“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
The holidays have given many of us, amidst all of the festivities, a time for reflection. Whether alone or with family, this time of year seems to act as a mirror for what is going well and what is challenging in our lives. I have personally, at times, felt overwhelmed by the flood of memories and emotions, good and bad.
When the waves of emotion grow large, it can be a bit confusing. This is a time when we benefit from making a clear decision about what we want. Although we often underestimate the value of our choices, we have the ability to greatly effect our personal experiences. As tempting as it is to go down a negative spiral and feel disempowered, we can choose to believe that everything is going to turn out for the best.
Some people call this determination, or maintaining a positive attitude. While these descriptions are fairly accurate, we might wonder how to do that. The key ingredient is learning that we can decide on positive outcomes, not based on outer appearances, but instead by our own inner knowing. We can choose to have faith in our own intuitive sense that there is hope, even when it does not look or feel possible.
It is often our own choices that are the most difficult to place a value on when we are involved in challenging situations. We might think that everything is simply going wrong. We may feel like we need to get a whole new life if we are ever going to be happy. The thing that I teach my students is that they are always better off than they think. It is actually the small decisions that we make, in a positive direction, that have the greatest benefit.
I was talking to family member who is working at a job that requires calm decision making in the face of potentially stressful circumstances. There is a great deal of money involved, and the money can go up or down very quickly. The challenge for him is that, although he knows better, he will often start making impulsive decisions fueled by fear. He told me that these are the decisions that tend to erase any gains he made that day.
As we chatted, I could see that for him, it is a matter of trusting his investment principles rather than his fearful impulses. As he develops a simple strategy to decrease those fear-based choices, he will quickly be making considerably more money each week. Although, from the inside, it might feel like he is far from his dreams, from my perspective he is very close. In fact, he is a small adjustment away from regularly making my annual salary, or more, in one or two months of work.
Though the results may not be as lucrative for many of us, the principles are the same. We get to choose if we are going to trust in a loving, supportive universe, or if we are going to be governed by fear. The quality of our experiences will reflect whether or not we reacted to life out of fear, or if we found a way to stay attuned to the hidden possibilities that only present themselves when we make inspired choices. The good news is that it is never as big of a leap as we think to make it.
If there is an area of your life that is feeling stressful, take a moment to make a decision. Sit somewhere quietly and acknowledge everything that is going on in your mind and emotions. It is okay to feel overwhelmed and even discouraged. By making a conscious choice to get back in the flow of inspiration, letting go of outside indicators, and having faith in life to support you, the results are guaranteed.
The greatest minds and leaders of our world have found the courage to choose in favor of inspired vision, even when the cards were stacked against them. You can achieve your own dreams, by making the decision that everything really is going your way, and that the best is always yet to come.
Edward Biagiotti is the Inclusion Specialist for Culver City Unified School District. He is also co-host of the popular radio show, Funniest Thing! with Darrell and Ed, to find out more go to www.DarrellandEd.com. Visit www.TappingIntoGenius.com for more articles and a free, inspirational parenting download.