(ThyBlackMan.com) The poet T.S. Eliot once said life is risky business and if you aren’t careful, you won’t make it out alive. I am convinced the reason most people haven’t ‘made it out alive’ is because they have lost connection with their dreams. Our dreams give our lives resonance and meaning; they propel us forward in the pursuit of achieving something greater than we can imagine. If you have stopped believing in your dreams, it’s because of your attitude. Your attitude determines your altitude – not only how high you fly, but whether you even fly at all. If your attitude has kept you grounded, use following as a checklist and reconnect to your dreams!
Attitude#One
You Keep Checking the Rear-View Mirror
Soren Kierkegaard noted, Life can only be understood backwards;
but it must be lived forwards. Don’t obsess about your past. There’s a reason the front wind shield is three times the size of a rear-view mirror. There is more ahead of you than behind. More success ahead. More abundance ahead. More positive results ahead.
Your dreams are in front of you, not behind you. Something big is about to happen ahead, but you will miss it by being glued to the past. Understand your past but be determined to live your life progressively. That’s what you were designed to do.
Attitude#Two
You Are Engaged in Wrong Thinking
Joseph Prince was on point when he opined, If you have toxic emotions of fear, guilt and depression, it is because you have wrong thinking, and you have wrong thinking because of wrong believing. In the end, it is not what happens to us but rather how we respond to it that shapes our lives. When we designate ourselves as victims of our circumstances, we are practicing wrong thinking. Wrong thinking comes from conditioning; it is a dream-killer and all of us are guilty of it. The key to remember here is that when you fail to change your wrong thinking, you ultimately begin to engage in wrong believing. Thinking you are broke is wrong thinking. Thinking that you are a failure is wrong thinking. Thinking that you are weak is wrong thinking. Begin today to see yourself as a victor – regardless of where you are!
Attitude#Three
You Fear Criticism
Remember the bully who laughed at you in grade school? We all have been ridiculed. Someone laughs at my dreams just about every day. Laughter, though, can become a lethal bullet. People who belittle your dreams are called ‘scoffers’ – those whose objective in life is to deride, to laugh at the dreams of others. Do not allow the scoffers in your life – family members, social network, significant others – to mock you out of your dreams.
In fact, learn to absorb the laughter of others; use it as a motivator. The late Sherman Hemsley (George on the The Jeffersons) once shared an incident in elementary school in which he tripped and fell and was laughed at. Instead of jumping up and running away, Hemsley relates, their laughter made me relax, so I pretended it was part of the show. Make the criticism of others part of the show! Use it as a means and a method to build your future. Always get the last laugh with success.
Stop checking the rear-view mirror, begin to correct your wrong thinking and do not fear criticism of any kind – and you will reconnect to your dreams!
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitefitnesscoaching.com.