Fear is possibly the most dangerous emotion a person can feel. It possesses the ability to cancel out rationale and if we allow it, can render us helpless. We submit to being doomed before we even try to do anything, when we are operating in fear. In the past few days, I have found that fear manifests in the imperfections of my life. I suppose I should take a step back. I don't want you to stop reading this post. I am hoping at the end of all of this you take something from my post that you can apply to your own life, should anyone read this post.
I am now stepping back. Are you ready? I am getting older and I am not ashamed of that. I have always been a person that is focused on growth and advancing in the things that truly matter, to me. For me, I desire peace first and foremost, then there is wisdom and then there is success. For a long time, I regarded every thing as a lesson. Then I came to college and for some reason I just believed that I was growing, and that it wasn't something that solicited intense analysis and meditation on my part any more. I adopted a very dangerous mentality to have when obstacles in your life occur. I began to think that I was responsible for anything that happened in my life.
The reason I say that sense of control is dangerous is (at least in my case) because that stringent delusion of control over every aspect of your life can conjure a very unique form of fear, if you allow it. In my case it made me feel helpless when things were not going my way. That sense of helplessness quickly becomes anxiety. I am realizing that even with prayer, life happens. The one thing that prayer secures is the peace, the calm and the agility needed to withstand the storm. It took my older brother reminding me of that. The other thing that prayer secures is that it will all end well, but the bumps on the way to the happy ending are inevitable.
So maybe I am writing this more to myself than anyone else, but if it can speak to anyone else that would mean a lot too. Don't allow the things that are not perfect in your life stop you from appreciating the good things that are in your life. It is a very sneaky trick to accept that everything in your life is going to be perfect. It creates false expectations. Life is perfectly imperfect but don't let that stop you from appreciating the beauty of life.
This isn't a sermon. I encourage you to believe in whatever you want to believe in. But I encourage you to seek peace and employ an appreciation for the things that are right in your life. Even if it is not exactly your ideal version of right. It makes weathering the storm much easier. We cannot control everything that happens to us, that is not what separates the winners from the losers. It is about standing firmly enough to get through the storm. The emotions that follow are ok (I must reassure myself of that) but do not allow them to control you and never allow them to keep you from pushing forward. So whatever you are going through the outcome will already end your favor. Just focus on getting through the obstacle.
Quotes for encouragement
Totally just watched "Eat Pray Love" and my favorite quote has to be: "Ruin is a gift on the way to transformation."
Another great movie with a great quote is from "The Day the Earth Stood Still:" "You say we're on the brink of destruction and you're right. But it's only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment."
Written in love
xoxo
