For much of your life, you may have derived your self-worth from how you performed in the office, with romantic partners, in athletic competitions or, in some other area of your life. Even if you haven't been consciously aware of it, you may have felt that the more professional or group recognition you gained, the more personal compliments were directed your way, the more money you earned, all determined your underlying value. Are you the type of person who thinks, "the better I do, the more people will like me?" Is this the crux of your view of success?
If you've had thoughts like those described above, you may have accomplished things, but still miss out on a lot. There's more to life than simply lving according to other people's criteria or how they think you should live. Some of the most challenging experiences are those that trigger most personal revelations and initiate inner healing.
If you have been frightened of making new decisions or taking initiatives, you may assume fate is in charge and there's no point in taking steps to shape your course. You may not yet have realized its up to you to restore faith, trust and tap into existing inner strength. Consider this:
1) You decide what comes of you mentally and spiritually. Conditions such as lack of food, little sleep, and other disconcerting sources of stress, remind you that what becomes of you results from an inner decision. Do you decide to give up, stop seeking solutions, and stop fighting or, do you decide external circumstances will not control your attitude? Just as you may experience the suffering sides of emotions, you can learn what it means to stop suffering just as soon as you formulate a convincing, multi-sensual, mental picture of what it means and believe.
2) You can make use of or forgo opportunities. Are you aware that your inner strength can raise you above your outward experiences? You are confronted with fate, each time you have the opportunity to achieve and learn through suffering. You can choose to face hardship in a courageous and dignified way, and value your health in whatever state or, see meaning in other perceived predicaments that challenge your comfort zone. Ask yourself how would whatever you sense is difficult in your life actually helping you? Embrace it.
3) You can decide to take spiritual evolution seriously. Your free will and decisions shape your observations and how you understand success. You determine how long you fear your circumstances, and when this destructive mindset will end. Another way of seeing is to realize difficult situations are gifts that enable you to interpret life as an opportunity to grow beyond what the mind can teach you. Embrace the challenges where you perceive. Shift your perception. Turn your circumstances into the reason for your latest, inner triumph. Decidr to take spiritual evolution seriously. Respond with joy and stretch yourself.
"If you haven't the strength to impose your own terms upon life, you must accept the terms it offers you." -T.S. Eliot