INSPIRATION | DIRECT YOUR DESTINY | LIVE YOUR DREAMS
Seven Secrets To Direct Your Destiny ~ Introduction
The psychology behind the miraculous magic wand you have in your own hands…
Did you know the probability of being born is about one in 400 trillion? To put that number in perspective, 1 trillion seconds is 32,000 years. Imagine taking those odds to Las Vegas. Whenever I hear the complaint, “If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all,” I have to laugh. Each of us is a miracle. Just by being born we all have beaten inconceivable odds. Which begs the question, why me — and for that matter, why you?
Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For, believes there are three levels of life: Survival, Success, and Significance. I concur albeit my descriptions vary slightly from his explanations.
For too many years, I struggled with significance, feeling numb and trapped in level one––survival. My life was stuck in the rinse and repeat cycle. When the economy crashed in the nineteen eighties, I lost nearly every material possession I owned…
But I refused to go down in flames. Instead, I worked twenty-four-seven, totally submerged in survival mode. I withdrew from everyone and everything, hyper-focused on necessities and keeping my head above water.
I can attest that is no way to live your life. The stress and anxiety attached to survival is toxic to health and well-being. I was aware of that on some level. I knew in my heart I was missing out on the good part of life. A burning passion hovered over me just beyond my reach.
I believe I was born a writer. An innate gift yet to be crafted tugged at my heart since early childhood.
And so it is with you. We were not created by accident. Statistics definitively prove that. Each of us has a purpose buried deep within our core, a destiny begging to be released. A distant whisper or flicker niggles in the back of our minds and it is up to us to brush away the dust and find our own destiny. So, how do we lose our way?
The choices we make everyday create our future, and each one matters––regardless of how seemingly insignificant. Think about that for a moment. Life is comprised of a series of decisions.
We can blame the world for our life situation, claiming external forces fated us for our mundane or unsuccessful status…laying fault on parents, past relationships, jobs or careers, bad luck, a failing economy, education or lack there of…the list goes on. Granted, our environment during formative years isn’t ours to choose and that beginning plants seeds in our psyche, but at some point we begin to choose for ourselves.
Placing blame on our circumstances is easy to dish out, but the pure and simple truth is, for most life circumstances, we live the exact life we chose––I’m not saying the life we want or dreamed of––but where we are now is a direct result of our decisions. We chose a path and walked in the a direction that ultimately brought us to the here and now.
Who do you see when you gaze into a mirror? Is your mirror image who you want it to be? Mine was not. Until I realized I was the only one who could change my life, I felt like I was drowning, floundering, and helpless.
I finally realized my future was carved from my own choices. To change the trajectory of my life, I needed to make significant decisions.
Change is never easy. As painful as it was, my status quo situation felt familar and comfortable. But wallowing in my own self-made pity-party wasn’t working.
When I looked at the overall picture, I had a basket of excuses to keep me where I was…responsibilities, commitments, children and family who depended on me. I was struggling just to get by, overwhelmed, in debt, and felt trapped in my situation.
I couldn’t quit everything and start over, could I? Could I really do this? Sell the house that swallowed my paycheck, get out of my toxic relationship, dump my dead-beat roommate?
The magic wand to change my circumstances was in my hand. I alone controlled the path my life would take. Every choice I made moved me in a linear direction that would ultimately determine where my life would go.
There’s only one person who can change the path of your destiny––you.
This quote — if you reach for the moon and miss, you are still among the stars––is one I chose to live by.
When I wrote my memoir, Wingless Butterfly, secrets and lies that were told to protect me unraveled. I saw my story unfold first hand. Not everyone has that opportunity.
But the reality is everyone writes his or her story every day. My pastor, Andy Stanley, once said words now seared into my mind.
“The choices we make write the pages of our lives and, unlike a manuscript, once written, they can’t be edited. When you write your story remember you only get one draft…so make it a masterpiece.” –Andy Stanley
It’s easy to flashback on your life, but what if you flashed forward. Years from now when you look back on these moments, what will you see? The choices you make today — right now, will determine your future.
You have the power within your hands this very moment to change what you’ll talk about when you look back on this time of your life. It’s a simple concept to imagine, but not an easy one to implement.
I wasted decades, lost in the pages of my story, letting life just happen to me. Like Rip Van Winkle, I slept through years, waking to find much of my life behind me.
If you take away one point after reading my words, remember this––it’s never too late to change your life.
I had plenty of excuses to keep me playing the victim. And I was the queen of rationalization. But when I got to that do-or-die moment some people call, “hitting rock-bottom,” I woke up to a profound reality.
If I waited for some event to occur before I could find happiness, or let fear prevent me from pursuing my heart’s desire, I would ultimately find myself at the end of my life surrounded by a sack of broken dreams and memories.
That ah-ha moment changed everything. I was at a crossroads…I literally envisioned a STOP sign and took the road less traveled.
The road to our dreams is rarely easy. But I have discovered seven secrets that can guide you toward your own unique and incredible destiny regardless of the direction you may need to take. I’d like to invite you to follow me. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share those secrets.
Are you ready? Your destiny begins now.
Side Note: If you like this story, be sure to check out my other articles on Medium — like this one: The Thing About Dreams
I’d love for you to follow me on Medium. Take a peek at my bio here.
Connect with me on social media and here on Medium.
Maybe you’ll discover something about yourself that might help guide you to live your own dreams.
My Website, Bookbub, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Pinterest, YouTube, Linkedin, Goodreads
Before I go, I want to tag a few writer friends for you. I think you’ll love their stories.
Dr Mehmet Yildiz, Tim Maudlin, Jeff Herring, Brenda Christopher, MaryJo Wagner, PhD, Vickie Trancho, Jesse-Melva Johnson, Sunita Pandit, Peg Duchesne, Benecia L. Ponder, John Kremer, Jacquelyn Lynn, Kelda Ytterdal, Phil Truman, Nomanono Isaacs, Rick Hoefer, Ellen Mogensen, Dave Kwiecinski, Joan Kent, PhD, Roger Himes Esq., Terri Ward, Nicki Walsh, Susan Joy Schleef, Nancy H. Vest, Dr Jeanne King PhD, Nile Nickel, Cynthia Charleen, Linda Miles Murray, Thomas Anderson, Andrew Poletto, Linda Halladay
