Getting Your Spiritual House in Order

Are you a complainer and a whiner? Whenever something goes south in your life do you find blame in others? When a merchant rips you off, do you say “That S.O.B. is going to pay for this!”?  When a natural disaster or tragedy happens to you, do you sit and sob for years? Are you always saying “I didn’t do anything?” when others are angry with you? Do you wallow in self-pity because others have money and you don’t? Do you still blame mom and dad for your adult shortcomings?

Ouch! Reality hurts….at first. But the sooner each of us takes responsibility for our results and outcomes, the sooner we can claim our “proper” place in the scheme of things. Unfortunately, until that time, we will continue to frame our lives as being the victim of circumstances and unfairness, and we will continue to fail or come up short in all we attempt to do.

Here is a stark reality to chew on:  Most people don’t care about you and your outcomes. And if you don’t care, you will sink into obscurity and not a soul with miss you. Maybe you are already experiencing that.

Let’s move from pain to gain, shall we?

Here are ten empowering activities you can start today, so that you can reclaim autonomy over your life and its results:

1) Find a new road or neighborhood to explore. This activity will enable you to see life from another perspective – that of the neighbor.
2) Find a book on your own bookshelf that you bought months or years ago because you thought it would be useful but never bothered to read. Finally put those hidden word treasures to use!
3) Find a book on your same bookshelf that you have read and were touched by some time in the past. Read through it again and begin to understand how the words have changed in meaning as you have changed over the years.
4) Spend a whole day asking only questions and listening. See if that activity doesn’t make you exceedingly more popular and hugely wiser. If you can do it one day, do it each day.
5) Smile until it doesn’t hurt. This activity is guaranteed to make others much more receptive to you, what you say, and what you want.
6) Hold your tongue when you are angry or when you are cock-sure you are right about something. The most dominating people in the world understand the power of keeping their emotions in check when a crisis arises or tension mounts. Try using this affirmation all day long: “I am cooler than a cucumber.”
7) Walk tall and briskly. If you are slumped over and shuffling, your mind follows your posture and gait. People don’t follow sluggish underachievers; they look for a source of energy and inspiration every time!
Start to believe that you are worth at least a million dollars…because you are. The difference in life results is often a matter of making a plan and working it through. How many well-meaning plans have you shelved in the past years?
9) Think now, and leave the past and the future alone. What can you do right now, this moment, to start taking control of your destiny? Put down the cigarette or éclair? Attend a seminar in your field? Converse with a long-neglected wife or child? The possibilities for starting are infinite.
10) Clean up the clutter in your life and paint the walls. No need for explanation. If you are multi-tasking you more than likely have too many loose ends standing in the way of your success.

Congratulations. You have taken ten steps toward mastery. Just keep walking steadily and you’ll get there…eventually. In fact, if you are taking these ten steps you are already there. Double congratulations.