I’ve seen a lot of buzz on the internet lately about some version of the post below – some positive and others negative – and neither are right or wrong – it’s all a matter of perspective and opinions depending on how you view the world.
I am of the belief that as individuals we are ALL responsible for the quality and outcome of our lives. Each and every one of us has the opportunity to create the life we want – we are not destined to live out the life we inherited.
What I invite you to consider as you read this, is that you have a say in your life. You create your life. Your life is your creation … consider what your life would actually look like for you if you designed it.
I’ll use myself as an example – I grew up in very humble beginnings – parents divorced when I was the age of 5, not the easiest of childhoods, grew up in social housing – we didn’t have much in the way of any luxury, never took any trips (unless it was to Quebec to see my dad), my mom didn’t drive – so we didn’t have a car. I didn’t play on sports teams (unless they were through school). I had my first daughter at the age of 18 (just a month shy of 19) and for all intents and purposes I should have been a statistic (based on the life I inherited), And, I’m not. I made that choice early on in my life – my life was going to be exactly how I created it to be, regardless of growing up in a lower socio-economic environment, regardless of having a difficult childhood, regardless of having a baby at 18.
I moved out of my mom’s place and lived on my own (I was determined to create my own life). I took a year off school to raise my daughter, then enrolled in College. I went to school, raised a baby solo (was a full-time student and mom) and I worked part-time as a cashier a Canadian Tire to make ends meet … I was 19 years old. All I kept thinking to myself was “a new world for me would look like having a car and a stable job so I can provide for my child to give her the life I never felt I had” I also thought “what my life would look like would be happy, calm, and to be the mother I knew I was capable of being in site of being a young mum”.
Looking back now, I didn’t understand why I thought that – I just knew that I was responsible and accountable for how the rest of my life played out – no one else was to blame – not my parents, not my life circumstances nor my childhood … nothing ! If my life was going to be successful (and we each have our own personal varied definitions of success) I knew that it was up to me. It’s easy playing the victim of circumstance – of your past. What’s hard, takes guts and is super confronting is really taking on your life in a new way that alters the course of where your life would have normally ended up – your “probable future” – and my probable almost certain future, if I had not taken action, would have been a teen mom, on social assistance, living in social housing and I would have probably been content living that way , beause it’s what I knew. I would not be being the powerful, strong, determined woman that I know myself to be today.
Folks, who you ended up being is not who you are – it doesn’t define you — it’s just the way you turned out in the matter of life. Putting yourself on the line for something whether it be good grades, change in attitude, thoughts, behaviour, progress, accomplishments, relationships, careers etc… is not comfortable and it’s not easy.
I remember seeing online, a few months back, a video of a kid who was studying under a street light. I recall thinking to myself “wow that kid has some serious dedication around his studies to do it under a street light!” The story is that a CCTV camera captured the boy doing his homework under a street light pole in Peru. Victor Martin Angulo Cordoba, had to do his homework on the streets because his mother could not afford to pay the her bill and he wanted to make sure he made good grades (video here). That’s what I’m talking about – doing what’s necessary, regardless of circumstance to get things that matter to you done — he could easily have not completed his homework and that would have been easy and understandable. Instead, he found an alternative and while not ideal, he did it anyway – he did something that was “unreasonable”.
You cannot create a powerful life and live within reason – they just don’t mesh — if you continue to function in a world of reasonableness, the same things will occur … you’ll live groundhog day over and over again. How many of you have experienced that or continue to experience that?
IF you want something in life – go for it. The most successful people got to where they are because they worked hard to overcome their obstacles and never gave up – even when the odds were stacked agains them.
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Take in the last paragraph of the quote above from Gary John Bishop (I’m so excited because I am seeing him and Tony Robbins and Rachel Hollis and more on October 30 2019). 100% truth! You don’t have to have want to create something that is ground breaking. You don’t have to want to turn the earth on its axis. Consider that you changing one thing in your life that’s important to you – not only changes your life, it also changes and enhances the lives of the people around you. Consider that me changing/breaking the pattern in my family resulted in a different life for my children and my grandchildren etc.
Consider that WE ARE WHO WE ARE BECAUSE WE SAY WHO WE ARE — you are your creation – your life is your creation – who/what are you creating yourself to be?
I’m starting with the man in the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
And no message could have been any clearer
If you want to make the world a better place
(If you want to make the world a better place)
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change~ Michael Jackson
