Today’s Challenge…..Look at your life, see the patterns, take responsibility, then take action.
Always do your best………be honest with yourself about your life patterns. There are things that you have experienced more than once, they are the patterns, the outcomes, or the familiar route that relationships take in your life. When you tell your story you point the finger at others, at events beyond your control, at the circumstances. Ancient wisdom teaches that when you point the finger outward, there are three pointing back at you. You may not be able to control what happens to you, but you do have a choice in how you respond to it. We must learn that when we take responsibility for our choices, our acts, our decisions that it helps us to grow and mature. It allows us to bring the lesson forward and apply it to the next situation. It builds humility and strength of character.
If we can be honest with ourselves then we can learn much from these conversations of truth. As we reflect on our adult life we should be able to see clear development and maturity every few years. We can see the moments that altered us forever……we can recall the deep learning that we have as we painfully revisit a lesson until we understand it at its deepest level. Being real about the patterns in our life, allows us to grow in leaps and bounds, and in ways that we otherwise wouldn’t. Self-awareness enables us to act spontaneously rather than on our fears….and it encourages us to ask “what would love do now?”
Jon Kabat-Zinn said “You can’t run away. Sooner or later, the things that you don’t want to deal with and try to escape from, or paper over and pretend aren’t there, catch up with you – especially if they have to do with old patterns and fears. The underlying thinking is that the reason for your troubles is outside of you – in the location, in others, in the circumstances. Change the location, change the circumstances, and everything will fall into place; you can start over, have a new beginning. The trouble with this way of seeing is that it conveniently ignores the fact that you carry your head and your heart, and what some would call your Karma around with you….too often, our lives cease working because we cease working at life, because we are unwilling to take responsibility for things as they are, and to work with our difficulties.”
By Lisa Scott Certified Executive/Life Coach