Tag: strength

The Beginning of a New Year

nyrefThe beginning of the New Year is seen as a transition for many of us. It’s a time to step back from our life to reconsider where we’ve been and where we want to go. There may be a poignant awareness of the losses and struggles that occurred, as well as an appreciation of our good fortune in celebrating the start of yet another year.

We hope that the changing of the year’s digit will rescue us from past habits and holes that we have dug for ourselves. We dream of changes that will make us happier and healthier. We make a list of resolutions in the hope that our willpower will be strong enough to launch us into a new way of living.

But in moving from one year to the next, take moment to pause. Pause to celebrate. Pause to reflect. Pause to take inventory. And pause to see what you can learn from this past year. Self-reflection is a powerful process. It’s strongly encouraged by many of the world’s great religious traditions and by some of the wisest of our ancestors and has many benefits.

For most of us, self-reflection is a missing piece of our lives. We’re very busy. We’re tired. We look for rest through books, beds, television and the Internet. The idea of spending several hours or more in your living room, sitting quietly and reflecting on the past year, seems strange and a bit uncomfortable. But in the waning hours of the year, we have a wonderful opportunity to excavate our lives and reconsider what we wish to do with the time we have left.

As you reflect on your life, you’ll notice that certain ideas for making changes or doing things differently will naturally arise. You can make note of these, keep them in mind as they can become useful as resolutions or goals.

But for; now, just allow yourself to sit with your life as it is. Seeing our life “as it is” can be more than the foundation of personal change – it can be the basis for faith, compassion for others, and a profound sense that we are loved and cared for more deeply than we have ever realized.

Best wishes as you enter the new year & may God grant you serenity, peace and strength.

Adapted

Don’t Act Like an Elephant!

african-elephant

Strange statement, isn’t it? But listen carefully because it can make a difference of success and failure in your business and private life.

LET ME EXPLAIN:

You may know that in India elephants are used for manual labour. But what to do with them when they are not working? How to restrain them? Their handlers came up with the idea to “program” them while they are still very young by setting self-imposed limits into their thinking.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

When the elephants are still small, weighing around 150 pounds they get tied up with a very heavy rope. All day long, the elephants try to get rid of it, whine, tug at it and some of them even try to chew it. But they can’t break free. Finally the elephant gives up and the fight is over.

From this moment on, they strongly believe that there is absolutely no chance to get rid of the rope. They accept the “fact” that the rope limits them. And with this imprinted belief in place, their handlers are able to tie them with extremely small ropes, even as adults weighing 8,000 pounds and more, they never attempt to break free, because they “know” they have no chance at all! As you can see, the elephants’ limits are not real but exist only in their mind.

We also have built-in boundaries.They are also not real but exist only in our minds. But it doesn’t have to stay this way. Our negative belief systems don’t have to limit us for good. If you truly want to become successful and are not kidding yourself, you can change your inner belief system, your attitude…

…and break your inner boundaries. You might feel that there are certain characteristics of your personality that are part of you and therefore cannot change; it’s just the way you are, the way God made you.

Although it’s true that you have certain inborn traits, certain strengths and weaknesses,this doesn’t mean that you can never change. You might wonder how this can be, how you can change what you feel is a long-standing habit, an almost ingrained characteristic, and turn it into something different. All things are possible with God!

It just takes a sincere desire to receive His help, and determination to follow through. You always have the inner strength, the personal power to change everything in your life for the better. Just try! Never give up. And never act like an elephant!