Check your back pocket

When you feel as though you're in a bit of trouble, what is your reaction? Some people instinctively run away to escape the source of anxiety.  Other people struggle to face the trouble with tools they seem to have at their disposal. Still other people freeze in their tracks.

Consider the dream of a girl who felt she was being chased by a crocodile. She froze briefly on a boulder beside a body of calm water.  When she realized she stood beside a wooden ladder, her reflex was to turn and climb.  She ascended the ladder all the way to a  platform and was shocked to look back and see a huge crocodile following her. It inflated to the size of the croc who swallowed the watch and Captain Hook's hand in Peter Pan. Just when the girl wondered if she could grow wings and fly, a voice whispered in her ear to check her pocket.  As a vegetarian, she was surprised to find a juicy steak which she instinctively threw the croc. He happily went on his way.

We all have hidden instincts that we may fear because we don't take time to get-to-know them.  Yet, tapping into these instincts and abilities within ourselves is key to creating our own success.  Problems we perceive or create for ourselves will not simply disappear if we try to ignore them.  You may know someone who blow problems  'out-of-proportion' or makes situations seem worse than they actually are.  Remind yourself that problems, like illness, may escalate to get your attention. They are often a symptom of an underlying issue such as your attitude, habits, lifestyle or emotions.  If a nagging situation is bogging you down, tell yourself that you are very capable of dealing with it.  You likely underestimate your options.  You have what you need, that is, the will and resourcefulness to reach out and do what you need to do to get over the hurdles. 

Inner Freedom

From a human ego perspective, success is a transient goal based on changing priorities.  Once you feel successful, why doesn't that good feeling last? The view of good fortune may differ greatly because of the temporary nature of human satisfaction.  If you think health, friends and money contribute to your sense of personal success, this is a limited view of success.

In the same moment, the peaceful heart is only ever happy.  It knows aspiring to be perceived as a success by others is a state of mind while fully accepting yourself as you are without doing anything is a state of being.  Contentedness is feeling whatever you eat or do or do not do where you are is fine.

As you create a hierarchy of steps to success, you forget inner freedom, or peace of mind exists now.  Having a positive outlook shapes how you view your life conditions.  Tapping into peace of mind is knowing abundance and prosperity are already here.  When you seek, you forget what you are.

As you feel peace of mind, notice the ripple effect in other areas of your life. Notice what matters and what loses your attention.  Inner peace is a door to enduring happiness. Consider the implications of reducing attachment in your life.  Detach from what you cling to. Notice how judgement falls away.

If you accept whatever you get in life and make the most of it, this appears key to developing a sense of contentment and more consideration toward others.  At the same time, its vital to recognize the negative consequences of modern Western ways of lifestyle and economy. Development cannot continue forever.  Development without a conscience to protect the environment is like a disregard for long-term survival. 

The results of global development prove that money produced by richer countries isn't enough to solve the world's problems.  Money can't resolve problems that begin as a mindset without a conscience. This reinforces the importance of creating a sense of inner peace as a guide for wider success.  Where we behave in ways that threaten our survival in order to pursue success, then our view of success requires a drastic change from inside ourselves.  Our basic understanding of education needs a complete overhaul.  Priorities and goals grow from our wider awareness.

Self-fulfillment

Success is often linked to money and power. I don't think money is endowed with its own power capable of solving our problems.  I think true success is actually grounded in the strength of human relationships and the support at your disposal to enable you to realize dreams.  Consider whether your relationships could survive despite hardship or setbacks in other areas of your life.  The resilience of your close relationships are what build your inner strength.  When you recognize that success is defined by the power you exert to make others happy, to create value in their lives, then faith will sustain you and hope will also encourage you.  This is success.

Nurture seeds

Some people wait in vain for their lives to start.  For them, its like waiting for a bus that never comes.  Success, as they dream it, is not something that can simply appear.    Now, other people think they'll stumble on success like a discarded newspaper that someone used and left for someone else to benefit from.  This sort of success wouldn't last.  It wouldn't really be yours. You would borrow it.  True success requires effort and vision and doesn't simply happen by chance.

Powerful ideas for success must grow from a seed to be nurtured into workable conditions.  As you develop personal skills, experience and wisdom, these tools can't be taken from you.  They will always be yours so you can use them to enrich your life and the lives of others.  Your will to move forward is what shapes the process of developing your success.  Concentrate on what is unique about your own learning process. What could other people learn from your life? 

When you have both the desire and the will to succeed, you will discover sources of lasting contentment.  The will to be content with your pursuit  must be more than a wish.  Intense, inner drive must move you.  Obtaining tangible things will not ensure you create inner joy.  It has been said that once you tap into your sources of inner joy, once you clarify your inner vision and build on it, then, other things that contribute to your sense of personal success will simply appear.

Abundance

As you visualize the kind of existence you long for, you are intending it to happen.

As you are generous with your thoughts, gestures and all you can offer, you are sowing the seeds to experience different kinds of abundance in your life.  What does this mean exactly?

As you love unconditionally, you send your intention to receive unconditional love.

As you focus on creating wealth for others, wealth is arising for you in unforeseen ways.

As you clarify value beyond the measurable, your life feels it has immeasurable value. 

Whether or not you realize it, your thoughts and choices shape your evolving existence.

Leonardo da Vinci was able to make novel connections among dissimilar things. This clarified his notion of success. He invented and evolved as he learned. He challenged himself and grew.  What he offered the world was proportional to how much he loved and appreciated his own resourcefulness.  His legacy has immeasurable value.

When Einstein worked through a problem, he always found it necessary to rethink his subject in as many different ways as possible. He visualized solutions, and believed that words and numbers were less important than possibilities. The universe sent him back a wealth of new information. That wealth created wealth for others in different forms.

We can all learn to interpret the value of quality and quantity to our advantage.  We can discern the difference in our relationships, in reasons for giving and sacrificing.  Ask yourself what you truly wish for.  Ask the Universe for opportunities.  Ask and it is already given. You have more influence than you think!

“Life in abundance comes only through great love.” -Elbert Hubbard