Who's Future
"The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react." - George Bernard Shaw
I have spent the majority of my adult life reacting to what I believed were other people's thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Either through fear, immaturity or some other human frailty, I have permitted my perception of other people, to dictate my actions. Notice that it is my perception and what I believed were other people's thoughts, feelings and beliefs that led me to act. What those people were actually thinking, or what their beliefs actually were, had no real significance in my thought process. It was more important for me, to concentrate on what I wanted them to believe, or what I wanted them to feel, than to focus on the reality of any given situation.
In my recovery from gambling I have learned that I am not alone in this process. The majority of people actually behave the way they do because of their concern of what the other person may think of them. In our society there are certain sets of principles and standards that are generally accepted by the population as a whole and anyone who deviates from this or who lives outside the norm, is said to be different. Different in what way? Different for believing in themselves and having the confidence to bring a little fresh air to an otherwise stagnant existence. Different because they do not agree with your preset principles and standards. Different because they want to pave their own highway and not take the road so often travelled.
Gambling has taught me many lessons about life. Gambling has taught me many lessons about myself. Gambling has taught me how weak a person I truly was, but it has also taught me how strong a person I can truly be. Gambling has forced me to step back and look at who's future I want to live. Do I want to continue to live the life that I perceive to be what people want to see in me? Do I want to return eventually to the pathways of my old habits? Do I want to linger in the hillside of self-pity? What do I really want?
My future, designed by me, lived by me, experienced by me, successes and failures, smiles and tears, wins and losses, dreams and disasters, my choices for better or worse. Gambling as taught me what I want and my recovery has taught me how to achieve my goals. Patience, perseverance, faith, action (not reaction), humility, forgiveness, prayer, and a belief in myself. We all need to look in the mirror, we all need to like what we see, we all like to have others like what they see in us, but we must never permit any of this to alter our belief in ourselves. Each one of us, every person, is a person - a conscious, living, breathing human being - with thoughts, feelings and beliefs, each person as they are, not what we design them to be.
I have spent the majority of my adult life reacting to what I believed were other people's thoughts, feelings and beliefs. Either through fear, immaturity or some other human frailty, I have permitted my perception of other people, to dictate my actions. Notice that it is my perception and what I believed were other people's thoughts, feelings and beliefs that led me to act. What those people were actually thinking, or what their beliefs actually were, had no real significance in my thought process. It was more important for me, to concentrate on what I wanted them to believe, or what I wanted them to feel, than to focus on the reality of any given situation.
In my recovery from gambling I have learned that I am not alone in this process. The majority of people actually behave the way they do because of their concern of what the other person may think of them. In our society there are certain sets of principles and standards that are generally accepted by the population as a whole and anyone who deviates from this or who lives outside the norm, is said to be different. Different in what way? Different for believing in themselves and having the confidence to bring a little fresh air to an otherwise stagnant existence. Different because they do not agree with your preset principles and standards. Different because they want to pave their own highway and not take the road so often travelled.
Gambling has taught me many lessons about life. Gambling has taught me many lessons about myself. Gambling has taught me how weak a person I truly was, but it has also taught me how strong a person I can truly be. Gambling has forced me to step back and look at who's future I want to live. Do I want to continue to live the life that I perceive to be what people want to see in me? Do I want to return eventually to the pathways of my old habits? Do I want to linger in the hillside of self-pity? What do I really want?
My future, designed by me, lived by me, experienced by me, successes and failures, smiles and tears, wins and losses, dreams and disasters, my choices for better or worse. Gambling as taught me what I want and my recovery has taught me how to achieve my goals. Patience, perseverance, faith, action (not reaction), humility, forgiveness, prayer, and a belief in myself. We all need to look in the mirror, we all need to like what we see, we all like to have others like what they see in us, but we must never permit any of this to alter our belief in ourselves. Each one of us, every person, is a person - a conscious, living, breathing human being - with thoughts, feelings and beliefs, each person as they are, not what we design them to be.
posted by Taximan at 10:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home