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Your life is filled with choices that lead you to your enlightenment or keep you stuck in the ambiguity of adversity, disillusionment, distress, and discouragement.I, for one, have spent many hours in the darkness of discouragement. I have shed many tears for myself and my life circumstances. As an author of inspirational and motivational books, and a speaker sharing the good news of potential, success, prosperity, freedom, and abundance, I often felt like a fraud. On the outside, I was the shining example of possibility and prosperity, but in my own consciousness I was faced with the constant battle to overcome frustration, fear, and my personal demons of doubt, discouragement, and confusion.Sure, I may have fooled some people, but in the end, in my private world, I had to confront my own inner conflicts that caused stress, trepidation, and often aimlessness. This book is not a confession, but a journey from fear and uncertainty to the discovery that all of life is truly a gift. My challenge was to learn to let go of the struggle and see the joy of life and not it’s pain, the possibility and not the panic; the adventure and not the limitations. It has not been an easy journey.There were times when I didn’t know what to do next or which way to turn. My friends abandoned me, my spouse became a stranger, and my every waking minute was filled with opposition and fear.Sure, there were rays of light and an occasional sense of well-being and peace, but they never lasted more than a few minutes. It was time for a change. It was time to see life differently and it was time to discover the gift of life and not its pain.The characters portrayed in this story are fictional. Any similarity to my life is only symbolic or accidental. But I must confess: The only way to create this story and its characters was to dig deep into my pain, struggle, and dreams for a better, more rewarding life.I don’t know where you are on your life’s path. I can never know the depths of your pain and struggle. It is impossible for me to comprehend your personal battles as you face another day. I can only tell you that, no matter what you are facing this day or this year, in the end your life experience was a gift from God, and what you did with it was your gift to Him.Please keep in mind that each of us is offered many different gifts by life. Some people may not have been blessed with sight, but they have been given the gift of time. Others may not have been given the gift of freedom but they are blessed with the gift of choice; and others may not have been given the gift of family, but have been given the gift of health. Some may not have been given the gift of wealth and opportunity, but they have been given the gift of another day.As you will discover, there are many gifts that life offers each of us, but we all may not be given the same gifts or in the same amounts. I have never met anyone in my life travels who has not been the beneficiary of numerous life gifts. You are no different. No matter what your circumstances, situations, life position, age, gender, or nationality, you have been given many gifts.The secret to happiness is to be filled with gratitude for the gifts you have been given and not complain about the ones that are absent in your life.One more thing before we begin Dean’s adventure through life. Life’s gifts don’t always come when we want them or think we need them, but they are always there in the wings waiting to appear at just that moment when we least expect them. You and I cannot manipulate God or life into giving us the gifts we think we need or deserve on our terms. The lessons life is constantly trying to teach each of us are patience, faith, belief, and gratitude for what we have been given.It is often much easier to focus on what is missing, what we want, or what is wrong in our life than on what is coming or what could be. This is one of life’s harshest tests: gratitude for what we have been given while we wait to discover if we will be given more or less, better or worse.There are numerous gifts that are available to all, but not everyone – for whatever reason – has the privilege of all of them. Some people have the gift of sight; others must spend their lives in darkness. Some people have the gift of freedom, while others live in tyranny. Some people have the gift of health, while others must face life’s ills with each breath, and some people have the gift of wealth, while others live in poverty. I can’t explain why some people have some gifts and must live their entire lives without others. I can’t explain why some people who appear to have more gifts seem to be always searching for more to ensure their happiness, while others seem to be happy in spite of having less.There don’t seem to be any rules. No one – and I repeat, no one – goes through life without some gifts. Maybe the ones they have been given are not the ones they feel they deserve or desire, but they are, as you will see, gifts nonetheless. How can failure be a gift? How can cancer be a gift? How can loneliness be a gift? How can discouragement be a gift?There are two key messages in this story that are important to keep in mind. First, there are two ways to view life’s curves, circumstances, tribulations, achievements, successes, and failures. One is to see everything, whether positive or negative, as a valuable gift from God and life, one that has hidden within it the seed of a greater good – whether that good is immediate or down life’s path. The other way is to view life’s circumstances, conditions, situations, and events as a negative, giving you the right to whine, complain, and gripe. In the end, your reaction to all of life’s gifts is your choice.You can choose to see the light or the darkness, the good or the bad, the positive or the negative; but keep in mind that events, in and of themselves, are neither positive nor negative. What gives them their definition in your life is your response to them.Second, every gift, regardless of its present interpretation, has future unknown outcomes. An apparent business failure can be viewed as a negative. However if that failure led to a new and exciting career, one which you may never have discovered had your business not failed, then in hindsight the failure was a gift in disguise. If a divorce at first seems a negative life experience, but years later, after finding true peace and joy, either with another or in your own solitude, then in fact the divorce was a gift in disguise. We are not always privileged to know how events will turn out after the initial gift has been given. Our role in life is to take the gifts, say thank you, and move on with gratitude, positive anticipation, faith, and hope.
Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com
Tim Connor, CSP is an internationally renowned sales, management and leadership speaker, trainer and best selling author. Since 1981 he has given over 3500 presentations in 21 countries on a variety of sales, management, leadership and relationship topics. He is the best selling author of over 60 books including; Soft Sell, That’s Life, Peace Of Mind, 81 Challenges Managers Face and Your First Year In Sales. He is also the CEO of Sales Clubs Of America. He can be reached at tim@timconnor.com, 704-895-1230 or visit his websites at www.timconnor.com or www.SalesClubsOfAmerica.com
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