As we come to the middle of the year we can take stock of where we’ve come from and think about where we hope the rest of the year will go. I’m a great believer in pausing, ocassionally, and taking stock. Maybe that’s why I love the beach; this seems to me the ideal place to pause, admire the beauty of your surroundings, feel grateful to even be here and here now…
There has been a lot of sadness and upheaval in this year so far and also a lot of pause. In that pause I’ve started learning Portuguese and investigating ways to re-programme a mind that wants to hold on to sadness. Allowing for the idea that a certain amount will linger and that that’s as natural as the beach, I’ve discovered Jose Silva who says we can become “genius” human beings as our brains are built to be and this can be achieved by meditation, visualisation and then application. So I’m trying this.
“Genius” human beings are still just human beings, though. Success looks like whatever we think it looks like, individually. For me, being more positive every day and choosing happiness is the pinnacle of success. Some days are harder than others. Striving seems to be very much a part of the human condition – and I note that José Silva appreciates this too. He says “success is not for the timid”. To try takes courage and despite the capacity of our (fairly underused) brains, we need help to achieve any version of success we might consider, it seems.
A big decision is to acknowledge help is needed. But we can’t stop there. We have to back it up with action. The main thing, then, is choice; choosing to do something about one’s current situation, choosing to be responsible for one’s own happiness; choosing to take the action to move towards that.
I am grateful that there’s so much to learn and that I’m motivated to do this. I’ll report back on my progress from time to time!