I can dig this.
Dan Millman, author of “Everyday Enlightenment” said, “No one feels the same way all the time. Even if you are angry, depressed, crazy, afraid, or grieving, you’ll have moments when you are distracted. There are no enlightened people, no nice, bad, smart, neurotic, or stupid people, either–only people with more (or less) enlightened, nice, bad, smart, neurotic, or stupid moments.”
The more I study today’s self-development literature, and I DO read it all for my job as Life Coach the more I realize there’s TOO MUCH. If you see someone walking around Toronto with glazed eyes and muttering, “you’ve got to be kidding?” that would be me having another talk with the Universe; the all knowing, all seeing source of our incredibly too complicated existences.
All the do’s and don’t’s; all the should’s and shouldn’t’s; all the must’s and mustn’t’s. You start to feel a little inadequate if you don’t start to see the results of your concerted efforts; if you don’t feel lighter of spirit; or if you manage to take a step forward and then get knocked 15 steps backwards by unexpected circumstances.
You can have done all the right things according to the 3, 7, 10 or 12 step plan dejour and still have little to show for your efforts.
And that’s when they come back, as Millman said, “….the angry, depressed, crazy, afraid or grieving moments…”
And it’s ok. So wipe the beatific smile off your face and give yourself a break. The thoughts we all engage in while pretending we don’t are normal. They are the expression of the frustration and inadequacy that can arise while taking the “road less traveled”. You wanna be a star in whatever you do; whether it’s as an entrepreneur, a parent or a spouse. You want to matter. You want to be valued. You want to do whatever it takes to live an extraordinary life. But some days no matter how hard you try you devolve into those thoughts you think you shouldn’t be having. The non-productive ones….the “unenlightened” ones….the petty ones.
To help you deal with these “moments” that keep cropping up even after laying out a few thousand bucks for a weekend intensive or $29.50 for the latest self-help how to; I’m going to suggest an alternative.
Instead of trying to repress your base instincts, get to know them. In my article “Mind Tricks” I introduce a few books that teach you the “why”. Once you know why you think what you think it becomes easier to navigate those moments that can blow the lid off of our composure and confidence.
(for more info visit lindakaban.com)
