Coach John Wooden said: “Success is never final – failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” Mark Twain
It takes courage to pursue one’s dream. It takes courage to desire a huge dream into the space where currently there is none. Courage is believing in oneself and one’s passions so strongly that we face our desires head-on with tenacity. We forge ahead, one step at a time.
"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions." -Alfred Lord Tennyson
We must master our passions – it’s why we’re here. We were given our passions for particular reasons – each of us are uniquely unique….with a different set of talents and gifts and we’re meant to utilize them in the world. The dictionary describes PASSION as 1. any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, 2. strong amorous feeling or desire; love; ardor. 3. a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music. 4. the state of being acted upon or affected by something external, esp. something alien to one's nature or one's customary behavior (contrasted with action).
"Never does a man portray his character more vividly than his proclaiming the character of another." - Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, Former British Prime Minister
If you want to know what’s holding you back in your life, listen to what you say about others. What words specifically do you use when complaining about someone in your life? What sets you off about others? Well darling, mirror, mirror, on the wall…. We are virtual mirrors of each other and whatever we see in others is what exists in ourselves. Your friend who is so busy talking about herself that she hardly listens to you? Where in your life are you so busy talking about yourself and your life that you do the same to others? This is an exercise in extreme growth - if you’re brave enough to look closely and make changes! Everything you love in another is what is also special and wonderful about you. The things you react to in others is behavior within you that has not yet been addressed and cleaned up. Start there and when you get through each aberrant behavior to the other side of no longer needing to behave that way, you will then have tons of free attention and will to pursue your dreams. Clean out your emotional closet of anything that doesn’t work for you. And bless others in your life for showing you all your most undesirable and best traits.
Jim Bouchard in his book “Think Like a Black Belt” wrote:
“It took me a very long time to believe I could be a Black Belt. I cannot tell you that when I earned my yellow belt that the rest of the trip was smooth sailing; not for me. I almost quit several times. I didn’t have the vision of Black Belt since it wasn’t my initial motivation. I did think it would be cool to someday be a Black Belt; I just didn’t really believe I had what it takes.”
Once upon a time I was overweight. Most of my life I was overweight in my head but not in real life, however I was young and didn’t posses the metaphysical wisdom I do today. When I was young and in a normal body I had no idea. And I thought myself into becoming fat. I thought I was fat so much that by my last year of high school I was quite overweight. By my 1st year of college I was obese. I was obese through college and my early 20’s. Then in my 20’s and early 30’s I spent those years going on a diet, losing weight and after looking good for a day I started to regain the weight immediately. It was a crushing reality to do over and over and over again. Then one day I discovered a belief about myself. This belief went all the way to the core of my being and had been lodged inside of me my whole life causing me to sabotage myself. The belief I discovered is that I had decided, at some point in my life, that I was broken. When I realized I felt this way about myself, I cried the tears of someone who has perceived herself as broken for far too long. It was a pain I had blocked and never experienced. After a great cry, I decided I will not live like this again and I was worth far much more. I did a visual meditation and saw myself implant a new and wonderful belief about myself instead. This new belief made me feel great. It made me look out at my reality with hope, power and joy. I decided I’d never hurt myself again. And this time it didn’t come from the old “I swear this time I’ll lose the weight for good “ mentality. This time it was from a place of healing and self love. And I did. I re-entered my life and changed. Over 6 months I lost 30 pounds. Today I am still at a normal weight. Today my food is great and healthy and yummy. Today even with an imperfect body I am happy with who and what I am and how I look. Yes even in bathing suit! Which for someone who was overweight for a very long time – it made changes in the shape of my body! My exercise has changed. Today I don’t struggle with food, weight, exercise, I don’t fight. I look forward to it all. Today I can say I am in a normal body at a normal weight. It took finding that old hurtful belief about myself, feeling it, exorcising it, and then replacing it with a new belief its complete opposite that sits in me today like radiant love. This is all so much a part of my life I hardly think of it. And this is very good, because today I have free attention for my life and my dreams.
Join us this week on the "Dare to Dream" radio show - it airs on www.925kyhy.com every WED 12-2PM, THURS 3PM, FRI 4PM PST. Deborah conducts inspiring interviews with guests who are living the life they dreamed about. "Dare to Dream" is for your inspiration, motivation and enlightening entertainment!
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