Reclaim Your Stolen Life

I will never forget the year 2016 because this was the year when I decided to reclaim my life. I have been looking for Happiness outside myself, in my friends, my work, my environment. After more than 30 years of triers and errors, I decided to look for my happiness from within me. I worked in many different fields and environments all over the world but I did not meet my friend called Happiness.

All I collected were frustration, anxiety, fear of failure and humiliation. I was among the people who believed that hard work was the only key to success. There is a difference between hard work and harder work, brain work and physical hard work. I worked in a factory for $7.00/hour in a very dangerous conditions. That job did not solve my problems.

I worked for high schools, for  audio and visual media production companies, financial institutions, real estate brokerages etc. Today, I realize that I kept locking myself in a box where I couldn’t see the sun. My life seemed to belong to someone else even if it was mine. I wanted to serve communities and I did. But I couldn’t meet my friend Happiness. I survived but I was not living.

2016 is my moment. I am not afraid but confident. I am now focusing on situations that awaken good feelings from within me. I refuse the be the prisoner of my unpleasant  past experiences. I want to focus on the positive and reject the negative influence of the people.

I feel like I want to greet everyone I meet on the street. I want to smile at people and tell them nice words to encourage them to be the best people they could be.

I can work from home, help in the kitchen, clean up the house, see and interact more often and positively with my family members.

I feel like I have something very important to give to the world, something more valuable than money. I know people who are currently earning good money (6+ figures) but are very unhappy. This reminds me of the discussion about” money doesn’t mean happiness”. I have something to give to those people as well.

There are people who are living in poverty, insecurity, war etc. They are asking themselves: how can I be happy? My answer is: work on your subconscious mind, be in control of it. It is true that we may find ourselves in unpleasant situations.

However, we are responsible for the way we react to them. If you think it is the end of the world and you are convinced about it, then the result will be your own end.

On the contrary, if you think that there is always a way out, an open window hidden somewhere, then you will live long enough to find your exit route.

In the past, we discussed about the origin of happiness. My friends always enumerate events and people that make them happy. I would simply say that, those friends and events are the triggers. The seed of happiness is already planted within you from the time you were conceived and are expressed mostly by a big smile on the face.

A baby is smiling even in the mother’s womb. The experts have confirmed that fact. The real smile we can experience comes between one and a half to three months. That smile is contagious because it awakens the parents happiness and the happiness of all those who come in contact with the kid.

You too, my friend who is reading this article, can water this seed of happiness and make it grow big, and even use it to trigger the burgeoning of other people’s seeds.  It will depend on how you choose to re-set your mind.

Here are a few things you could do.

Focus on the positive

I just shared with you that I left the corporate world to regain my stolen life for over 30 years. When I shared this decision with a friend, he was appalled. He told me without hesitation that I was wrong.

I asked him to be more specific. He then explained that I will be in a huge financial mess very soon. I thought about that too but then I asked myself if it was worth it to stay in my vicious circle and a state of unhappiness for ever.

I quit my job to be responsible for my own health, my own wealth and my own freedom. This is very important for the rest of my life. I will choose the people to hang out with, people who give me value  for who I am. This is very important for any success in life.

Focus on Solutions

How do you feel when you are working with all you got, your body, your mind, your soul to change people’s lives for the better and the boss tells you that you did nothing because one person complained about you?

May be 99.9% of the people you are serving are happy and the rest are still complaining because they are expecting from you something you are unable to provide?

Here is an other example: when you are working on a joint project and you meet a problem or make a mistake, do you blame your partner? I can assure you that many people try to blame others for their mistakes.

The best ways is not to point out what others did not do. May be they did not know. The best way is to work together to find the solution. Any other endeavour is a waste  of time and harmful to your happiness.

Self-discipline

I mentioned earlier that influencing our subconscious minds is crucial to our success. The subconscious mind is a store of experiences, positive and negative, that we accumulated over the years. Negative thoughts will always po up to disturb your projects, to create doubt and confusion.

The good news is, you have the ability to catch the negative thoughts  and replace them with the positive ones.

Use the positive stimuli of the mind 

There are stimuli to which the mind responds more freely like the desire for sex expression, love, power and fame, music, autosuggestion, fear etc.

Man will put himself in harm’s way, lose everything to pursue a woman of his dreams. A woman will stop thinking to follow a man of her dreams even if she is told that the man is a criminal.

Wars have destroyed lives all over the world because of the desire for power, wealth, domination and fame.

On the other hand, music brings a smile on the face of people. Listen to the music you love the most for a few minutes every day and you will feel transformed. The great motivational speakers and  comedians trigger the same feeling of joy in the hearts of the listeners. You may also re-set your mindset by watching a movie, repeating more often some encouraging words to yourself or reading a good book.

Reward yourself

There are small projects we accomplish in our lives but forget to celebrate. Celebrate small successes by rewarding yourself the way you like. It could be that nice jewelry you have always dreamed of. It could be a glass of beer or a cup of coffee. Go for it and don’t wait for another day. Your life is today.

Watch who you hang out with

Remember the saying:” tell me who you hang out with and I will tell you who you are.” This is my favorite too. I want to make friends from all nations and all cultures. There are good people out there who will love you for who you are. Find them and they will accompany you on your journey to success.

Persevere

Determination is very important. Make sure you have a clear goal, a burning desire, a plan of action. Believe you can achieve your dreams and never give up on them. Fear shouldn’t have any part in your life. You are a victor but never a victim. Your are the master of your own destiny and you have all you need to succeed within you.

Isidore Goodfellow