Words of inspiration at any stage of growth….
When we face difficulties we often hear words from others like, “Trust me, it’ll get better” or “Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world”. At our time of confusion, we lack understanding about our purpose, which makes it almost impossible to take in the words that are coming at us from the world. That’s okay, it’s normal – there’s a lot of ‘noise’ surrounding some parts of life and that’s something we have to learn to accept.
Sometimes you can’t explain the way you are feeling – and it makes sense, because feelings are not finite, they can’t be fully measured or put into words or pictures or songs – they are feelings for a reason. Artists and musicians alike have used these mediums for expression of feeling for years, however what they share, is an abstract representation of something personal to them, something often open to interpretation by others. When others listen to, or stare at these abstract representations, it is up to the viewer to form their own meaning – to attach whatever personal past experience is reflected.
It’s like telling someone to look at a blank canvas and asking them what they see. The possibilities are limitless. Some might say, ‘white light’ or ‘nothing’ or simply ‘a blank canvas’ – these are perceptions. But what causes us to generate these perceptions when we could have literally imagined the blank canvas to be anything? I reckon it’s probably our feelings and how we link our feelings to our past experiences.
A feeling is something we often can’t explain because feelings don’t exist to be explained – they exist to be felt. The feelings that an individual will experience in particular situations are a matter of perception rather than absolute truth. What one person ‘sees’ another will not – that’s what makes us different and unique.
A feeling is something we often can’t explain because feelings don’t exist to be explained – they exist to be felt.
The fact that our feelings can’t be explained doesn’t mean that they are not real – because they are. But, how we perceive our own feelings is actually what forms our own reality – it creates our identity. Put simply, our reality is a result of how we perceive our own feelings. Our feelings are the truest reflection of us – who we are at the core. If we identify positively with our past, we will probably be happier. If we do not, we are challenged to envision a future that rewrites the meaning of those past experiences, a future that sets past negative experiences as a necessary stepping stone for later success.
Take the following example of a man and his self perception:
A man works so hard at achieving his best test score, puts in the time, all the effort and preparation just so that he can achieve his set goal, yet falls short of his goal. His feelings could be telling him one of two things;
Perspective 1: “I did my best, I’m proud of my effort and I will continue to work hard”
or conversely;
Perspective 2: He chooses to neglect the effort he put in and is not satisfied with what he achieved.
In perspective 2 the man fails to recognise that he worked to his maximum capability and that nothing in his power could have changed the result. He judged his own capabilities on the result not on his effort – because he felt the feedback that he received (in the form of a test score) from the world somehow meant that he was not as good as he should be. Since he believes he is not worthy of respect for his own effort, the world will likely impress this same perception on him.
See where the word ‘Self-worth’ comes in? The feedback we receive should come from feelings that we base on ourselves, not on external criteria. In the instance of perspective 1; the man didn’t achieve his goal – but he recognised his own effort. Whilst recognising his own effort wouldn’t change his result it would put him in a better mind frame for the next attempt he made. He had placed the first block from which he could build upon and it was immovable because he was the one who set the criteria for how he should feel – it was internal. He was grateful for his own effort, and it didn’t matter what others thought.
We must realise that the race we’re in is not against other competitors but against ourselves. It is the way we feel about our effort towards particular tasks that influences whether we keep doing them or not. The truth is, you never start a task or start working towards something if you don’t believe in it even the slightest. Think about all the small things you’ve started yet chosen to neglect because you couldn’t see the direction they were taking you or you lost purpose in them.
In reality you probably could have kept on striving for those goals (if you truly desired them) yet there came a point when you lost belief in yourself because you weren’t meeting the expectations that were placed on you from the outside world or you had set your expectations too high to begin with. We cannot expect perfection!
We can’t expect more success than the work we’re willing to put in. In fact, success comes from putting in far more work than the world tells us we need to. It instills a confidence in us that says we are more prepared than we need to be, so our chances of failure are minimised.
~ The Mind Connectory, 2018
To control our body we must first conquer our mind and spirit — The Mind Connectory
The Mind Connectory 
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