Let us remember that humanity’s story has only two perennially recurring themes: struggle and progress. We mustn’t wish the end of the former, as the latter would be buried alongside it. And so let us be clear that the small, complaining, undisciplined part of ourselves – the distracted character wanting nothing but convenience and ease – is unfit to be the ruler of our new destiny.
Unless we are being chased by a deadly animal or deranged human, or face imminent physical harm like falling to our death, fear is just bad management of our mind.
The man afflicted by hunger for power or money for its own sake is just that: afflicted. He is tormented by incessant desires for more without cause. He is the most likely to wear a social mask to succeed, and thus he is always unsure of himself and his life, the deep tear inside always causing him to obsess about how to get more, why he doesn’t have it already, and whom he will have to please or become in order to get it.
Desire without belief in self is ultimately deflating.
When a stranger lies to hurt our reputation, we should know that it is a common thing, and that it is happening to us only because we are trying to do important things in the world. If we are conscious to the existence of rude, ignorant, cruel people, then we can control our reaction when they emerge from the darkness and attempt to steal our light.
We became capable of the impossible.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth. JOHN F. KENNEDY.
Our thoughts will free us or destroy us. Maturity comes in understanding that it is our choice alone to move toward freedom.
Armed with intentions for who we wish to be, how we wish to interact with others, and what we wish to give, we become conscious people. We gain the full might of our personal power.
Freedom requires responsibility to choose who we are above and beyond our immediate impulses, needs, and social pressures, so that we can genuinely express the type of person we want to be, live the life we truly want to live, leave the legacy we desire.
We have forgotten that courage is a choice, and that permission to move forward with boldness is never given by the fearful masses. Most have forgotten that seeking change always requires a touch of insanity. If taking action before the perfect conditions arise, or before we receive permission, is unreasonable or reckless, then we must be unreasonable and reckless. We must remember we are not the sum of our intentions but of our actions. Bold and.
For most, not knowing how to say no is where their lives decline into a thicket of stress and unhappiness. These individuals are easy to spot, as they constantly take on the role of victim to the world’s desires.
They’re less into “finding their strengths” and more into “adaptive service” – exploring what needs fixing and growing into the person who can fix it. The question they ask is less often “Who am I and what am I good at?” and more often “What is required to be of service here, and how can I grow into that or lead others to deliver that?
Let us remember that humanity’s story has only two perennially recurring themes: struggle and progress.
It is difficult to accept but no less true: If fear is winning in our lives, it is because we simply keep choosing it over our other impulses to be strong or bold or great.
We are all plagued by doubt, but the great nevertheless find faith and begin.
Ours has become a world where a tragic number of people are more fascinated by materialism and the lives of distant narcissists than by their own life experience.
This is why we seek personal growth – to be free from the pain we cause ourselves, to make better choices, to feel better about who we are becoming, to act more confidently in social situations, and to unleash our full creativity and contributions into the world in order to make our highest difference. Gaining Personal Freedom in this sense is letting go of any self-doubt and self-loathing and allowing ourselves permission to be our unique, powerful, authentic selves.
Too often we don’t call out a wrong or expect ourselves or others to act with routine integrity, excellence, or love. There has been a worldwide failure in leadership, birthing an apathetic populace, unjustifiable poverty, unconscionable greed, and a globe ravaged and booby-trapped by war.
A society that lacks good people willing to speak against evil or low standards can only devolve into darkness and mediocrity.