Helen Keller said, “It is not so much a tragedy to be a person with no eyesight, but it’s a great tragedy to have no vision.”

It is the common way of thinking that causes most people to live their lives on a lower level than they were meant to live. Many people live and die never knowing who they really are. They never allow a better self-image to be created in their mind. They always consider themselves secondary, less capable, less competent, and less fortunate to do anything worthwhile and be a person of any consequence.

The misconception that some people were born to be great and others just showed up to fulfill a destiny of struggle and lack is a falsehood that must be corrected. Abundance, success, blessings, or freedom are things everybody deserves and should enjoy. If we know our true personal identity, we will have the ability to use our mind, will, emotions, and physical body as tools in a way they were meant to be used to make us successful.

If we don’t know our true identity then we will most likely mistakenly perceive that we are inferior beings and that achievers, successful people, and rich people come from a different breed of humankind.

How Has Your Life Been?

We do have experiences of working tirelessly for hours together on a project or some assignment because we loved doing it, and maybe it was an extension of our passion. We forget to have our meals, don’t feel tired, and were always in full energy mode, irrespective of the time of the day.

Some of us who got a chance to work during the Durga Pooja celebration as part of the organizing team would certainly understand this feeling. One of our experts who was a part of the Pandal committee over a decade ago shares, “In those days, there was no big event organizing company, and even if there were any such company, the Pooja committees in small towns could never afford it.”

“I was part of such a committee in Faizabad, my job was to draw the design on the Thermocol Sheet and then cut the design using a hacksaw. I remember our team working continuously from evening 6 pm to the next day’s forenoon, then taking a rest of few hours and coming back to work. We did this for 3-4 days continuously. The important thing to note is that we were not paid to do this and also none of us were professional workmen.

I was a student and others included a doctor, an entrepreneur, and a clerk working with the electricity department.  We were always in high-energy mode and remained joyful, despite the tedious nature of the job. We were passion-driven, which helped us keep positive control of our minds and emotions.“

Our Minds and Emotions Affect Our Health

Our willpower and physical energy are directly affected by the condition of our minds and emotions at any given moment.

Our state of mind determines our emotional state; our mental/emotional state determines the strength of our willpower and, to a great degree, our level of physical energy. Our quality of life is also experienced in direct proportion to the extent to which we keep our minds and emotions in a positive healthy state.

The mind and emotions can be very fickle. One phone call with good news can send us through the roof with feelings that life is wonderful, the future is bright and all of our dreams will come true. Conversely, one phone call with bad news can cause us to crash through the basement floor and have to look up to see the bottom. 

The truth of the matter is that our ability to process what we perceive as a “good” or “bad” situation and the positive or negative resulting outlook is an automatic by-product of our mental and emotional stability at that time.

Many people give up their hopes and dreams for a better life because of frustrations born out of a feeling that they can’t sustain enough strength and momentum mentally and emotionally, which results in a lack of persistence and resolve. They really want to live life on a higher level; and, somewhere deep inside, most individuals feel that they should be enjoying a better life than they are now experiencing.

The Script of Our Minds

Like the old CDs and tapes, scripts keep running in the minds of people reminding them of all the times when they attempted to live life on a higher level and it didn’t work. Mentally, they review snapshots and action footage of the times when they attempted to create a more prosperous life.

They start out motivated to see greater spiritual, financial, mental, emotional, and physical freedom, as well as, a life filled with better loving relationships. Then they remember experiencing the frustration and disappointment of getting down the road only to hit a roadblock that has seemed insurmountable.

Though they know others who have risen above similar circumstances, they are now faced with the fact that they are too mentally and emotionally drained to go forward.  Even if victory was only a few steps away, getting to the next higher level of fulfillment spiritually, financially, relationally, or in any other area of life seems impossible because of their depleted mental and emotional state.

This could be one of the reasons, why many people who read self-help and motivational books and watch inspirational tapes are not able to achieve much and leave things midway. The seed of inspiration, motivation, and positivity can germinate only on the ground of belief and confidence in self.

Self-evaluation and criticism are good, but self-bashing, admonishing, and running oneself down can never help. If you want to learn how to be successful, you will first need to understand yourself and accept it. You must learn to believe in yourself, forgive yourself for past mistakes, and have realistic expectations from life.

We understand that self-bashing is a tool to save oneself from external criticism, but it never helps in the long run. It hinders our progress and keeps us from reaching our goals. Knowing yourself is the first step in accepting yourself, which will lead to greater confidence and success. So, find out who you are, what your strengths and weaknesses are, understand your needs and desires, have realistic expectations from life, and forgive yourself.

Learn the Truth

Many, if not most, people think that the truth has no foundation. The average person will check a house out thoroughly before buying it. He will:

• do a title search,
• try and get municipality records,
• would check with the courts that there is no pending litigation against the property he intends to purchase,
• will do a physical check,
• check the basement walls for water leakage, and
• inspect the floor and roof of the house.

When buying a car, one would do extensive research through the Internet, would seek expert opinions from friends and families using the car, and may also go on online discussion forums and sites dealing with the subject.

But the same person will accept the commonly-accepted myths, misconceptions, prejudices, and biases as the absolute truth without giving it a second thought. The only way to create real freedom is to know the truth, or “the way it really is,” which includes the truth about you.

You were not born to simply let life just happen to you. You were born with a built-in creative ability to live your life totally on purpose. Discover your purpose, discover yourself, and as Socrates said “Know thyself”.

The set of chromosomes in you is enough to help you achieve or do anything that you might conceive. Trust it.