Creating a Better Life

Yesterday, I got an email Mark Joyner announcing that the third installment of his Simpleology course, Simpleology 103, was going to be released on January 19, 2007. I’m pretty excited about it, since this one is focused on personal energy, which is something that I know I can always use more of.

It really got me thinking about one of the foundations of the 101 course: making strengthening decisions. In the course, when speaking about those moments of temptation when we want to smoke that cigarette, or drink that beer, or eat that piece of cake, he says:

“Instead of looking at such options as a temptation to overcome, I want you to right now begin looking at those moments as blessed opportunities.”

The reason to look at them as opportunities is because it’s only in those moments when we say no to those things that harm us, yet are slowly (or quickly) killing us, that we have the opportunity to build our ability to say no in the future.

The weightlifter analogy is one that is used quite often in personal development, usually as an comparison to not biting off more than you can chew in the beginning. But it also applies here. It’s only when the weights are being lifted, when some resistance or stress is put on the muscles, that the end result is achieved (bigger muscles). It’s the same in our mental and emotional work: without working our way through the pain, we never become stronger.

But the beautiful thing is that, as we choose what’s best for us, we do become stronger. All of us came into this world unable to walk, yet now most people can walk fine, unless there are extenuating circumstances, such as an accident or sickness. But what if, as babies, we had just sat down and said “Forget this… it’s way too hard. I’ll get by OK if I just sit here.” Where would we be today?

Thank god we didn’t. We got up, fell down, got up again, fell down again. And sometimes we trip and fall down even today! But we don’t stop walking.

So join me in making those strengthening decisions today. Just one thing: taking a walk, not smoking that cigarette, signing up for that course… whatever it is you’ve been wanting to do but have been avoiding. And don’t worry about falling down. Someone once said that there is no shame in failure, only shame in the failure to try.

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change, health, personal development, Simpleology