ADVANCE CONFIDENTLY!
“The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.” ~Joseph Campbell
Plug YOURSELF into a pathway, a process, or a framework.
Both blessed and cursed with the unique ability to think AND reason, humans are different than all other life forms. We were gifted choice, free will, or at least the appearance of it. Some would argue that no such thing exists…
The truth? That’s up to you… Yes, even the truth is a product of choice.
That which I believe to be the truth will be my truth. That which you believe to be your truth will be your truth. If I believe my life to be full of grace, gratitude, and abundance, then there is an excellent chance I will experience the same. If I believe my life to be devoid of pleasure, happiness, and joy, then there is an equal chance that is what I will experience.
“Your belief determines your action, and your action determines your results, but first you have to believe.” ~Mark Victor Hansen
I believe that hidden within each of us is everything we need to achieve anything we can imagine. I believe each of us was born with a gift. I believe that if we embrace our gift, it will make room for us. After all, we are human beings. Well, at least by outer appearance, we are human beings. Many believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience. This is where we come right back to what you believe.
Which do you believe is right? Are we spiritual beings having a human experience? Are we human beings having a spiritual experience? Or is it something altogether different…?
There is one thing I know that’s an absolute fact.
YOU are not an inanimate object. YOU are (Hu), the human element. YOU are the Swiss army knife of awesomeness! YOU are the MacGyver of mastery.
As a human, you have infinite capacity and a finite purpose. You were born with a gift that is yours and yours alone to share with the world. Your only priority in life is to transfer your gift to as many other people as possible. Musicians transfer their gift with their music, writers with their words, physicians with healing, craftsmen with their tools, artists use a medium. Whatever it is you do, or aspire to do, find a way to share your gift.
If you were an inanimate object like a curling iron, a regular iron, or a blender, then your options in life would be limited. If you were a tree, a dragonfly, or a grasshopper, your choices would be limited. Here’s the good news, you are none of those things. You are human and because you are, you can choose to do almost anything.
This gift, the ability to do, be, or become whatever you choose is both a blessing and a curse. Why? Because left to our own direction, it’s easy to wander, it’s easy to walk around undecided about what it is you actually want to do and the difference you want to make in the world.
Fortunately, there will come a point when you will feel “it.” You won’t know exactly what “it” is, you won’t be able to describe “it” clearly, you won’t be able to label “it.” You won’t be able to name “it”, but “it” will feel as real as if you could.
What is this unknown thing that you sense but can’t quite put your finger on? It’s the calling… Most of us ignore “it” when “it” comes… That is, we ignore “it” until we no longer can. There comes a day when the call is so loud “it” can no longer be ignored. What began as a whisper now follows you everywhere. The proverbial tap on the shoulder becomes so annoying that you get tired of turning around to look to see who’s doing it and instead you begin the process of self-discovery.
Self-discovery is the path to the promised land. It’s the place we’re most afraid to go because our ego fears what we might find there. If we were to find our true self, then that means death to the ego. And just like a momma bear, the ego will do everything to defend its cubs. We, are the cubs.
What do you mean Bobby, why are you referring to us as bear cubs in relation to the ego? Simple, I’m using a metaphor that most people understand. When we take a concept that’s difficult to understand and plug it into something that’s known, something the brain clearly understands and can process, then it makes what might otherwise be difficult, easy to understand.
You mean you chose a momma bear as an example because we all know from stories told about how momma bears protect their cubs, that we would understand that’s just how hard the ego will fight to keep us under its control?
Yep!
As long as we are under the spell of the ego, then there’s no way we will ever have the confidence to go after our dreams. If the ego is in control, we will acquiesce when we run into difficulties, troubles, and challenges, because the ego will be right there to tell us, “I told you so.” It will be there to say to us; ”Who do you think you are to do such a thing?”, you’ve never done anything like that before! “You’re going to fail, and everyone is going to laugh at you!”
Sound familiar? If not, then you can probably stop reading right now because this information won’t be for you. If you don’t feel any of those things or you haven’t heard any of those thoughts, then you’ve already somehow found a way to master your inner critic. The ego uses the inner critic to keep you playing safe and small because the ego’s job is to keep you safe.
Until you find a way to make peace with your inner critic, you will always be fighting the battle and I would suggest there’s a better way. It’s the way of self-discovery. As you discover who you really are and you begin to collect the evidence of all that you’re capable of, the ego slowly begins to change and starts to understand that you might actually be capable of doing the wild and crazy thing that’s been running around in the back of your mind, the thing it’s been trying to keep you safe from, all these years.
As the evidence mounts, if you embrace the ego as an ally instead of an adversary, you can get your ego to become a Benedict Arnold. And once that happens, you will have flipped the switch and for the most part, you will find your ego to be an astonishing ally.
What if? What if there was a process, a pathway, a framework for you to discover just how amazing you actually are? What if that process was self-discovery, and what if you had a framework to help you discover your truth?
The call was your awakening. The call is what has you reading this article right now. The call is what creates the insatiable curiosity you have about life. The call is your inner gift trying to find a way to express itself. Regret is what happens when people ignore the call.
At varying points in life, like milestone events, turning 30, 50, 60, at retirement, or lying on our deathbed, we think about all the things we might have done, could have done, should have done… when the hourglass has been turned over for the last time, there will be a reckoning. If we have lived our life If to the fullest, there’s a good chance we will gracefully watch the sand pass through the neck from the top to the bottom for the last time as we quietly close our eyes and drift away.
If, however, you have done like most, and put the important things on the back burner waiting for SOMEDAY, there’s an exceptionally good chance you’ll be wishing you could turn the hourglass over one more time.
As I write this, I am thinking about my own hourglass and how many more times I’ll be able to turn it from one side to the other. When the last time comes, will I have done everything that’s important to me? Will I have made the world a better place for my grandchildren? Will I have made a difference? Will anyone even know that I was here?
As a writer, one of the things I know for sure is that I will have at least left a trace, a fingerprint… I may not have created a tidal wave, or a tsunami, but I will have created a ripple and there’s no telling how far that ripple might spread…
Everything begins first with thought and then we take our thoughts and turn them into words to communicate first with ourselves and then with the world around us. We label things in an attempt to understand them. We use words even though they are a poor substitute for whatever it is we’re trying to describe. Since words are all we have, I do my best to describe what I see, what I think, what I feel, and what I believe. I believe with all my heart that as a fellow human being you have infinite capacity to do, be, or become whatever you choose, if you’re brave enough to begin your quest.
What do you want? Where do you want to go? What do you want to see? What do you want to be? What difference do you want to make in the world? What legacy would you like to leave behind? What would you like to accomplish NOW, instead of someday? Whatever it is, all you must do is turn it into a quest and then begin the process of living your quest, one day at a time.
Your quest will give your life meaning and purpose. Your gift will guide you through the process if you give yourself permission to discover it. And how do you go about discovering your gift? As you begin the process of self-discovery, you will begin to learn things about yourself that you’ve always known but didn’t KNOW. You will slowly become sure of certain things. You will begin to believe in your ability to do specific things. The more you do the things you believe you can do, then the more you will do them. And the more you do them, the easier they will become and when they become so easy they seem effortless, that’s when you know you are in your gift.
Your gift is the thing you do the absolute best with the least amount of effort and if you can find a way to do that, you’ll be well on your way to living a life of happiness, joy, and most importantly, freedom. The longer you persist in whatever it is you’ve been doing that isn’t your gift, the longer you will suffer. We will always be happiest when we are working with our gift.
When I wrote The Someday Solution, it was the beginning of something I didn’t even completely understand at the time. I have now come to understand it was the beginning of my quest, not the completion of it.
I have come to understand that when I write, when I’m with my muse, it feels almost effortless. As a matter of fact, as I write this now, I have a huge smile on my face because I know that whatever words appear on the page, are appearing as an expression of my gift, are being expressed as my gift. When I write, my soul expresses itself, and it is my greatest hope that my words will reach one other human being and wake up that something in them that has been ignored for such a long time…
It is my hope that my words will somehow wake you up to answer “your” call.
I believe there is a hero in each of us. I believe the challenges we face are placed in front of us to temper us the same way steel is tempered. I believe the challenges and difficulties we face are there to show us what we’re truly capable of. I believe they are there as proof of our strength and our courage. I believe they are there to teach us resilience. The inner journey of self-discovery is part of the hero’s journey, and your quest will be the process or framework that allows you to discover your purpose.
“Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It’s a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” ~Joseph Campbell
“Advance Confidently is the title of my next book, you will have to wait to celebrate its release as I celebrate my 60th birthday. I have concluded the world doesn’t need another self-help book from me right now, so I am listening to my muse and will write a sci fi personal growth story of self-discovery instead. Hmmm? Almost sounds like a QUEST, right? I believe you will be INSPIRED with the story that chose me to write it! I never saw it coming but now that it’s here, I can’t wait to share it with all of YOU! I know it will be worth the wait because that’s my commitment to you, my readers. Thanks in advance for your trust and patience!
In the meantime, I released a special audio short story on Twitter to commemorate my Independence Day and my 31st year of sobriety. You can watch/listen to the story here ( https://youtu.be/9zP4kk5OTlo ). You can find me on Twitter @bobby_kountz
Keep Pedaling, Keep Going, Keep Growing!
Advance Confidently!
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In Gratitude,
Bobby Kountz, Author, Speaker, Sobriety Scholar, Inspirationalist!
PS. You can find out more about me here. You can find my book on Amazon.
