a personal reflection
The following is my own experience of living my life from a place of gratitude by placing a focus of intention on the things I am grateful for in my life. This process was 100 days long and I want to personally thank Michael Hollerbach for giving me the idea, and it just happened to be right around the New Year. A resolution in my life? Or, how about a revolution?
As most of you know, our society puts an emphasis on individualism, happiness through success, and the goal of achievement. Ever heard the quote, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.”? These sound bites are great, but what is the essence of that statement? Maybe the question is, “what is the state of the human being when they say things as the above quote”? Just a couple of questions, think about them for a bit before you come to a conclusion.
I consider myself an over comer, and when obstacles of life are in the way, I overcome because that is me, and I am grateful for the things in my life I have accomplished up to this point in my life. I am all for the success and being an achiever, but I also felt unfulfilled with achievement in my life. As students, we only advance forward when we are achieving, but I want to challenge everyone to ask themselves this question today, “Where are you achieving from”? In other words, what is your state of being, as you achieve throughout your life. Are you fulfilled? I started to peel back two layers of myself throughout the last 100 days, and believe that as we go through life, we either peel layers back off to discover our real selves, or we build a “wall” around us in order to protect ourselves from things in life that might threaten us. I also concluded that I had built up a “wall” around me to hide from myself.
There are two points I would like to make with these above questions and statements. The place you come from, OR, your state of being right here in this moment is the only power we have in life. The most power we have at any given time is decision. Should I annotate my notes after class? Should I work out right now? Should I talk to her/him? Is this a stupid question? What books do I need? What notes should I study? What is the best exercise routine? Yadda yadda yadda…and when we make these decisions, ultimately they build up to what is or is not the desired result. That is the power of NOW, and we can make the decision to either live in the past or live in the NOW. Famous author and speaker, Tony Robbins says, most people strive to complete the “art of achievement,” which often allows success in one’s life. For example, having an idea, and manifesting something out of nothing. This is one layer of knowing yourself and your capabilities, and also being open enough to put your ideas out there to an often skeptical and judgmental world. If you are attending Life University right now, you have probably experienced some level of achievement in your life. So we are here, NOW, but here is the second “art” that I have been pursuing the last 100 days of my life. Robbins calls this “the art of fulfillment,” and this lets’ people peel the deep layer back and connect with the most important person in their life, their true self. It’s cliché I know, but loving oneself, and coming from that space is essential in order to be fulfilled in life. If you disagree with me, and you have explored this aspect of yourself, please come tell me about your discovery. AS I said, this has been a personal experience, and I was overcome by feeling to share it with as many people as I could. I DO see the world through “rose-colored glasses,” and I look at life with a positive eye. To some, that could be annoying, but I am a student chiropractor and my intention to be a chiropractor is to tell people why I know what I know, tell them about chiropractic, and if it reaches one person and that reaches one other person, and that reaches a person, etc…you get my drift? You never know what you give to someone today will change millions of lives tomorrow. I challenge you to master the “art of fulfillment,” and achieve and give of yourself abundantly from a place of gratitude. So what’s your latitude? Make it gratitude!
