FEATURED ARTICLE: Self-Empowerment
I've decided that our aura, personality, attitude, or whatever you want to call our "way of being" has infinite potential. We are all born with both distinct and subtle attributes. It's our job to find them and utilize them to their fullest capacity.
When I was young in Junior High I wasn't doing well in school. The doctors told me I had ADHD. So my mom got me on that Riddlin drug. I told her I didn't have a problem, I just didn't enjoy homework. So wouldn't I then be "normal," or does everybody like homework? Anyway, I told her that I'd prove it. If I wasn't able to get good grades without Riddlin then I'd take it. I got a 4.0 with flying colors that year. It took hard work, though.
When I was young I had asthma and was told I wouldn't be able to run cross country or track. I didn't like the doctors telling me what's what about my own body. I went out for cross country and worked hard. That year I came out somewhere in the middle. It wasn't until the next year that I won first place. It took hard work, though.
When I was 17 I tore my right pectoral muscle. The doctor not only told me I wouldn't ever bench press over 250 again but also told me I shouldn't ever do that lift altogether. 4 years later, after careful hard work, I started benching over 300. It took hard work, though.
I decided I would never be a victim of circumstance, brain make-up, or any other type of ailment that would limit me. Does this mean I have special powers? Probably not to that extent, but we're getting somewhere. If we want something bad enough, we WILL succeed. And it will have been hard work. Everything that is worth something takes hard work to earn it. Nothing in this world is magic. There's an explanation for it somewhere, somehow. While we don't have magic, we do have power. When we are motivated, we have power. When we have power we can achieve great things.
Too many people complain that they have no control over whatever "limits" them. People complain so much about politics, problems in the world, domestic problems, family problems, relationship problems, and so on and so forth.
Here are a few steps on how to purge yourself out of the trap of victimization that consumes so many people, especially Americans.
#1 STOP finding things you're unable to do. FIND things you CAN do. My dad, for example, has muscular dystrophy. He'll never be able to run in his life. However, just recently, he did something extraordinary to get himself out of a "victimization cell." He bought a bike that utilizes upper body strength, which he HAS. He feels like a new man, complete and refined. In his own words, it gives him a "rush."
What do we have in our lives that gives us a "rush?" If you can't answer that, then something must change.
#2 DO NOT give in to the "hypes" and "trends" of modern society. It will only discourage you and hold you back in your journey to SELF.
This doesn't mean ignore technology. It just means that YOU should be controlling the world surrounding you and not vice versa. If something controls you, you are a slave, and addict, and a depressed soul.
#3 Emulate "success stories." Look at people you like and look up to and learn what they did to earn their "success story." Make sure these people are people you truly admire and not some Kim Kardashian who you'll never meet.
#4 DO NOT listen to the media and take what they are saying to be truthful, unbiased, and uncorrupted. The media nowadays is the opposite of all the above, and worse yet, they are very fear-based. They want you to be afraid of things over which you have absolutely no control. They will use flattering and flamboyant words to convince you bad things will happen.
#5 Get up early, work hard, and trust that you'll make your mark in this world. There are great opportunities all over the place. Big ones are rare, so make sure you pay attention to all the little ones that lead up (or amount) to the big ones.
--Patrick Asay