How can self-love equal self-discipline? These seem to be two opposing concepts. Discipline is rigid, maybe even punitive. Love is free, relaxing, joyful. But yet, how can we be our best self? By relaxing and giving in to every whim? Or by disciplining ourselves so we can reach long term goals that make us proud? When we truly love ourselves, we will look beyond the momentary pleasures and try to achieve our long-term dreams by being more intentional about our decisions.
We often complain about our circumstances. We say we don’t want what we currently have and wish for other things and other people. But ultimately, we live the life we want. Everything we have in our life is there because we want it. We may not be conscious of the need that is being met, but there is usually one. When we become aware of our needs, we then have the power to change the circumstances that don’t make us happy. And to live a life we really want, and not just say we want.
Our relationships with the people close to us are like contracts. When not signed by both parties, these relationships become one-sided and unfulfilling. When one person is not fully committed to the relationship, we cannot force them. We also don’t need to analyze why that is, or wait around for it them to come around. We need to move on. Its time to look at the relationships in our life that may not be met by a mutual agreement.
We like to spend time with people that know us and get us. We feel comfortable with them – there are no surprises. But there is also no change. When we add color to our life in the form of colorful people, we grow. Colorful people – skin color, different ages and backgrounds – will broaden our horizon, will challenge our viewpoints, and will help us see new possibilities.
I used to be scared of life, of tomorrow, and all the unknowns. And every time something didn’t go as I had hoped, I fell apart. I thought that the unpleasant surprises life brought were misfortune, bad luck and a failure on my part. When life is just life, with all its ups and downs. And this life becomes less good vs bad, when we accept it as it is. Then, suddenly, we begin to see doors where there were only walls before. We are able to make do with the little we have and turn it into something beautiful. But first, we need to trust in our life.
We hide behind who we are. Instead of allowing our uniqueness to shine, we hide and follow what everyone else does. We already have enough sameness in this world. We need more different. We need more original ideas, new ways of thinking and creative perspectives. We need more of you – just like you are. So lets not hide and be proud of who we are. Someone in this world needs us to be that person – so lets find out how we can shine for them.
When given a choice between new projects and goals to take on, we usually go for the easier ones, the quick wins. But we already have a lot of those in our life – email, errands, small projects that come easy to us. The harder tasks take us further because they are more challenging. We shy away from them because they take more time, but in the end they are more rewarding.
We consume, but we hardly do anything with all the information we consume. We don’t create. We don’t apply the information we browse, surf, listen to and read every day. Thankfully, we have access to every piece of knowledge we ever wanted to know. But what are we doing with it?
There is magic in creation. In applying what we know. In helping others with what we learned. The key is to start. To find out why a particular interests us and then DO something with this passion. And as we turn acquired knowledge into action, we continue to learn, but now, in a more focused manner.
Success. Failure. Two extremes we don’t experience regularly. Because we like our comfort zone. and from there we admire those that achieve noteworthy success and we wonder how we can do the same. When we know how to. Because we have done it before. In the critical moments in our life – we have stepped up. We achieved greatness and worked through hardship. We did it – step by step. The same formula applies when we want to take our life to the next level.
We need a reason for getting up. We need a purpose and a vision that drive us. Instead of falling into each day, into events that are already taking place, without our doing, and that carry us along, shake us around and leave us sometimes high, sometimes dry – we need to drive. And we can only drive when we have a purpose – a reason for getting up.
Does it seem challenging to find an inner connection with ourselves? Our world can be noisy, overwhelming and distracting.
Yet, the direction for our life comes from within us.
The Quest For You Podcast is my mission to help you discover who you are. I will help you challenge yourself through daily guidance, motivation and inspiration. I want to help you find your direction.
