This article was inspired by two events.
The first event was a visit to a friend in a hospital.
Kay is in her late thirties. She is a very successful single businessperson, always busy with work. Her primary focus in her life is her career. Kay was diagnosed with ALL (a form of leukemia) last year and was treated with chemotherapy. However, she had a relapse this time and was re-admitted for another treatment. She developed some complications with her treatment.
When my wife and I visited her, Kay told us how she felt and how important it is not to take life for granted. She pondered on how she had focused her life on the accumulation of possessions only to see all of them being taken away from her by this disease. She now realizes the importance of living a balanced life that TRULY MATTERS.
On this same day, I received an e-mail from my brother. In that e-mail was a power-point attachment called ‘Live a Life that Matters’. It is a reminder to us on what is truly important in our life.
These two events happening on the same day made me ponder on why most people do not live a life that truly matters. I recalled how it was for me as well. Until not too long ago, I was also NOT living a life that truly matters to me. Like most people, I felt stuck in a routine that I could not do anything about.
One fine day, I decided that I MUST make a change to my life or suffer the perpetual pain of being caught in a vicious cycle. I do not relish the second alternative, so I made a conscious effort to change a little bit of my daily routine. That little change brought me some happiness and contentment in knowing that I can choose to change my routine. It gave me the confidence to make a bigger change that truly changed the quality of my life. Today, I am happy to say that that initial decision to make a change in my life has been a great blessing.
I am still continuously making changes in my life, knowing now that I DO have the power to choose what I want and how I want to live my life.
It is true that the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation, stuck in a routine they believe is forced on them. They THINK they have no choice.
If YOU think the same way, let me tell you now – DON’T!
The moment you choose to believe this, you gave up your choice to change it and you will continue to live the same routine from day to day. You will then live a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I am sure you have heard this before:
“If you do the same thing each day, you will get the same results.”
Let me tell you in no uncertain terms that YOU HAVE A CHOICE!
In order to live a life that matters to YOU, a life that YOU DESIRE, you MUST REALISE these truths:
- Everything begins from YOUR mind.
- Whatever your mind conceives and believes, it achieves WITHOUT FAIL.
- What YOU BELIEVE in influences your ATTITUDE, and this in turn influences YOUR CHOICES in life.
Once you realize these truths, you will know that you need to
- Re-examine your beliefs
- Re-examine your attitude towards life.
- Make a CONSCIOUS effort to CHOOSE your BELIEFS now.
EVERYTHING BEGINS FROM YOUR MIND
In “Think and Grow Rich”, Napoleon Hill wrote:
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”.
I now go one step further by saying that whatever the mind conceives and believes, it achieves without fail.
You may think that there is no difference between the two statements. Well, there is. In fact, there is a world of difference!
The first statement tells you that you can achieve whatever you want by changing what your mind conceives and believes in. In other words, it tells you what you can achieve in the FUTURE.
The second statement, on the other hand, tells you that what you are now, or who you are now, is the result of what your mind has conceived and believed in all these while. In other words, your “achievements” so far, at this point in your life, is the sum total of all that your mind has conceived and believed in.
In addition, it also tells you that your mind NEVER fails. It ALWAYS achieves whatever your mind conceives and believes – ALWAYS!
If you are living a life of misery and felt victimized by life or society, it is the result of YOUR own beliefs. Examine that belief system and you will discover a self-fulfilling prophecy at work.
Likewise, a life that is filled with happiness and abundance is also a result of YOUR own beliefs.
Therefore, it is important to CHOOSE what to believe in. If you’re not getting out of your life exactly what you want, it is because your belief system is incompatible with your goals or desires. Our mind is like a supercomputer and your belief system is your supercomputer’s core programme. If you feed it garbage, you’ll get garbage.
To live a meaningful life, do these two things:
- Guard your thoughts. Feed it only positive, expansive and wholesome thoughts.
- Choose carefully what you believe in. Choose to believe these:
- You are a spiritual being working through this physical body to experience this physical reality.
- You have absolute control over your life. The degree of control you have over your life is proportionate to the degree of control you have over your mind.
- Your outer world is a reflection of your inner beliefs.
- You spiritual essence is immortal.
- The only thing that truly matters is the quality of YOUR RELATIONSHIP with others.
Of course, you can always choose to believe in other things, but beware of what you believe in. Remember, whatever you believe in WILL come true. It is a natural law that cannot fail. Your subconscious mind does not discriminate good from bad, desirable from undesirable results. Only your conscious mind can make that distinction. Your conscious mind must be the gatekeeper.
Things are first created in non-physical thought forms before they manifest in physical reality. There is a time lag between what you think and when it manifests in physical reality. In fact, I believe how long the time lag is depends on:
- The strength of your belief
- The strength of your desire
- The degree of control you have over your mind