Happy New Year to you all! I didn't make any resolutions for the simple reason that they only last about 15 minutes! I have set myself a few goals though which I will keep to myself for now, but one of the main things I've been looking at is how my mindset determines the direction of my life.
I'm sure you've heard a number of catch phrases about the power of belief, quite possibly without realising the full significance of the statements that were made. "Think positive", "believe it and you will achieve it", "if you think something bad will happen it will", "it's mind over matter," "be determined", etc, etc. I've heard things like this and more over the years. I used to dismiss these statements as being those of New Agers and others who had a penchant for hugging trees and rocks in the New Forest!
But there is a lot of truth in these sayings. One of the first statements I ever heard along these lines was from the bible: "...For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23:7. Simply put, we are what we think.
I have a very clear example from my own life about this truth. I am very tall, and growing up I absolutely hated it. I hated people staring at me and all of the comments that went with those stares. I can still tell when someone is referring to my height in another language! Whenever I had to go out somewhere, before I had even set foot outside, my heart would race with anxiety as I imagined people staring and laughing at me. More often than not this is exactly what happened. I would never visit crowded places; I would seldom go to parties or weddings unless I absolutely had to go. I just didn't want to be seen; sometimes I would spend days without going outside. If I had to go to the High Street, I would take the routes which ensured minimal contact with other people.
Then one day, after an experience which changed my concept of my height, I decided not to focus on people's reactions and attitudes to my height any more. I made a choice to embrace who I was, enjoy my height, go where I pleased and not bother about people's foolishness. You know what? The number of unpleasant incidents dropped from happening every day to hardly ever happening at all. What had changed? I hadn't moved to another country or another part of the City; people hadn't changed, but my mind had. I had always walked tall, but now my confidence and my attitude walked tall too! People are always commenting on how amazing and pleasant it is to see someone who isn't ashamed of their height and who doesn't try and disguise it with a stoop. All I did was change my mindset and the results became evident to all.
I was thinking about this quite a bit yesterday; what would happen if I changed my mind in other areas of my life where I want things to be different? At times I can be quite defeatist when things don't happen the way I want them to first time round or as quickly as I would like and so I give up, but what if approached each challenge or obstacle with the belief that they could be overcome? What if I actually started to believe that I can be a writer of note and take steps in that direction, rather than comparing myself to others and telling myself that I don't measure up? What if I approached everything with the belief that I can, I will, I am good enough, nothing is out of my reach and nothing is impossible for me? What would my life look like with this approach? Well, if the results from my change in attitude about my height are anything to go by, my life would be pretty amazing!
One of the things I purposed today was that I want my life from now on to be an adventure. I'm challenging myself to strap myself firmly into my seat on this roller coaster ride that is my life, throw my hands up in the air and, as I take all the dips, turns and loops that are unique to my life, I want to embrace every element of what lies in store for me with a positive outlook. Yes, unpleasant things may happen along the way, but I won't let setbacks alter my course anymore. I choose to enjoy my life and become who I am destined to be in the process. Life was always supposed to be an incredible, exhilarating journey. It still can be. But because for a while my view was obscured by my concerns about how I looked and how people treated me, I totally lost sight of how fantastic it is to be alive!
Life in the Tall Lane just got a lot more fun! Here's to 2011 being the greatest year of my life so far!
1 comment:
Yay!! I will be cheering for you Belinda!
These things can work and some things in life that you would never believe are not out of reach. That is my story. Everyone told me I couldn't be anything but I tried something that any sensible person would say was impossible for me. It took a lot of hard work and time but there was a wonderful and magical day where I realized that maybe I had managed to do it. I still have to work very hard and I'm not confident enough to just try anything, but I'm getting better and better.
You have such a good talent for writing and you know how to watch and see people and places that you will manage it.
Post a Comment