore what bothers you, or be unwilling to delay action when having patience would be more suitable. In the end, you are totally dependent on yourself to initiate and follow through on plans. Consider ten lessons I gain from Obama to help you excel;
1) You can be anything you choose. Society and people around you will tell you what they believe you can and cannot do. These views may emerge from prejudice, history, bias, judgment and counter-productive emotions. Venegeful thoughts only limit you. Your action reveals to what degree you accept society's rules and status quo standards. As you move beyond them, you realize you create your own rules.
2) You realize synchonicity matters. You can choose to take advantage of everything you perceive to happen. Many people will say they cannot realize a goal. Why? Excuses include; "it does not feel right" or, "circumstances are against me." Reframing what you sense and feel enables you to realize everything happens for good. You need not grasp why people view events as they do. Everything is a sign to help you.
3) You sense serendipity is in your favor. When you seem to be in a certain place by accident, you are not. In fact, you have an aptitude for having revelations by accident. This mindset actually defines the direction of your life. Some people take advantage of this and become more aware of their inner power. Other people do not. Your choice is best for you.
4) You know you conquer obstacles. As you recall the experiences and choices of your ancestors, part of you may be think walls in front of you are intimidating. Remind yourself how far you have already come to get where you are right now. You would not be able to reach milestones unless you were the kind of person determined to grow. You already demonstrate commitment, focus and drive. This inspires you to continue directing it in ways that make sense.
5) You turn your face to God. This can be viewed as symbolic and spiritual rather than religious. It shows your faith in higher forces that guide you to make choices that feel good, that are for the right reasons, and that serve others. It is not what you do that matters, but how it makes you feel, and how it recognizes the universal equality and potential of every person. You become more willing to find meaning in things greater than your role or results from a single project or experience. You find value in shared spirit, in making gestures of generosity, showing humility and compassion.
6) You need not keep your enthusiasm in the closet. Each time you act to share how you feel, part of you you may suppress it. In the past, you may have been teased, criticized or reprimanded. You may have broken down and cried in frustration. Yet real people show you that you are loved for who you are. You are encouraged to communicate what brings you joy in life. As you move to accept yourself, then you discover communities, settings where you feel more welcome. You send vibes based on love or fear.
7) You are encouraged to grow in ways that resonate. People often assume one must learn things in a certain order or that certain interests cannot go together. People will judge your choices based on what they would do. They react according to their discomfort and whether they choose to face it. If changing focus resonates with you after doing something completely different, then do it. If you switch directions, jobs or activities in ways that do not seem logical to others, that does not matter. Do what feels right. Listen to your intuition.
8) You move to view yourself as you are. As you remove your own labels, you progressively remove the excuses that prevent you from acting instinctively. You move to decondition beliefs and behaviour that no longer serves you. When you tell yourself someting is not possible because of the color of your skin, your religion, gender, or some other external feature, then you do not allow yourself to view the real you.
9) You sense intrinsic value in everyone. As you transcend self-created obstacles, you begin to develop altruistic attitudes limitlessly. You realize to practice love and compassion effectively requires the willingness to deepen insight into yourself. You stop telling yourself reasons why things cannot be done and choose to focus on creating ways they can. You sense you merit opportunities to create and measure your own joy and fulfillment.
10) You choose to acknowledge problems and act. Progress evolves from taking responsibility, not from denial, playing victim or, trying to "pass the buck." If you see garbage on the ground, you can choose to do nothing because you did not do it or, you can choose to pick it up, inspire others to make different choices. Many people sense what is wrong or why their efforts are not working, and yet, they do nothing. You will not outgrow your counterproductive habits until you choose to explore possibilities open to you to reform. This is a process of recognizing the need to respect yourself and others differently, and to find the courage inside to change.
Reader Comments (18)
What a timely post. I like you point about not keeping your enthusiasm in the closet. Enthusiasm is infectious and maybe that's why Obama inspires hope. I agree that people can sense vibes we send out - whether of love or fear. He sends out vibes of hope.
Daphne, humanity is evolving to where individuals are going further than simply awakening to sources of meaning in their lives. They are moving to recognize that much of their thinking is involuntary (conditioned), automatic (programmed), and repetitive in ways that do not serve them. To sense something inside that makes you feel good and to choose to hide it and not develop it, does you a disservice and affects people who woould benefit from your honesty. As you realize thinking does not just happen, but you decide the what, where and how, this is a step toward accepting yourself more fully. The resulting confidence empowers you to overcome fear.
Broderick, some people believe the discouraging voice in their minds has a life of its own. We each choose whether to function at the mercy of this voice, that is, to feel possessed and consumed by it or, to move to position of observer within your head and gain a new vantage point. As a person consciously makes the latter choice, then it becomes the natural thing to express joy in all its forms. You no longer think about who may be judging because you no longer judge yourself as you had done before.
Would it be ok with you if I reference and link this post in my February Random Acts of Leadership Newsletter? Just let me know!
“I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”
Obama inspires REAL government and, for the first time in my lifetime, I am PROUD of who we have chosen to represent us! Yeah, Obama!!
As for the points you made.. Thank you.. I needed to re-affirm some of them and start practicing in my life. Guess it was Serendipity that you dropped by and so I have the opportunity to get here for the reminders :).
mysoul, each human being is invited to review the present moment. Unhappiness is created whenever a person is out-of-alignment with the present. As emotion moves into the mind, it strengthens the ego and distracts people from what matters. The significance of events becomes distorted until a series of revelations is triggered in you to change that. He who inspires hope empowers us to reshape reality. We control our own perception and action.
I think society wants Obama to succeed and yet (in the UK) I get the distinct feeling that people actually want the economy to fail, so that they can have something to blame for their own frustrations and failures.
I think George Bush really needed the Dali Lama's endorsement - I hope he will be strong enough to grow through the pain.
henry
henry, pain is not caused by results of choices that create our present so much as by hidden emotional pain underlying them. If a person realizes he suffers, then he can evolve to discern pain emerges from within for reasons he has yet to acknowledge. Each human being creates his or her own burdens in proportion to the nature of inner energy which is out-of alignment. As people choose to confront their emotions, they consciously choose to enter the abyss of unhappiness in order to do what it takes to heal. When a person chooses to deny a problem, this does not permit healing or soul growth.
I think that he definitely has the world's ear. I also think that on some level (before he even knew it) his path to the White House was destined and it happened relatively quickly. It is unfortunate that his parents and grandparents didn't live to see the day (though they are probably witnessing it) of the inauguration.
I say this because I see Mother Earth shaking itself of all the darkness to make way for more light. From my research online, I believe the Earth is reaching the 5th dimension from the 3rd where the human race is truly becoming one. The dark forces including individuals and corporations that got to the top through greed and deceit are falling by the wayside. We are already witnessing this via the economic fall out in America.
I believe Obama will help Mother Earth ascend to the fifth dimension.
He has given hope to so many people including those that are younger who now see that it is possible to be whatever it is that they want to be!