When I was 13, a friend and I went to the neighborhood park pool. Amidst seeking a good time, there was one thing that was holding me back. I did not know how to swim. My friend tried to show me, however, I felt pressured. I remember looking around, seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of pure fun. I wanted so badly to be able to join them. Time went on…and I soon came to a decision. Again, I looked around at the party and I said to myself: “I am not afraid of the water.” Immediately after I declared my destiny, I pushed myself off from the side of the pool simultaneously swinging my arms forward then backwards and kicking my feet. I taught myself how to swim by making. One. Simple. Choice.
The power of the mind. Peace of mind. A miraculous combo. Priceless. I could tell many stories of how I have used my innate superpowers throughout my journey, and I am positive that you can too. Inevitably though, life does hit us with those walls…bumps…dips…and for sure we get stuck. Hence the other half of how we are hard wired. You see, we consistently have in our possession the ability and the strength to navigate purposefully, intentionally and successfully through everything that life throws at us! I taught myself how to swim simply because of a mindset change. Allow me to dig deeper by my introducing two crucial choices we must make in order to live our best lives and to come to a permanent place of peace and power. Please note that the right choice in each of these two questions are imperative.
Question number one. This is our component of peace. How will we choose to live…externally or internally? Externally is where we live by being swayed by what happens to us by which is beyond our control and by anything or anyone that is outside of us. For example, are we still upset at what someone did or said to us last week? Do we continuously complain about traffic? Why stress over what or whom we do not have any control? We must be very careful of our focus. Now internally is living according to what we do have control over…which is ourselves…our mind and heart. For instance, have we done self-introspection? Are we aware of our own habits, behaviors and motives that can affect our day to day? This is when the focus is more on, we than it is on others. Take a moment to choose whether you would rather live on an external or internal basis.
Assuming we choose internally, this brings me to question number two. This is our component of power. By living internally, in which way will we choose to live…unconsciously or consciously? Unconsciously is the way we have been programmed by our past learning and experiences. For example, what habit that we currently have that was taught to us by our parents that seems to go against how we truly are or feel about the situation? What are we fearing now because of what happened in a past relationship? Again, what will be our focus? Now by living consciously is to live in our awaken state, where we are intentionally taking control of our actions and behaviors based on our unlimited state of mind. What is it that we want or need regardless of how we feel about it and how will we get there? Which one is more in control…the conscious or unconscious? Yes, we currently live by both, but please choose which will be more dominant.
Congratulations for choosing to live internally, and where we are consciously in control through our mind! One thing to be sure is that the mind is the one in control. Not what happened last year. Not what it is that we are used to doing and being. I started swimming not because of 8 sessions of swimming classes. I did so because I made a change in how I was thinking. We can do and have anything we want by first understanding how it all begins to shift in our favor. Two vital decisions have been made, and now we are on the path to creating not only the life we desire, we are also uncovering genuine joy, peace and power which is our birthright! Bear in mind that there are many, mini choices along the way. It’s about making the decisions that are best for you, best for others and that are absent of any setbacks. I would love to go deeper; however, I will uncover the very first tip to our newly defined path. And that. Is. Awareness.
Tiffany J. Norwood
Transformational Speaker and Emotional Intelligence Expert