Overcoming Fear and Worry

Do you ever wonder why you seem to be unable to achieve your goals or the level of success you desire? Do you come up with answers which tend to blame other people, the business climate or just the weather?

Experience has taught me that the act of blaming is the projection of the negative beliefs you are trying to ignore and hide from the outside world.

A very powerful belief and obstacle is the desire of approval and acceptance of the community of family and friends. Unfortunately, this desire of approval and acceptance will not help you achieve anything but conformity with a broken society filled with double standards. These double standards are found everywhere you look, ranging in the difference between religious groups, laws, et al.

This is not a new thought. This was built into the basic foundations of civilization to empower the people with higher intelligence with the responsibility of governing the community. When wealth became the symbol of intelligence, then everything changed. The universal values of Truth, Peace, Love and Non-violence were buried in the Struggle for Power. What you see in today’s world is the result.

The Good News is that there is another community whose members, spearheaded by scientific breakthroughs, have dedicated their lives to the power contained in the universal values of Truth and Love. Their numbers are small but growing as their discoveries are broadcast in the media each day.

By seeking this knowledge, you have short cut to a direct understanding of the un-truths that you have buried in your subconscious mind. Any information along this line of thinking encourages you to take the essential actions to remove the resulting dis-ease and unhappiness in your life; and, thereby, healing your mind and body. I have heard it said that if something does not serve you, it is an un-truth. And all un-truths are like the clutter and trash that needs to be hauled to the dump.

Are you ready to change your life?

Take care until we meet again.

Obstacles to Self Improvement-Part 6 of 6 - Pride

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Pride is a great obstacle to Self Improvement mainly because it is considered as one of the seven deadly sins. According to Wikipedia, "In Ancient Greece, instances of pride were termed hubris because of the added connotation that pride was a crime against the gods and would result in fatal retribution. The word was also used to describe those who considered themselves more important than the gods themselves."

I see pride as an important concept that is really being misused by our culture. I see it is being used as a psychological weapon to influence the masses into buying whatever ideas/things that are being "hawked " by the media; thereby, promoting "pride" as a status symbol of materialistic ownership.

This emotion grows/evolves into some of the other feelings that are part of pride such as: arrogance, judgmental, superior, unfeeling and vain. These are feelings of separateness. There are many historical incidents to support what eventually happens when pride consumes your psyche.

What is "Pride"? It is a verb frequently used in a reflexive sense of "congratulating oneself" [Online Etymology Dictionary @2010 Douglas Harper].

Using this context, taking pride in ones work and/or pride in ones accomplishments can be a good starting point in achieving self improvement. Not only have you done something that benefited you, you have given a unique and special gift, an example, to those around you. My first mentor always reminded me, "By example do we teach."

I also find inner peace through being grateful, not only for the opportunity and experience of learning/doing, but that I was able physically and mentally to meet and achieve my goals.

Take care!! Hope to see you next week with more insights in Self Improvement techniques that you can use.

Obstacles to Self Improvement-Part 5 of 6 - Anger

Good Morning and Welcome Back

In all honesty, "What is your "take" on anger?" Are you prone to get angry often? What is it that makes you angry?

Without being aware of it, many of us spend a great deal of time in the emotional world of anger. Several years ago, my mentor once told me that I lived in the emotional world of anger. I was dumbfounded; and, yes, my 'prideful" feelings were somewhat bruised.

"How could this be," I asked myself. What did I do to make him even suggest that I lived in the world of anger? I guess my error was that I always considered anger as being an outward manifestation of aggressive and belligerent behavior, hostile, outraged,vengeful and violent.

Anyway, I pondered this personal criticism for a long time. If the matter be known, I still ponder it from time to time only because I happen to believe our political environment, no matter what country you live in, cultivates a lot of our anger by nipping away our personal rights/freedoms in the name of religious beliefs or morality. This can and does create an overlying "cloud cover" of stress which effectively blocks the "feel good" emotion of the warm sunshine of the day and the clear starry skies at night.

So, where does this leave us? My own personal solution is to ignore the external influences in favor of seeking the inner peaceful place [heart/soul] of being. This takes a strong intention/determination; but, believe me, it is worth the effort. Unless you can free yourself of the baggage of false teachings/indoctrination, whatever its source, this euphoria of joy and inner peace will not happen.

This series on "Obstacles to Self Improvement" is almost finished. Part 6 of 6 will be related to "pride".

I welcome your feedback. Your feedback/comments are extremely important to me. If you have found these articles to be of help in understanding how these obstacles impact your well being and inner peace; or if you would like additional articles on "Obstacles to Self Improvement" or some other related aspect, please feel free to post a comment.

Until next week, please do take care.

Obstacles to Self Improvement-Part 4 of 6

Good Morning and Welcome Back

Lust is usually present when your daily life is full of hiccups with one stumbling block after another. When this is the case, be on the lookout for its subtle influences.

Lust is another big obstacle to the self improvement goals you wish to achieve. It is not limited to obsession with someone of the opposite sex. Lust is an emotional appetite for any thing you feel that "you can't live without".

Just the other day, I had a very interesting experience with this emotion.

I'm not sure exactly where to begin this story. Anyway, I was presented with an opportunity to change my life. This chance opportunity awakened a long-held dream I had had for several years. Perhaps, the Law of Attraction was working for me after all. All the details of my dream fitted into place. My infatuation grew with the idea of a new life filled with new adventures.

So I set about to make this happen. I literally wore myself out rearranging my life and/or "scheming" for five days.

This is how easy it is to allow/permit "lust" to take control. When the long-held dream failed to materialize for me, it was then, I was "shocked" and awakened to the realization; "Hey, I was really causing myself a great deal of stress in my desire to have this experience to come into my life." Immediately, at this moment, my inner peace was restored.

We need to be vigilant. Lust is ever present in our daily lives, and manifests itself when we are are not completely satisfied with our life "right here and now". It is very easy to lose control of these "I wants/needs"; and, as a result, you can easily become compulsive and manipulative in trying to satisfy your perceived needs. If you choose to ignore this emotion, you can quickly fall into the trap of addiction and loss of self esteem.

The grass on the other side of the fence may appear to be much greener, but it comes with a price, sometimes a very high price.

See you next week when I share some thoughts on the emotional attributes of anger.

Until then, take care, my friend!!

Fear, An Obstacle to Self Improvement-Part 3b of 6

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Fear, in itself, is a gift. It is a vital part of our survival skills and alerts us to the possibility of danger; as you well know, the basic instinct relating to "fight or flight".

Let's continue our discussion relating to FEAR and identify some of the more common the types of FEAR that invade our emotions and, thereby, control our lives.

At this point, for starters, I ask you to consider each of the "labeled feelings" on this list and how it affects you. How about: anxious, apprehensive, evasive, frantic, inhibited, insecure, panic, paralyzed, paranoid, trapped, uneasy, vulnerable? This is, by no means, a comprehensive list. There are other feelings associated with fear; but, I think this will give you a good start.

It is the FEAR that is buried deep in our sub-conscious [that has accumulated during our entire lifetime] that so easily dominates our conscious reactions. There is good reason to equate FEAR with Cancer. They are, indeed, quite similar. If left unchecked/untreated, FEAR consumes the mind while cancer consumes the body. Actually, this fear is a gift [a wake-up call], albeit, a painful one.

While FEAR is based on past experiences, it really impacts your future. Picture, if you will, trying to drive a car with one [or more] flat tires.

I like to "label" my fear as "confused imagination". The label, "confused" effectively prompts me to sort/analyze what is happening/or has happened that has created the feeling of fear I am currently experiencing.

While it is most unfortunate, our global partners, the organizations within our community, and the old parenting skills choose to manipulate us with the force of threat which then radiates into the FEAR that either cripples us or make puppets of us.

Are you aware that force is only a temporary fix that impedes the growth [self improvement] of the targeted/victimized individual? Add this one thought to your mental library.

How do they accomplish this? Bluntly, and quite simply, we choose to permit FEAR into our lives through "ignorance and/or misplaced trust [which is actually a form of ignorance]". Ignorance is another complex story in itself.

As mentioned in last week's article, FEAR accumulates in our memory bank and comes out to greet us each time something happens to threaten us. This is the door by which we allow FEAR to control our lives. Let's slam the door shut now.

Just believe me when I tell you, "There is NO THING that can happen to you unless you permit/allow it to happen, either consciously or, quite often, unconsciously.

Come back next week. My scheduled blog for next week will be on how "lust" affects your commitment to Self Improvement.

Obstacles to Self Improvement-Part 2 of 6

Good Morning and Welcome Back

Last week's blog concerned the feelings of being overwhelmed or stuck and how you can change them into challenges. One emotion that is often the basis of feeling overwhelmed is grief.

Today, I would like to focus this blog on some of the attributes associated with grief. Grief is not just concerning the loss or mourning of a loved one. It is about losing anything you felt that you possessed or enjoyed the experience of having; for example, your job, your house, your girlfriend, your boyfriend, or an unrealized dream.

While I was researching material for this article, I was surprised, almost shocked, to learn that being ashamed and being guilty are also included with feelings of grief. However, when you think about it, this does make sense; you have awakened to a reality of your imperfection.

Grief, including 50+ associated feelings, does not serve you. And what does not serve you is an Untruth.

"How can I stop my grief?" you ask. [At least, I hope you are asking this question.] Grief is holding on to something in your past and through the habit of remembering, you continue to live in the past. There is no way you can move forward in your life while you cling to the past.

I would like for you to take several slow deep breaths and focus on this reality, "I am right here right now."

By ardently practicing this one rule, you can change your thoughts; thereby awakening a change in your attitude, and most importantly, a change in your life.

Take good care and have a Wondrous and Glorious Week until we meet here again.

Obstacles to Self Improvement-Part 1 of 6

Good Morning and Welcome Back,

My approach to Self Improvement has been and continues to be to eliminate the obstacle [weakness] that stifles me at the moment. As soon as I recognize that I am struggling, I take action to change my thoughts.

One of the primary obstacles preventing us from achieving Wholeness is "apathy": those feelings of discouragement and despair; those feelings of being overwhelmed or powerless; of being stuck and unfocused.

"Okay," you say, "How can I get rid of these emotions?"

AHA! Now we focus on winning our new and challenging "game" of Self Improvement. When we accept this challenge, we immediately become focused and unstuck. We now have power. And, furthermore, the feelings of being "overwhelmed" along with discouragement and despair fade away as we see the progress we have made. And as your self confidence grows with winning, your power continues to become stronger as you stay focused on this challenging game. You are now on an upward spiral moving toward your goal.

Always, always keep your focus on winning this game,

Come back next week for some more obstacles that can hinder us from winning our game of Self Improvement.