Whatever you dream to do, be sure to do it well.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Unlocking Your Highest Potential: Feed Your Environment to the Fishes


Happy Monday, March 11th! I hope that you’ve been well and feel ready to conquer whatever comes your way. I know I feel that way, although times have been difficult and tiring. The most important thing is not to lose faith, stay strong, and know that better times are coming if you believe. Sometimes, I wish I could transport myself to a relaxing island where I can have some time alone to sort out my feelings, heal my mind, and soul, but of course the thing about wishes is that they’re disappointing and sometimes leave you feeling worse because you’re powerless to make them come true. The only thing you truly have power over is your mind, your attitude, and your reaction to your environment. Now, if you’re like me and have a less than ideal external conditions or are bound to them by forces beyond your control, you have to learn to feed your environment to the fishes. My circumstances have taught me that when I’m in a rough place, the most important thing I can do is live comfortably in my mind instead of trying to force my environment to bring comfort to my mind. Today, I want to share a few things I do to overcome my environment.

Go forth and conquer the obstacles to your dreams!


Draw and Invest Strength and Hope from and into Your Ideal Future

This is not just going to your happy place, nor am I suggesting that you live in the future, but rather that you give and receive power in the future you know you want to achieve someday. I’ve learned to nurture my dreams and trust them without question. Whenever a horrible situation comes up or I feel discouragement tugging at my chest, I draw strength from thinking about how my present situation does not reflect entirely who I am and who I will be. I know where I’ve been and I know where I’m going, so I don’t need to be afraid, lose hope and give up. On the contrary, I face the now with fierce determination to work hard on my current projects and not doubt about whether they’ll pan out or not. I see victory and its inevitability. Doing so helps me a ton!




Brush Aside the Excuses and Limiters

Excuses, excuses, excuses! If people adhered and believed their excuses, nothing great in this world would have ever been done. Or will be done. The same is true in our lives. I have a mountain of excuses and statistics and odds that chirp louder than birds in the morning:

It’s too difficult.
You don’t have time.
The competition is too high.
Failure is unavoidable.
The economy is too rough right now.
There are no more opportunities.
All the doors are closed.
You need a better occupation.
You should settle down.
You’re crazy. Stop before you regret it.
You need stability.
And blah blah blah blah

It’s actually quite easy for me tune this out; especially when it comes from loved ones. All I hear is Charlie Brown’s teacher when all these excuses, put downs, or negative points pour like acid on my dreams and ambitions. They’re the small fry distractions that you have to learn to brush aside and rise above from with no looking back. Excuses do not have your best interest in mind. They exist to stop you from reaching greatness, but don’t let them. You were meant to be great. Believe it, work it, and watch it happen. 


Make a Nice Home in Your Mind

I’ve said this often to myself: you can go far and wide in the world, but you cannot leave yourself behind. Since you’re stuck with yourself, it makes sense to make a nice home in your mind. Are your thoughts encouraging or aggressive? Are the conversation partners up there pleasant or vindictive? Are you served cookies with a warm blanket or given clamps for your feet and hands? Is your mind a paradise or a dungeon? Several years ago, my mind was the latter of the two. I hated living in my mind along with my environment so that made for a very unhappy life. However, now that I’ve managed to see the illusions of my negativity, open my eyes to my unlimited potential to make my dreams come true, along with trust my God-given abilities to make a good life for myself, I can say without too much doubt that I’ve made a nice place for myself in my mind. There’s still much cleaning and rearranging to do, but I must stay it’s a whole lot bearable than what it was last time, and it’s one of the main reasons why I can overcome my environment. I live in two places: the physical and mental. As long as my mental space is pleasant and I can laugh and make fun of my physical place, I can gather strength to weather my tough external situations.

So, how about you? How do you feed your environment to the fishes? Or do you? I’d love to hear your thoughts about how you overcome the outside world.

Thanks for reading,

Sammy :)

P.S. Be Brave. 





     

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post Sammy. I love how you have taken your mind captive and not let it be taken captive to negative and external forces. It takes a lot of time and effort to get to that place.

I generally just flow through life. I rarely make goals or plans. And when I feel down I feel down. Although I am never down for long – maybe an hour or so? I am now at a place in life where I am beginning to feel the want to have bigger goals. I want to travel more, but hubby doesn't travel. So, I don't know how that is going to work out, but I do not let it get me down. I guess you could say I am content. I know I'm blessed beyond measure and I'm thankful for that.

My youngest sister, when we go out to eat or have a cup of tea in a cafe will say, "Okay, where are we today?" And we'll pick somewhere we'd love to be right then. Let's say, a street-cafe in Rome, and we enjoy our meal imagining and feeling like we are actually in Rome. It's a lot of fun. Especially when you have someone who will play the game with you. But she has also taught me that I can close my eyes and be anywhere in the world I want to be. When I'm in the gym, on the treadmill or bike I pretend I am walking or cycling around my home city, Glasgow, Scotland. It is so easy to imagine because I do walk the city when I am in Scotland. :-)

I'm so proud of you for being such a strong and determined young woman. And I know, beyond teh shadow of doubt, you will reach every goal you have set for yourself because you have the wisdom and patience needed to get you through.

Geo. said...

I suppose everyone who gets dealt a few blows in life --which is probably everyone-- can benefit from your succinct directive "...draw strength from thinking about how my present situation does not reflect entirely who I am..."

Lately, on "Trainrides..." I've touched upon ID theft, but your method is larger, more generally applicable. When situations have turned stupid for me over the past 60+ years, there's still something inside that doesn't want the stupid to get in. I've tried, with occasional success, to strengthen that mechanism.

Bossy Betty said...

Thanks for this post. The power of the mind is awesome!

Unknown said...

Thank you so much, Elizabeth! I appreciate your kind words and thoughts. They give me much strength. That's a pretty rad game that you and your sister play. I want to try it out with my friend cause I'm sure we'll enjoy it as well. :D I know you too will make your goals come true even though it seems difficult at the moment. And patience is key even though it's tough!


Thanks Geo! Your humor on Trainrides is healing in itself! I keep close to my heart what you told me several posts back, "Whatever happens, never lose your sense of humor." I've shared this line with friends and they too find comfort in it. :)


Thank you, Betty! Yes, the mind is more extraordinary than the universe! :)