Delight in misperception

Who hasn't known someone who's been up to their ears in challenges or unforeseen situations? You may have stretched your own limits to manage all that's on your plate. Maybe you've even thought how great it would be if something happened to shrink your perceived burden. Would it seem possible to you for a guardian angel to intervene? If one did, would that really help you? Many people take pleasure in deceiving themselves. They choose relationships that enable them to reinforce false ideas and may assume angels would intervene to assist in such self-deception. Angels praise worthy behavior and encourage self-discovery. They wouldn't support you to lie to yourself. Although they may desire you be concerned about direction you choose, their role may be to urge you to question and define 'toward what end?' They won't tell you how to get there. Each person can benefit from gaining new insight into themselves. Emotions have been known to interfere with your understanding of reality. Feelings may also overtake your logic. What about when emotions enable you to see the truth you desire to see? If you bring on a burden yourself, you may unconsciously be hoping to learn from it. You can grow from everything. Angels observe all your choices. If they don't respond or offer you reason to believe they're nearby, what kind of message are they sending about behavior? Are you encouraged to think you don't need them or, that your choices aren't good for you? Angels may take the form of human beings or watch you from another vantage point. Your life is all about change and what you choose to see. Who you think is helping you or not emerges in your mindset and belief system. You may also act as a kind of earthy angel. Consider whether you have ever prompted a friend to rethink certain choices, to acknowledge what s/he's not. By encouraging other people to be real, to see through their own misperception, you may empower them to experience not only who they really are, but also what it means to sense new harmony and happiness in life.

Give in to yourself

Some people would say that to be alive at all means you're successful.  Do you dream of more? Consider babies who struggle to get a stable hold on their existence.  That's no mean feat! Consider people who manage to sort through physical and mental trials.  Consider who miraculously survives terrible accidents and proves 'mind-over-matter' works.  How do you build that kind of mindset? 

Your chances of success are more likely to grow if you're surrounded by capable people who will help you better understand and overcome your perceived obstacles.  This doesn't mean these people will fight your battles.  Much is up to you.  It seems logical, providing the time is right to grow. You decide that too.    

You can also work on your own and have faith in the trial and error system some of us call life.  How many people do you know who hold a map of concise rules or directions for their lifetime?   Each of us is the creator of our own recipes of success. What will it require for you? You may believe that the best is yet to come. That's fine too, so long as you also learn to see that success comes in many shapes and packages, from the simple and basic to the complex and out-of-reach.

The next step for you will be to recognize that you are the master of your destiny. The winding paths you choose will give you opportunities to expand your horizons and change, but only if you feel ready.  If you desire to move forward, you need to know first yourself what this means.  It is about time to take a closer look at how you perceive yourself or what feelings you seek at all.    

Second chances

How often have you passed up on something only to think back and realize that what you passed up appealed more than you thought? What about people who approached you to sell items they made yet, you brushed them aside because you were in a hurry and didn't pay attention to what they had to offer? When did you last take more than one look at a stranger you passed on the street or in a familiar place although you'd never seen them there before? Could it be a sign?

Imagine, for a moment, that these people you disregarded or turned down at a glance were more than you initially thought? What if they appeared to test you somehow, for simple gestures of compassion, kindness or even a simple look of understanding.  If someone claimed to need money for a bus fare or a phone call, would you assume this was a con artist or would you automatically spare the change? Do you also begin to wonder if you had done the right thing?

When I visit foreign places, I meander along streets to get-to-know my way around. In my travels, I've often come across homeless people staring at the ground.  I'm less in the habit of giving money than food, but there have also been times when I felt rushed and passed by such strangers. Increasingly, I find that if I hadn't offered something the first time around, I encounter the same stranger again in another place or the same place, as if to beckon I reconsider my  attention.

In Bali, Indonesia, I recall meeting a woman on the beach who invited me to her remote stall of wares down the road. I initially followed her, but yet, had no money on me.  Of course, she was disappointed.  The situation was especially difficult because of recent bomb scare and a lack of tourists.  I promised the woman I would return.  I'm unsure whether she believed me.  So many people will say such things and not really mean them.  A few days later, I did return.  It was clear in her eyes and her gratitude that keeping my word had made all the difference. 

In  other areas of life, second chances also present themselves, but why would you recognize them? Something different would have to occur inside you to prevent you from making the same choices as before. What would it require for you to grow? Why would you step back and change? Perhaps there was a time when you weren't ready for love. You were blind to its presence right before you.  Then,  after life experience, you begin see the world around you with new eyes. 

In such a case, a man grew up and joined the airforce. Strangely enough, his mom had a welcome home party after a mission and invited friends from the neighbourhood. A girl he had known in gradeschool arrived at the party.  She had blossomed into a beautiful woman.  Within a year, they married.  To this day, this man considers his wife to have come to him because of his guardian angel.

Flower of honesty

In ancient China, a particular prince of the region of Thing-Zda was about to be crowned emperor; however, according to the law, he first had to get married. Since this meant choosing a future empress, the prince needed to find a young woman whom he could trust absolutely. On the advice of a wise man, he decided to summon all the young women of the region in order to find a worthy candidate.

An old lady, who had served in the palace for many years, heard about the preparations for this gathering and felt very sad, for her daughter nurtured a secret love for the prince.  When the old lady got home, she told her daughter and was horrified that she intended going to the palace. The old lady was desperate. 'But, daughter, what on earth will you do there? All the richest and most beautiful girls from the court will be present. It's a ridiculous idea! I know you must be suffering, but don't turn the suffering into madness.' 'My dear mother, I am not suffering and I certainly haven't gone mad. I know I won't be chosen, but its my one chance to spend at leadt a few moments close to the prince, and that makes me happy, even though I know that quite a different fate awaits me.' That night, when the young woman reached the palace, all the most beautiful girls were indeed there, wearing the most beautiful clothes and the most beautiful jewelry, and prepared to do anything to seize the opportunity on offer.  Surrounded by members of his court, the prince announced a challenge. 'I will give each of you a seed. In six months' time, the young woman who brings me the loveliest flower will be the future empress of China.' The girl took her seed and planted it in a pot, and since she wasn't very skilled in the art of gardening, she prepared the soil with great patience and tenderness, for she believed that if the flowers grew as large as her love, then she would need not worry about the results Three months passed and no shoots appeared.  The young woman tried everything; she consulted farmers and peasants, who showed her the most varied methods of cultivation, but all to no avail. Each day she felt her dream had moved farther off, though her love was as alive as ever. At last, six months were up, and still nothing had grown in her pot.  Even though she had nothing to show, she knew how much effort and dedication she had put in during that time, and so she told her mother that she would go back to the palace on the agreed date and at the agreed hour. Inside, she knew this would be her last meeting with her true love, and she wouldn't have missed it for the world. The day of the audience arrived. The girl appeared with her plantless pot, and saw all the other candidates had achieved wonderful results: each girl bore a flower lovelier than the last, in the most varied forms and colours. Finally, the longed-for moment came.  The prince entered and he studied each of the candidates with great care and attention. Having inspected them all, he announced the result and chose the servant's daughter as his new wife. All the girls present began to protest, saying that he had chosen the only one of them who had failed to grow anything at all. The prince calmly explained the reasoning behind the challenge. This young woman was the only one who cultivated the flower that made her worthy of becoming the empress: the flower of honesty. All the seeds I handed them were sterile and nothing could have grown from them.' *Except taken from by Paulo Coelho's Like A Flowing River

Unanswered mysteries

You may know people are don't appear to be happy.  Perhaps they're different and desire to be taken seriously when they're not.  Are you the kind of person who would hide your perceived talent or ideas and suffer inside because of secrecy? Do you think you may be laughed at or put down?  Do you have reason to believe offering your service would be controversial or ostracized?

Each person has unique talents with the potential to help the world.  You need not receive some official pardon or forgiveness for what you are.  You have things to offer, so why hold back?  Rather than be discouraged by scam-artists or dishonest people, concentrate on how authentic you feel at the core.  Every person is full of unanswered mysteries.  You may not yet realize you're capable of things that will surprise even you.  Learning about you is your life journey. 

You will likely find life more fulfilling if you resist following rhythms or examples set by others.  As you learn to respect your own rhythm and traits, you will travel your own way, learn what feels comfortable when you're ready, and complete the journey you set out on alone.  Its part of a larger plan.  What you learn along the way is exactly what you are supposed to learn for the next step.

You may find out how other people live or promote their careers, but what you learn about them reflects back on yourself.  How you interpret your reality, and what you offer will all come about during your journey to discover yourself.  You'll sense your confidence as it grows and be happy to share those aspects of yourself that reveal who you truly are.  Raising self-awareness can be an enriching life education.