Your Choice: In the mirror darkly or with clarity...
Paul's New Testament Biblical scripture 1 Corinthians 13:12 refers to the present and the future:
"For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then I shall know fully as even I am fully known."
It alludes to the veil that is placed over us as we see ourselves and this world as opposed to the lifting of that veil to see ourselves and the world in full light in the afterlife. How you interpret that or make use of it depends on your religious beliefs. My thought is that it worth it's original face value as intended but also, interpreted slightly differently, in another more practical daily perspective.
We all view ourselves as in a mirror and the way in which we view ourselves in light of the present world, religious decisions aside, is also how we react to the world and in return how it reacts to us. Lifting the veil to view ourselves practically and pragmatically helps us understand ourselves better for self-improvement. It is not a new concept and accepted in contemporary society as psychologically sound. Should we see ourselves darkly, we will view and be viewed in our interactions with the world accordingly. The same is true if we see ourselves with as much clarity as possible and view ourselves more assuredly, in turn our interactions will reflect that.
What I see in this difficult era is how people view themselves very much determines the course they will take during a turbulent, uncertain period of their lives and the ongoing outcome. You can view yourself as a casualty and injured party in this economic downturn, which may be true if you've lost a job, income, home, family...most especially if it's been uneven and unfair. The difficulty is getting beyond the point of feeling like an underdog and getting to a place in your mind that rises above that thought in order to move on. Otherwise your reflection of yourself will only mire you even more into a downward spiral.
This requires taking possession of the dominion of yourself and claiming control over your emotions and thoughts, never an easy task but required to get a better impression of yourself to project to others. It requires the tough actions of claiming and occupying your own decisions, taking charge of your attitudes and actions by creating original thoughts or borrowing some and adapting them to your situation, regardless of external circumstances. If you are prepared for challenge, change and adversity, the more often it occurs and you cope with them, then it becomes more natural to you and subsequently less difficult.
It's building character, which is never easy but always rewarding in the long term.
Showing posts with label self-talk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self-talk. Show all posts
12/29/10
4/29/10
Invest In Yourself
Engage in self improvement in turbulent times...
Invest in yourself while seeking shelter from the storm:
This era of Great Disruption due to technology and the internet, economic difficulties, political divisiveness and social problems can be disturbing to even the most even keeled of us. The world at large is in chaos of one order or another and it is difficult to remember that we have little control over much of it. We do have control over how we observe it, engage with it, cope with it.
I'm reminded of the era between 1968 and 1974, when in the US everything seemed turned upside down with racial tensions, university student disruptions, the draft resistance movement, urban riots, Kent State Shootings and Watergate. There were times when it seemed society was hopelessly mired in social ills with no end in sight. Who knew that Deep Throat was feeding Woodward and Bernstein information that would ultimately bring down Nixon? That was the beginning of the end of scary times during which many of us felt this country was dead-ended. Nothing lasts forever, change always happens.
Where we go from here in this time period is not within my foresight, although I have some ideas of what could happen. This time healing and recovering is going to be a long and deep process for most of us. The best thing to do in times like these is seek shelter and stay out of the storm, while observing for change in the weather. Staying out of the social storm doesn't mean personally stopping though. Engage in self-improvement, take care of things you've been meaning to, prepare yourself by building a foundation out of methods that have stood the test of time.
These six items seem to be good on an agenda:
1. Take control of your life.
2. Invest in (formal and informal) education and your mind.
3. Improve and maintain your physical and mental health.
4. Build solid relationships with good people - people good for you and people you're good for.
5. Devote energy to your business or career and/or make plans if you currently don't have one.
6. Think positively, turn away from negativity and engage in good self-talk.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Invest in yourself while seeking shelter from the storm:
This era of Great Disruption due to technology and the internet, economic difficulties, political divisiveness and social problems can be disturbing to even the most even keeled of us. The world at large is in chaos of one order or another and it is difficult to remember that we have little control over much of it. We do have control over how we observe it, engage with it, cope with it.I'm reminded of the era between 1968 and 1974, when in the US everything seemed turned upside down with racial tensions, university student disruptions, the draft resistance movement, urban riots, Kent State Shootings and Watergate. There were times when it seemed society was hopelessly mired in social ills with no end in sight. Who knew that Deep Throat was feeding Woodward and Bernstein information that would ultimately bring down Nixon? That was the beginning of the end of scary times during which many of us felt this country was dead-ended. Nothing lasts forever, change always happens.
Where we go from here in this time period is not within my foresight, although I have some ideas of what could happen. This time healing and recovering is going to be a long and deep process for most of us. The best thing to do in times like these is seek shelter and stay out of the storm, while observing for change in the weather. Staying out of the social storm doesn't mean personally stopping though. Engage in self-improvement, take care of things you've been meaning to, prepare yourself by building a foundation out of methods that have stood the test of time.
These six items seem to be good on an agenda:
1. Take control of your life.
2. Invest in (formal and informal) education and your mind.
3. Improve and maintain your physical and mental health.
4. Build solid relationships with good people - people good for you and people you're good for.
5. Devote energy to your business or career and/or make plans if you currently don't have one.
6. Think positively, turn away from negativity and engage in good self-talk.
__________________________________________________________________________________
4/1/10
Some Times
When what you're following isn't so great...
That's probably the time it's a good idea to pull back, change lanes, pass and move along.
That's probably the time it's a good idea to pull back, change lanes, pass and move along.
3/31/10
Build Character
Invest in yourself...
Take control of your life.
Educate yourself and develop your mind.
Take good care of your health, mental and physical.
Have relationships with people who are good for you and who you are good for.
Think positively, work at replacing bad habits and thoughts with good ones.
Figure out what works best for you and develop a habit of positive self-talk and engage in it. Ignore any idea that it doesn't work or what others may say about it. Affirmative self-talk does work by reducing stress and improves your life. I'm living proof of that.
It's not my style to go into a list of things I've survived, although there are people who know all about them, without them I wouldn't have survived. You'll just have to trust me that these concepts have worked as tools for getting me through tough times and past them.
Take control of your life.
Educate yourself and develop your mind.
Take good care of your health, mental and physical.
Have relationships with people who are good for you and who you are good for.
Think positively, work at replacing bad habits and thoughts with good ones.
Figure out what works best for you and develop a habit of positive self-talk and engage in it. Ignore any idea that it doesn't work or what others may say about it. Affirmative self-talk does work by reducing stress and improves your life. I'm living proof of that.
It's not my style to go into a list of things I've survived, although there are people who know all about them, without them I wouldn't have survived. You'll just have to trust me that these concepts have worked as tools for getting me through tough times and past them.
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