FIND HAPPINESS | DISCOVER YOUR PASSION | LIVE YOUR DREAMS
Seven Secrets To Direct Your Destiny ~ Part One ~ Chapter 2
The psychology behind finding happiness by igniting your hidden passion…
When I open my mind and look around, I see visionary icons who live life in abundance. They stepped out of the box and revolutionized the world.
Put up for adoption at birth, Steve Jobs had hurtles to jump the day he entered the world. Did you know he dropped out of college? Did that make him a loser? Not a chance. A creative genius, he designed technology we never knew we needed. Few people have that impact on the world.
Randy Paush inspired millions with his tenacity and will to live life to the fullest despite being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He stirred our passion with quotes that live on:
We can’t change the cards we were dealt, just how we play the hand.
Brick walls are there for a reason . . . not to keep us out . . . to show how badly we want something.
If you want to achieve your dreams, you better learn to work and play well with others . . . and live with integrity.
Don’t bail. the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap.
Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you wanted . . . don’t complain just work harder. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.
Both men were taken from the world far too soon, but they lived their dreams until their dying breath.
Walt Disney’s innovation and imagination, spawned from his childhood love for drawing, captivated the world.
Bill Gates, another college dropout, ignited the computer revolution with his software genius.
But men don’t corner the market. Just look at these women––Oprah Winfry, Barbara Walters, J. K. Rowling, Sonia Gandhi, Mary Kay Ash — the list goes on and on.
Age isn’t a deal-breaker either. Mark Zuckerberg was in college when he created Facebook…
And Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds, was a 52-year-old milkshake machine salesman when he saw a hamburger stand and envisioned a whole new industry.
How about disabilities? Nope, not even frailties keep people from their dreams. Look at Christopher Reeves, Marlee Matlin or Helen Keller, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and these examples are only the tip of the iceberg.
The point is no valid excuses existed to stop me from pursuing my dreams. Events can skew my life, but I don’t have to be a victim.
I had to ask myself, what did all of those innovative and inspiring people have in common — And was it something I lacked?
I challenge you to ask yourself the same question.
What do all of the above mentioned people have in common…and is it something you lack?
I n Wingless Butterfly, I spoke of my friend, Jack and how he reminded me of Eyore, the sad sack, depressed little donkey from Winnie-The-Pooh. I couldn’t help but wonder if Jack’s life might have been different had he emulated the attitude of Tigger instead of Eyore?
And Zack, my ex-husband, convinced himself his dreams were unattainable. When I tried to encourage him to pursue his passion, he always replied the same way, “I wouldn’t know what to do.” His answer kept him in a comfort zone that blocked his dreams.
Perhaps hesitation to pursue one’s dreams masks underlying fear or lack of motivation, but ultimately…the moment I imprison myself within the parameters of my existing situation…I give up on my dreams.
M y lack of confidence and poor self-image spun me in the wrong direction. I was lucky though. Writing my journal created a kind of crystal ball for me — a glimpse into the past of my future.
I could see––printed in black and white––the path I chose…and where I was headed if I didn’t change course.
Dreams are attainable, but they won’t just fall in your lap. Fear and a lack of self confidence are formidable adversaries, but eventually, we all have to face our own demons.
In his first inaugural address, Franklin D Roosevelt once said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”
He was speaking to the economic crisis in America, but his words fit my situation so well, I incorporated the statement into my mantra. I closed my eyes and visualized what lay beyond my fear.
What joy can life hold if you could live your dreams?
I can’t transform the unwritten chapters of your story. But I’ve walked the path before. Take it from a once insecure, fearful, self-doubting child — I’m confident the secrets I discovered are life altering.
Transformation is by no means a path of least resistance, nor is it simple. But if you’re willing to risk the road less traveled and crawl through the rubble and debris of your own past, you can find your dreams.
Are you willing to take flight on the wings of a Butterfly and begin the journey toward your destiny?
There is no magic bullet to living your dreams, but the closest thing I found began with faith. I trust God has my back and guides my decisions.
When I re-discovered my childhood passion, my destiny emerged with luminous clarity. It felt as if I was living in the scene from Indiana Jones where his path became visible only after he took a step in the right direction.
It’s scary to take that leap of faith. But when I held my first published book in my hands for the first time, I felt a sense of accomplishment and elation I had only experienced twice before — with the birth of each of my children. In a way, the experiences were similar. I birthed a book, an immortal sliver of myself, but more importantly, I believed my experience might impact the lives of others. My manuscript propelled me forward on a profound journey, as the pages took on a life of their own. And I knew my life would never be the same.
The whispers tried to get my attention since I was a child. They battled in shadows with the black knight that haunted me, while my mission lay in waiting for God’s timing to be right. For decades, they slipped within my reach, but floated beyond my grasp like a silent mist that hovers before it disappears. This story might clarify why.
As a Native American boy talked with his Grandfather he asked, “How do you feel about the situation?”
His grandfather replied, “I feel like wolves are fighting in my heart. One is full of anger and hatred; the other is full of love, forgiveness and peace.”
“Which one will win?” asked the boy.
His grandfather replied, “The one I feed!” Native American Proverb
The seeds of my passion were planted and sewn across the years, while God prepared my heart.
Tthrouh my life, many people saw my struggles and gifted me books. I flipped through the pages then set them aside with full intentions of digging into the meat––some day. Among those books was The Power of Positive Thinking (Norman Vincent Peale) — a book written the year I was born by the progenitor of the positive thinking concept — given to me by a friend in my Young Life group when I was only sixteen.
Phycho-Cybernetics (Maxwell Maltz), was given to me a few years later by another well-meaning friend. I set it along side its companion on my dusty bookshelf for many years to come. Both books left unread touted positive thinking and how negative habits could be reversed––a life-changing concept.
In my thirties I received Compassion And Self-Hate (Theodore Rubin), a book explaining self-destructive patterns and the emotional impact of toxic attitudes — another addition to my unread self-help library.
In my forties, I actually read Boundaries (Henry Cloud and John Townsend), gifted from my Bible study leader at a low point in my life. The book was about setting physical, emotional, and spiritual boundaries––a concept that mystified me––a Pollyanna who bent my life around everyone else, forgetting about my own needs.
A few years later, I was given The Secret (Rhonda Byrne)…finally a floodgate opened.
Why did so many people gift me books through the years that clearly pointed me down a specific path? And why did I ignore them for so long? When I finally read the books, that question mystified me. Perhaps others saw what I couldn’t…the whispers of friends saw my passsion and pointed me toward my destiny.
Proverbs 3:5–6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Patrick Overton envisioned God’s promise so beautifully when he said, “When you have come to the edge of all light that you know, and are about to drop off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.”
There‘s always something you can blame for the failures in your life and someone who will divert you off course. Misery loves company. Don’t be fooled. Well meaning people can squelch your dreams.
I heard an interview on television one evening that drew my attention. The woman interviewed was celeebrating her 100th birthday. The journalist asked what she did in her life to give her such longevity. She smiled and said,
“Each morning when I wake up I have a choice to be happy or sad…I choose to be happy.”
That profound comment triggered something in my soul. She chose to be happy. Could life at its core be that simple? I decided to emulate her premise…If you take nothing more from this post today, take this…Happiness is a choice!
Side Note: If you like this story, be sure to check out my other articles on Medium — like this one: The Thing About Dreams
**Be sure to watch for the rest of this series on Medium.
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**My special thanks goes out to Randall Walters for inspiring and providing me with amazing quotes pulled from the pages of a miraculous book — THE BIBLE!
