Archive | Confidence RSS feed for this section

Growing Up

12 Dec

“We’re all told at some point in time that we can no longer play the children’s game…” Moneyball

When we’re children we act like children and as childhood flashes by we go through a lot of changes. Childhood is the time for us to begin our lives and start to learn and understand how things work, decide what kind of people we want to be, and what we want to do. For most of us moving into adulthood is a normal progression we grow into each day. But for some it’s more difficult and we may get stuck holding onto childish behaviors. We may not be able to control ourselves or make good choices, we may be subject to tantrums and hysterics, or get stuck acting out immaturely. It’s impossible to be successful adults if we’re behaving like children. For most of us the transition into adulthood is natural and we learn the lessons needed as time passes to become fully integrated and capable. However, if we refuse to grow up, and get stuck wishing for the innocence and carefree years of the past, we will face many difficulties. We cannot be children and adults at the same time. If we want to be truly happy we must embrace our lives as they are, let go of the children’s game and move forward.

Children cannot understand or compete in the adult world. They don’t have the experience or understanding to comprehend how things work or what needs to be done. They lack the self-control required to face disappointments easily and process undesired changes. They have everything they need to be children, and we never expect them to possess adult attributes. However, once we’ve grown up it’s our responsibility to learn what we need to interact effectively with the other adults in our lives. We must let go of the trappings of childhood and embrace growth. We can all become successful adults willing and able to work with others and understand our circumstances. If we need help adjusting it is our responsibility to get it. Only then can we be successful and move forward.

Fantasy is fun but if we are confused about what is real and what is fantasy we may get lost. It’s perplexing for others to be around adults who hang onto childish things and act in childish ways. Life isn’t always easy and it can be hard to face difficulties and try to unravel complex issues. We may not want to face what is before us but hiding behind childish behavior will not solve them for us. We have everything we need to become fully successful. We are brave and strong and capable of facing anything that comes to us. We can grow and mature and become our best selves.

Today if you’ve been struggling and wishing you were a child again, trust yourself to expand. Life is always moving forward. There is no way to return to the past. Be where you are and gain all the knowledge and experience you need to be successful. You can do anything and do it well. Today is a great blessing. Move ahead with confidence.

Tags: , ,

Which Way is Up

7 Dec

For student pilots who haven’t yet learned to use the instruments on a plane, vertigo can be a serious issue. When flying through clouds, rain, or fog without instruments it can be hard to figure out which way is up. Disorientation may occur because it’s impossible to see the land below and everything looks the same. It can be difficult to discern if the plane is ascending or descending. Learning to understand and rely on the instrument panel to show what’s happening, despite the visual clues, will enable a pilot to safely navigate through hazardous situations. Without them, disaster may result. In our personal lives, we rely on a lot of physical clues to tell us what is going on and what we should do. We see and hear things and then proceed accordingly. But sometimes we can’t see the whole story and may become confused and disoriented. If we aren’t sure how to proceed, we can rely on our internal instrument panel to guide us. We can think about the issue, discern what is real, decide which way is up, and chart our course forward. Our previous experiences give us information to guide us. We can clarify our direction by evaluating the situation carefully and taking the time to determine which way we need to go.

It can be easy to get confused when there is a lot going on or we’re receiving mixed messages about something. When we have a decision to make and lots of people are weighing in and giving us advice it may be confounding trying to figure out what to do. Everyone has a different opinion and although there may be many good suggestions, if they all come at us at the same time we may get lost in the commotion. It’s like being in a dense fog or trying to navigate through the clouds to find the answers. If we step away from all the confusion and take time to think and clear our thoughts, we’ll figure out the answers we need. By consulting our internal navigation system, we can find our way. We have great intuition and inspiration available to us and we can access it and use it to direct our course forward.

There are no decisions that are beyond our capability to understand. We can think about even complex situations and comprehend what we need to do to address them and solve any problem that comes up. We can draw on our past experiences and all the things we’ve learned as we’ve lived through each day and we can discern truth. If we take the time to look at each variable and plan our way forward step by step, we will succeed. It doesn’t matter how foggy it gets, how hard it rains, or how many clouds are gathering above, we have everything we need to clear the confusion and go forward with confidence. We are wiser and braver than we think we are and there is nothing too difficult for us to navigate.

Today if you’re in a complicated situation and there is a lot of confusion and interference, step away and clear your head. You have all the answers already. Identify them and plan your way forward. You can do anything and solve any problem. You will find your way through with confidence and clarity. You have everything you need.

Tags: , ,

Going Forward

6 Dec

The road we travel as we live our lives is long and has many turns and twists as we navigate through the years. Sometimes things go well and other times we struggle to get through. It’s not always easy to push forward when there is wind blowing in our face, blinding us and making it hard to keep going, or rain muddying the way forward. If we’re sure we’re headed in the right direction we may stay the course and keep moving ahead with confidence. However, if the road is very hard and there are obstacles in front of us we may doubt our ability to press on. We might wonder if we’ve lost our way, if we need a better map or someone to help us, or if we’ll ever get to the destination. There are so many things that can happen to cloud our view forward and it takes determination to keep walking. We have everything we need to be successful and we know where we want to go. If we persevere, no matter what we face, we can continue. Confusion may come but we can find the answers we need. We can confidently take one step after another, even when it’s hard to see, and reach any destination we choose.

Our journey through life is long, and we will pass many stops along the way before we reach the end. Some are unexpected but each place offers us something to carry with us going forward. We may go somewhere foreign and feel uncomfortable and eager to leave but as we navigate the path we learn different ideas that will enrich us. Sometimes we reach a place that feels like home where we are happy and feel accepted, and as we move forward they buoy us up and give us confidence. We learn something new with everything we experience, and as we travel forward we change and develop a new and richer understanding of our lives and who we are. Each experience changes us in some way and we learn more about ourselves and who we really want to be.

Sometimes the way forward is easy and we move ahead with little resistance. Things go well and all the doors seem to open for us. But life is unpredictable and can be perilous. Everything changes continually and no matter where we are now, our circumstances will change. We will meet different people, experience new challenges, and learn to cope with everything we face. We’ll learn to manage all the bumps, complications, and disappointments as we travel and we’ll become stronger and truer to ourselves. Each day teaches us something we need to be successful. Learning every lesson well helps us find our way.

Today if your journey is thwarted with complication and problems, if you feel tired having to face yet another challenge, keep moving forward. There are rewards and blessings waiting for you. Each trial gives you a gift and each challenge teaches you something you need. You know where you want to go and you can persevere and find success. You are strong and capable of managing anything. Keep going forward. You have everything you need to succeed.

Tags: , ,

Jigsaw Puzzle

30 Nov

Most of us have worked on a jigsaw puzzle. It’s fun to dump the pieces out on a big surface and start sorting them. The fewer the pieces the easier the puzzle is to complete. Complicated puzzles with hundreds of pieces take longer and instead of putting them all together at once may take days or weeks to complete. They all differ but they are simply pictures cut up waiting for us to bring them together again. Sometimes our lives feel like jigsaw puzzles. The paths we’ve been on may get cut up, the things we had together may get separated, and we may have to put things back together again piece by piece. When the pieces are jumbled up and upside down it’s hard to figure them out but one by one we can turn them over and decide where to put them. We just need time to find the all the pieces and build the picture.

Life rarely goes the way we think it will. There are a lot of variables in everything. Things move and reshape constantly. As we adjust to each modification we may need to change our direction. The goal may stay the same but the road to it may move a little here and there. When we plot a graph, we make clear, straight lines between the defined locations. It looks nice and it’s easy to understand. Unfortunately, life doesn’t exist on graph paper. It’s more like abstract art. A bit of yellow paint here, a streak of red there, some blue thrown in at random and white space in between we have yet to paint. There’s a lot going on and the more we look at it, the more we see. It’s complicated and can be confusing. But we have the power of discernment and can figure out even the most complex of pictures. Like a jigsaw puzzle we can begin to put it all together and find our way.

If we lived in a vacuum we could make our decisions, plot a course forward and be done. We could be in control of everything. There would be no problems or complications, and other people would never be able to interfere with their opinions and decisions. But there will always be others involved in almost everything we do, there will be issues that gum up the works, and unexpected developments will invariably get in the way. As we go, we learn a lot by working through each situation that arrives, find solutions to the problems we encounter and cope with all the personalities around us. Unlike a jigsaw puzzle where we simply put the pieces together in their pre-determined places to create the picture, we have the opportunity to see all the sides of each piece and determine how best to use it. The goals we set determine the pictures we make. We can live our lives any way we want to and accomplish any goal we set. We just need to decide how all the pieces will come together.

Today if you feel like your life is a puzzle torn apart and disconnected you can begin to put things together. Decide where you want to go and what you want to do. Then choose each piece one by one that will take you there. You already have the picture in your mind. You can put it all together and begin moving forward. There isn’t anything you can’t accomplish and you will be successful. Take it one piece at a time and before you know it your life will be the picture you want to create. Success is waiting for you.

Tags: , ,

Overnight Sensation

21 Nov

Overnight Sensation

“Picture an egg. Day after day, it sits there. No one pays attention to it. No one notices it. Certainly no one takes a picture of it or puts it on the cover of a celebrity-focused business magazine. Then one day, the shell cracks and out jumps a chicken.” Good to Great, Jim Collins

When we see famous people who suddenly arrive on the scene they may seem like overnight sensations. One day we never heard of them and the next they’re on the cover of every popular magazine. It’s easy to think of them zooming to the top rung of the ladder all at once but that probably isn’t the truth. Often “overnight sensations” have spent many years pushing forward and working hard to get where they are. Nobody saw them when they were working three jobs to get ahead, or paying their dues for years on end trying to move forward. It’s like an egg. Nobody really pays much attention to them until the day they start to crack and a baby chick presses its way out. Then the egg gets our attention. It seems like a momentous event but in actuality the chicken has been working hard all along. It grows and develops and moves forward each moment until the day comes to break free. Although we may see the hatching as a big deal, it’s just the next step in the process for the chicken. The same is true for success in our lives. It doesn’t usually come overnight and without effort. We must plan and work and prepare for it and once we’ve done what is needed to make it happen, it arrives.

We all have dreams of things we want to accomplish. Some of them are easily attainable and we make plans and get them done. Others are loftier and take more work and time. If we are determined to accomplish a big goal, we must do what is needed to achieve it. We can push through day by day, overcome whatever obstacles stand in our way, and continue forward until we reach success. Once we achieve success it may look to others like it happened overnight. But that isn’t the truth. Nobody will know everything we had to do to get there, or see all the sacrifices we had to make or the problems we had to solve, and there is no way for others to understand all the difficulties we had to face. All they really see is our success.

There are few instances of true overnight successes. While it’s possible that something great could happen to us without any effort that won’t generally happen. We are like the egg working behind the scenes doing what is required to succeed. We have everything we need to accomplish almost anything we desire. It may not happen overnight, but if we work at it and do what we must to move forward, we will achieve success. We can fulfill our dreams step by step and day by day. There really isn’t anything we can’t do and we will succeed.

Today if you’ve been working hard and still haven’t reached your goal, keep moving forward. It may not happen overnight but you have everything you need to win. You will achieve your goal. Success is just around the next turn and you will reach it. Take another step forward. You’re almost there.

Tags: , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →