www.1001TopWords.com |
Don?t Give Up!
Don't let anyone kid you. The road to self improvement and personal growth is not a short, straight, well-marked, paved highway. Looking back on my journey, I see a road meandering over hills and through valleys, around sharp curves and over muddy trails, with occasional boulders blocking my way. I can remember taking detours that took me off the beaten path and on to cow paths that wandered seemingly forever through the puckerbrush. It's been a long interesting journey. My trip began over 20 years ago when I was encouraged by a close friend to leave the world of the "walking dead" and move on to a better life. Walking dead?! Holy smokes! Where did that come from? That absolutely couldn't be me! No way! I was doing just fine. I had a great family, I held some foundation religious beliefs, I went to work every day and brought home an almost reasonable paycheck. I was doing fine. I was fulfilling my obligations to my family. I was doing what was expected of me. I was doing what husbands and fathers are supposed to do. And furthermore, I would darned well continue to do all those expected things until the day I passed from the face of the earth! I was doing just? Ohmygod! (Sometimes it's a bitch when reality strikes?) That was me! I was living in Zombieville! I was in a rut so deep I could only see the sun at midday. I was doing the same types of things day after day. Thinking the same thoughts ? believing the same beliefs. So - I started reading books ? lots of books. (Remember, this was way back "when" in the dark ages before personal computers.) I listened to tapes ? and read more books. And I spent lots and lots and lots of time thinking ? about who and what I was and what I really wanted to do with my life. I read more? and listened to more tapes? and thought? and nothing happened! Well, wait just a danged minute. If I'm learning (and I really was) isn't something ? anything ? supposed to change? Shouldn't things be getting better? Ohmygod! (There's that danged reality thing again?) I really have to DO SOMETHING! I need to put all that information I've been accumulating to work! This personal growth stuff isn't just about kicking back and soaking up words of wisdom. It's about making a conscious effort to change my actions. Dang, this isn't going to be the easy ride I had imagined. This is gonna be work! So ? I got to work. Gradually I started using the information I had gleaned from all of my reading, listening and thinking to make a few changes in my life. Small changes at first. Simple changes. Like responding to the "How are ya?" questions with "Great!" or even "Super!" I even tossed in "Fantastic!" once in awhile just to see what would happen. (Most folks didn't believe a word of it and probably thought I was just being goofy. But it was working for me.) And I spent more time thinking and meditating ? and learning. I was starting to see more daylight now. I was moving closer to the rim of my personal rut. But the changes and improvements in my life were happening oh, so slowly. So very slowly. Sometimes it seemed that months went by without any significant improvement. More months passed? Ohmygod! (Yep, it happened again?) There is no way for any of this to occur quickly ? immediately. It takes time. I need to grow slowly. I can't learn bigger lessons until I've learned the smaller ones first. It's a logical step-by-step process. Start small ? and earn the privilege of moving on to the next step. One step at a time. Whoooeee! This is gonna work! It was about that time that the whole process of self improvement and personal growth became FUN! I could begin to see that my life was getting better. Oh sure, at the same time I saw a few things that needed to be changed to help the process so I made the appropriate plans ? which eventually led me to make the changes I needed to make. And no, some of these changes weren't especially easy ? or fun - but they were necessary. So, a little at a time, a step at a time, life was getting better ? and overall, a lot more enjoyable. Now, nearly 25 years after the beginning of my journey, my life is truly "Super!" ? with frequent spurts to "Fantastic!". No, it's not perfect and it never will be. Life's not like that. I still have experiences to add to my life's history and more lessons to learn. There's always more to learn. So when you experience the delays, detours and occasional roadblocks as you're traveling down your personal growth highway, don't get discouraged. It's gonna happen. It's all just a part of the developmental process. Hang in there. Keep on truckin'. Don't give up! Your personal, special destiny really is waiting for you! About The Author Gene, through NuPathz.com, provides an easy reading self-help blog, articles, quotations, thoughts and links along with affordable books and materials written to help folks find the road to a more enjoyable lifestyle, to pass on some of life's "secrets for survival" in a chaotic world & offer a few smiles along the way. It's a down-to-earth, simple approach to discovering a better life. You can visit Gene at http://www.nupathz.com/
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Say Thank You to the Cow for the Steak on Your Plate Have you ever said thank-you to the cow that provided you with the steak for your dinner! Anamchara - Making Sense of Life Many successful persons advise you start your day with a list of what you intend to do and achieve during your day. This is extended to include a week. It moves forward at specified time intervals until you advance through the years and the decades. Happy Ending I'm writing to you with a completely shattered heart. I've known my wife for over five years, and we got married last August. It was a fairy tale wedding, everything we always wanted, with about 200 guests. Everyone said by the look on our faces they knew we were in love. Faith Like a Child Jonathan: Just Say, I Love You to Those Who are... Life is beautiful and lovable with the type of people we have around us. We talk about unconditional love, what is that? The way we love GOD?is unconditional love. Loving a person without expecting anything in return. But in today's world, how many people understand this. Probably none. We hurt people, who care for us. We ignore their love. Every morning and every evening this person walks into our life and tells, "I LOVE YOU", "I LOVE YOU FOR WHAT YOU ARE AND AS YOU ARE". We never responds back and then one day he moves out of our life. My Mothers Garden I love to talk about Purposeful Living with others and share how it's affected my life. But sometimes when I get to the part about doing what you need to do my listeners eyes glaze over and I know I've lost them. I get the response that it doesn't seem like much "fun" to find your purpose and do what you need to do. In fact, it sounds rather Calvinistic. It sounds like trudging uphill in the rain with your head down ? oblivious to your surroundings. By Now, Im an Expert at Memory Loss I sat down to write my weekly humor column, but I just could not remember what I wanted to write about. This seems to be an increasingly more common affliction, ever since I turned 40. For instance, like most people over 40, I often can't remember my age. The River of Life I've always loved the awesome majesty of mountains. They are, however, the byproduct of the rivers that formed them: flowing, adjusting, carving, crashing and gently nurturing the land and animals along the way. The river carves its way through, and the mountains answer as towers of strength. Like the river, our lives are forever moving and changing, shaping us as the water shapes the land it flows through. Crossing The Line Of Fear Oh, this is a great topic! I remember when I was younger and in school, fear stopped me from asking out a girl I wanted to date. I can remember all the thoughts of different things I wanted to say and how I would ask her out. But as quickly as the thoughts to ask her out popped in my head, I came up with all the reasons why she might say no. I remember the "feeling" of rejection and embarrassment even though I didn't even pick up the phone! It's as real in my mind right now as it was then. How Would YOU React To Tragedy Like This? The true story I'm about to share will have a profound impact on you, just as it did on me. The Four Emotions that Can Lead to Life Change Emotions are the most powerful forces inside us. Under the power of emotions, human beings can perform the most heroic (as well as barbaric) acts. To a great degree, civilization itself can be defined as the intelligent channeling of human emotion. Emotions are fuel and the mind is the pilot, which together propel the ship of civilized progress. Are You Afraid of Change? Change, no matter how you cut it, can certainly be adaunting task. There are so many ways to change; yourimage, attitude, environment, perceptions, addictions, andhow you treat others. Change is the Only Constant The physics professor with the unruly shock of white hair strolls up to the blackboard, picks up the chalk, and writes a big tilde, then below it an equally large equal sign-thus creating the symbol for "approximately equals." Accelerate Your Abilities In today's fast-paced life, the wins usually go to those with exceptional skills and abilities. The old quote is true, "The race is not always won by the swift and the strong, but that is the way to bet." You Are a Beautiful Person I wish that I could tell every person that I meet that he or she is a beautiful person--and have them believe it. I wish I could look them in the eyes and tell them of their beauty and have them accept the words for what they truly are--the truth, plain and simple. Aim High Change is difficult for many people. Often times our whole identity is wrapped up in what we've learned as children will work for us when dealing with people, allowing us to survive, thrive and fit in. While some people have had to learn to thrive in the midst of change and learned to be adaptable by being open to new ideas and embracing change, many others have had to fight for survival and every table-scrap that came their way. Behavior is learned and it takes work to unlearn and dismantle these old beliefs. Why Self Esteem Matters A number of years ago I worked for one of the UK's top IT companies -- a global player. We were meeting to discuss a major bid, and the room was filled with people who didn't meet often -- the most senior managers from a number of divisions. There were very few middle tier managers in the room, almost exclusively senior managers who were accustomed to being 'top dog'. The atmosphere in that room was almost tangible. I wanted to bottle the air and analyse it later -- I had never experienced such naked power, and it dawned on me in that moment that we are almost blind to the status signals we transmit. I Am Unique We have given a lot of thought, paid an indecent amount of money and taken much action over the years to change the way we are. To become 'better' human beings. To make the most of this life we have. To get rid of the behaviours that are counterproductive. The behaviours that cause harm to us and others. Anam Chara - Living A Life Of Value Much of our lives we spend comparing what "me" has with what "you" has. Usually this is to the detriment of "me." We take our values from the world of the visible and ignore the values of the invisible. We build our sense of self on the sifting sands of fortune. Adversity to Victory The following is a true story about a young friend who lives in St. Louis. |
© Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |