Persistence

I believe there are three kinds of people. There are winners,
who know what they want and understand their potential and
the possibilities. They take life on. Next are losers, who
don't have a clue as to who they are. They allow circumstances
to shape their lives and their self-image.

I believe there is a third group as well. This consists of
potential winners whose lives are just slightly out of
alignment.I call them wayward winners. It may be that they
just need to learn how to be real winners. Perhaps they've
hit a bump or two that has knocked them off course and they
are temporarily befuddled. A failed relationship, a lost job,
financial problems, unformed goals, a lack of parental support,
illness, many things can send us off course temporarily.

Wayward winners are not lost souls; they just need some
tweaking and coaching and nudging to get them back on course.
A map might be nice. Many of these wayward winners are easily
identifiable because they are always searching.

Right now, there are many wayward winners out there braving
rain, sleet and snow because they too still believe that they
have untapped talents. They attend motivational seminars and
listen to inspirational tapes and they plunge onward,
believing that sooner or later they will find their way again.

Other wayward winners have temporarily given up. They are
damaged and disoriented, their confidence badly eroded. They
tend to drift through life numbly. The friends and relatives
and loved ones of wayward winners see that they are out of sync
and wonder why they can't be satisfied, why they don't settle
down. They wonder how people who have such obvious abilities
and great potential can be so disoriented and unsure.

It is difficult for others to understand the rawness of a
broken heart or the aching emptiness of an unguided spirit.

You and I know. We have been there. Wayward winners know that
there are possibilities out there, but too often they feel
locked out from them. Some are afraid to risk any more because
of what they have risked and lost already.

I know now that as difficult as it may be for you wayward
winners to do, it is necessary to continue to test yourselves.

Even though you have been hurt before, it is the only way to
grow. We all have the capacity to change, to lead meaningful
and productive lives by awakening our consciousness.

You know there are going to be tough times as you go about
changing your life, so brace yourself and you will be able
to handle them. When you get into your seat on an airplane,
what is the first thing they tell you to do? Fasten your seat
belt. Brace yourself for the turbulence.

When you decide to move your life to the next level of
accomplishment, you must fasten your mental and spiritual
seat belts because it is going to be a while before you reach
that comfortable level again. You will reach it, but you
must endure the turbulence of change in order to grow.

Try this technique to help you through the difficult times
of change and growth. Find four reasons why you cannot succumb
to your fears and your troubles. Find those deep sources of
motivation that can lift you out of the turbulence and above
the clouds. You must change your life because, for example:

You have not yet tapped the talents given you.

You want to leave something more for your children.

You want to live life rather than letting life live you.

You want to do what makes YOU happy.

It is in these rocky early moments of bringing change to your
life that you discover who you are. In the prosperous times,
you build what is in your pocket. In the tough times, you
strengthen what is in your heart. And that is when you gain
insight into yourself, insight that leads to self-mastery
and an expansion of your consciousness as a life force in
both your personal and professional lives.

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