[This was a hardcopy newsletter I wrote, which was a precursor to this current Blog of mine.]
As this new year began, the time that it seems we humans traditionally "take stock" of our lives and make (at least short term) decisions about what we want to be __________________ (fill in this blank. Examples: different, better, more fulfilling, healthier, etc.) in our lives, I realized that I cannot even remember how many YEARS I've told myself that "some day" I'm going to start a newsletter about things on my mind and in my heart. Things that touch me. Things that bother me. Things that matter to me. Things that I see going on in this world we live in that cause me first to react (at least internally) and then to wonder to myself, and sometimes aloud to others around me, "IS IT JUST ME? Is anybody else SEEING this stuff, or feel in any way AFFECTED by it, or even CARE about it going on? AM I THE ONLY ONE that is bothered, moved, outraged, bewildered, saddened, etc., by these things?" This personal newsletter is simply my asking if, as well as my hoping that, there are "kindred spirits" out there, so that we can celebrate, or commiserate, or care about these things together, instead of each one of us wondering, within the isolation of our own thoughts, if we are the only one feeling this way.
Every time I decided to wait to start doing this newsletter, this was always due to whatever limitations I felt there were in my life, at the time, which I wanted to resolve first. I somehow seriously believed, for awhile anyway, that could actually finally happen; that "someday" I would be able to just sit down and do this with no pressing problems or other troublesome distractions consuming my time and effort, draining my motivation and energy in the process. That type of thinking ties in to the movies we grew up on that END "happily ever after". "Some day", for me, starts NOW, rather than letting yet ANOTHER year pass by with me seeing what look like real REASONS, or sound like good EXCUSES, to put this off rather than just "jump in" and DO IT. This IS our TIME, to live, and to do, RIGHT NOW! This is what we get. This is what we have. Just as it is, with whatever is or isn't happening in our lives at the present time. It doesn't get any "better" than this, regarding our finally just taking the time, and making the effort, to do something that we have wanted to do for so very long now. What about you? What limitations have held you back, that you have had the ability to challenge, even for years? What reasons or excuses have you given yourself not to rise above or to overcome them?
LIMITATIONS. That can cover so much because there are so many types. As we look at our lives, in a new year, we decide where we would like to go, with things, but we can also see (or THINK we see) what we DON'T HAVE in our lives to GET us there. We may even feel really frustrated or hemmed in, or even hopeless, as if Life itself is somehow letting us know "YOU CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE." Paraphrased, an old proverb states "IF YOU WAIT FOR PERFECT CONDITIONS YOU WILL NEVER GET ANYTHING DONE." Imperfect conditions certainly imply limitations-- lacking the "optimum" of all that we need, want, or hope for in our circumstances. Limitations. Where to start? Limits on time, energy, money, etc. Limitations created both by our own preferences and by our own aversions. Limitations on how much of "me" I have to give, want to give, or am able to give to family, to pets, to employers, to friends, to church, to society at large, and even to myself. Possibly limitations on our health or mobility. Limitations we can control to some extent, and limitations that we cannot control at the present time, if ever at all. What limitations do you feel you are facing in your own life right now? What options do you see, to overcome these things, or do you just see a tall, encircling wall around you, that is built of these limitations, and feel that there is no course of action for you to get out of this situation? Despite dreading the preparation, and the process, at times, if I hadn't moved forward with, and through, it all, anyway, to do what I wanted, or needed, to do, for me in my life, REGARDLESS OF WHAT I PERCEIVED AS MY LIMITATIONS, I would NEVER HAVE DISCOVERED that it wouldn't be as daunting as I ASSUMED it would be before I even tried to GO AND DO IT! I am also growing as a person as I do that, by my learning new skills from it.
Our BELIEF that limitations exist for us often affects the situation more than the reality itself. You may have heard of how a very large, strong, elephant can be prevented from moving about or seeking its own autonomy, while being kept in place using only a thin rope tied onto one of its ankles. Because it was originally prevented from straying by a much heavier chain, which was able to hold it back from being able to walk away, it does not even question, or test, the rope that is there now which is actually not really able to hold that elephant there at all! The animal JUST ACCEPTS THIS as a limitation, and is therefore CONTROLLED by that BELIEF, rather than by the FACT of there only being a rope tied to it, now, which cannot in itself actually curtail its freedom to act at all. Really challenge what you see as the limitations in your life! Decide to take action. Sort out which are real and which are only perceived. Try to overcome the real ones. Let go of the FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real). Ask (both yourself and others) questions, explore your options, don't make assumptions, and be proactive instead of reactive about your situation, by doing what you can to improve it. Finally, TRULY SEARCH, AND FOLLOW, YOUR OWN HEART IN THE MATTER! These things can help you feel less discouraged, more optimistic, and lead you on a path of change that, while uncharted, and therefore scary, will also hold hope and cause self-growth. Don't avoid taking opportunities to FREE YOURSELF OF LIMITATIONS. Please don't wait until that elusive, fairy tale, time called "some day", where you dream about all limitations somehow finally disappearing, to be happy, either! So many people spend their lives doing that. "TODAY" is the ONLY day that you will EVER actually LIVE in! Just as it is. Right now. Embrace it. Enjoy it! With its limitations and all.
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This Blog is more like a personal journal, with its very detailed, and honest, look at my various life experiences, and how those, and the people involved in them, have impacted me. In creating and sharing this Blog with you, it is my hope that each of us will fully appreciate the remarkable power that a word has, for us, and from us. My prayer is that we are all affected by that truth, for better. I appreciate your input, and interaction, here. [Please note that Comment Moderation is activated.]