2009: No More Fears this Year; Let Self-Belief Dominate the Atmosphere
JL Shash
January 01, 2009
In terms of the balance of nature, and the purpose of every individual in the order of things, I happen to be an unapologetic signatory to the Existentialist movement- custodians of a theory which places the supremacy of the individual above all other things.
Extinguishing every trait of pessimism, and allowing the spirit of Certainty and Optimism take their rightful places, as 'Kings' and 'Queens' on the thrones of our hearts, in comes their offspring: Self- Belief.
To fulfil our individual destinies and unlock those untapped potentials which have for long been incarcerated within – and constantly begging for liberation- there is no gainsaying the fact that we need to see ourselves as our own number one heroes. Remember that age-old saying 'If you want things done right, do it yourself!'? Well, If you ask me, that can be accorded some credibility. Learning to lower our expectations of others - which by the way doesn´t mean we act condescendingly towards people - will ensure we often end up being less disappointed or resentful when we have our high hopes dashed.
On the issue of Self-Belief, we can't really do that topic justice without a mention of its arch-nemesis; also known as its 'next door-neighbour-from-hell' : Self-Doubt. And please believe me when I say I know Self-Doubt when I see one; we've met at various job interviews , even wrestled late into the night whenever I got any 'light-bulb' inspiration for any new project or venture. Not forgetting the numerous occasions it crept up behind me on social scenes (mind you, in my singleton days) when considering striking a conversation with the gorgeous woman at the bar (and possibly, with a view to going home with her number, if you know what I mean). I won´t deny that the ingrained elements of Self-Doubt ended up winning some of these battles, however, the passage of time, coupled with years of self-exploration, self-mastery, and self-reflection ultimately ensured my spirit of Self-Belief eventually triumphed by ultimately winning the 'war'. That's right, nothing wrong in losing one or two battles, provided we end up winning the war.
Self- belief is magical; it resurrects and transforms a seemingly 'dead and buried' human existence. It is an elixir of life which if embedded in us, has the propensity to make even the most visually challenged individual take notice. People react to the signals we radiate, if we constantly wear the doom and gloom uniform, we are sure to get the doom and gloom service (even in a restaurant!), or response everywhere we go. We can expect remarks such as 'Is everything ok?', to even the 'Are you sure you've had your breakfast??'- we all should know that sometimes 'loving' but other times annoying 'motherly' kind of probe . And who, in actual fact could blame the interrogator when we´ve inadvertently invited it all upon ourselves? Not me.
Attaining Self-Belief involves ridding ourselves of every negative emotion which have for long posed as obstacles in the path towards Self-Fulfilment. From cynical strangers who´ve hardly taken the time to know us or what we are truly about, to even the so-called 'friends', 'family' and work colleagues, who feel they know us more than we know ourselves; And of course, how can we forget our own worst enemies : Ourselves.
We can go on and on, heaping praises on the virtues of Self-Belief, however the key point is how we can actually condition our minds to break these barriers of Self-Doubts. One useful tip is mind control, and we really need not be psychics, or illusionists to pull this off. The power we possess as humans to manipulate our minds is often given less credit than it deserves, be it consciously or subconsciously. And based on this fact, every each one of us should endeavour to practice an art I wish to call 'mind-steering' ( assuming our minds are vehicles, and we are the drivers). Mankind has come on leaps and bounds in the turn of the last century in achieving celebrated landmarks: Orbiting the moon, technological inventions, life changing innovations by visionaries and medical breakthroughs. And yet looking inwards, we still struggle with those personal little 'gremlins' of our own called Self-Doubts.
Our mental balance transmutes into the physical, and by no means did I make that up ( If still in doubt, please check with any hypochondriac) . And the things we focus on the most in our subconscious tend to become our physical realities, which, by the way is just a fact of life.
Sarah, a good friend of mine, once shared with me a thought-provoking experience about the first time she discovered she was going to be a mother. She went on to tell me that from the very moment of her discovery that morning right through the remainder of the day, all she could hear was the wailing sounds of babies. And driving on through town, she saw more 'Baby on board' stickers than usual on other cars, more baby carriages or 'buggies' were visible for sale in window shops, more nurseries being advertised, and more people carrying more toddlers on sidewalks or pavements. And even the TV stations wouldn't cut her some slack (instead of her usual 'Desperate Houswives' slot) every channel she flicked through always seemed to have one discussion programme on childcare or prescribed 'nutritional intakes' for expectant mothers going on. I laughed within me when she narrated her ordeal, for the only reason that I knew those events she summarised were normal everyday events. However, for the simple fact that she knew she was pregnant, her mind had by now tuned her focus from what should have been an ordinary event by everyday standards into a somewhat peculiar one - That´s what the power of the mind can achieve. However, our utilising this power to believe more in our own mental capacities would be a cause worthy of applause
So stepping into 2009, rather than harbouring those little fears (mind you, we all have a few) let us focus on releasing the spirit of Self-Belief into the atmosphere. And with another year and a new chapter ushered in, we should desist from yet another self-deceptive 'Resolution' (quite frankly, hearing that each year makes me cringe!) and in it's place put up a 'Resolute Determination' in achieving our set objectives. As Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) - the infamous but great warlord - himself was once quoted as saying, "The truest wisdom is a resolute determination".
Wish you all a groundbreaking 2009!
JL Shash
Extinguishing every trait of pessimism, and allowing the spirit of Certainty and Optimism take their rightful places, as 'Kings' and 'Queens' on the thrones of our hearts, in comes their offspring: Self- Belief.
To fulfil our individual destinies and unlock those untapped potentials which have for long been incarcerated within – and constantly begging for liberation- there is no gainsaying the fact that we need to see ourselves as our own number one heroes. Remember that age-old saying 'If you want things done right, do it yourself!'? Well, If you ask me, that can be accorded some credibility. Learning to lower our expectations of others - which by the way doesn´t mean we act condescendingly towards people - will ensure we often end up being less disappointed or resentful when we have our high hopes dashed.
On the issue of Self-Belief, we can't really do that topic justice without a mention of its arch-nemesis; also known as its 'next door-neighbour-from-hell' : Self-Doubt. And please believe me when I say I know Self-Doubt when I see one; we've met at various job interviews , even wrestled late into the night whenever I got any 'light-bulb' inspiration for any new project or venture. Not forgetting the numerous occasions it crept up behind me on social scenes (mind you, in my singleton days) when considering striking a conversation with the gorgeous woman at the bar (and possibly, with a view to going home with her number, if you know what I mean). I won´t deny that the ingrained elements of Self-Doubt ended up winning some of these battles, however, the passage of time, coupled with years of self-exploration, self-mastery, and self-reflection ultimately ensured my spirit of Self-Belief eventually triumphed by ultimately winning the 'war'. That's right, nothing wrong in losing one or two battles, provided we end up winning the war.
Self- belief is magical; it resurrects and transforms a seemingly 'dead and buried' human existence. It is an elixir of life which if embedded in us, has the propensity to make even the most visually challenged individual take notice. People react to the signals we radiate, if we constantly wear the doom and gloom uniform, we are sure to get the doom and gloom service (even in a restaurant!), or response everywhere we go. We can expect remarks such as 'Is everything ok?', to even the 'Are you sure you've had your breakfast??'- we all should know that sometimes 'loving' but other times annoying 'motherly' kind of probe . And who, in actual fact could blame the interrogator when we´ve inadvertently invited it all upon ourselves? Not me.
Attaining Self-Belief involves ridding ourselves of every negative emotion which have for long posed as obstacles in the path towards Self-Fulfilment. From cynical strangers who´ve hardly taken the time to know us or what we are truly about, to even the so-called 'friends', 'family' and work colleagues, who feel they know us more than we know ourselves; And of course, how can we forget our own worst enemies : Ourselves.
We can go on and on, heaping praises on the virtues of Self-Belief, however the key point is how we can actually condition our minds to break these barriers of Self-Doubts. One useful tip is mind control, and we really need not be psychics, or illusionists to pull this off. The power we possess as humans to manipulate our minds is often given less credit than it deserves, be it consciously or subconsciously. And based on this fact, every each one of us should endeavour to practice an art I wish to call 'mind-steering' ( assuming our minds are vehicles, and we are the drivers). Mankind has come on leaps and bounds in the turn of the last century in achieving celebrated landmarks: Orbiting the moon, technological inventions, life changing innovations by visionaries and medical breakthroughs. And yet looking inwards, we still struggle with those personal little 'gremlins' of our own called Self-Doubts.
Our mental balance transmutes into the physical, and by no means did I make that up ( If still in doubt, please check with any hypochondriac) . And the things we focus on the most in our subconscious tend to become our physical realities, which, by the way is just a fact of life.
Sarah, a good friend of mine, once shared with me a thought-provoking experience about the first time she discovered she was going to be a mother. She went on to tell me that from the very moment of her discovery that morning right through the remainder of the day, all she could hear was the wailing sounds of babies. And driving on through town, she saw more 'Baby on board' stickers than usual on other cars, more baby carriages or 'buggies' were visible for sale in window shops, more nurseries being advertised, and more people carrying more toddlers on sidewalks or pavements. And even the TV stations wouldn't cut her some slack (instead of her usual 'Desperate Houswives' slot) every channel she flicked through always seemed to have one discussion programme on childcare or prescribed 'nutritional intakes' for expectant mothers going on. I laughed within me when she narrated her ordeal, for the only reason that I knew those events she summarised were normal everyday events. However, for the simple fact that she knew she was pregnant, her mind had by now tuned her focus from what should have been an ordinary event by everyday standards into a somewhat peculiar one - That´s what the power of the mind can achieve. However, our utilising this power to believe more in our own mental capacities would be a cause worthy of applause
So stepping into 2009, rather than harbouring those little fears (mind you, we all have a few) let us focus on releasing the spirit of Self-Belief into the atmosphere. And with another year and a new chapter ushered in, we should desist from yet another self-deceptive 'Resolution' (quite frankly, hearing that each year makes me cringe!) and in it's place put up a 'Resolute Determination' in achieving our set objectives. As Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) - the infamous but great warlord - himself was once quoted as saying, "The truest wisdom is a resolute determination".
Wish you all a groundbreaking 2009!
JL Shash