OVERCOMERS OVERCOME; PERIOD

In my most recent attempt to connect from a value-based platform, I looked closely at the struggles of people; professional and otherwise, with regards to Withdrawal, Anxiety, and Burnout. There was a period of my life when everything I did was a struggle, and at times I felt so overwhelmed that I forgot to breathe. Have you ever been to an event and at some point, you feel like the walls are closing in and you just want to get out? Well, here was I getting that Deja Vu feeling almost every day and wondering how to bring it to an end. We sometimes get so caught up in building monuments and satisfying our egos, that the smaller finer things in life just seem to pass us by, and before we know it we have all but forgotten how to live. How to laugh, how to breathe, how to love, how to care, how to become curious like an innocent child all over again, how to be inquisitive and make new discoveries about life, people, and ourselves. How to be passionate about a lover or a calling, how to engage in meaningful conversations and pass time activities. We simply lose our way and ourselves and soon discover that the man in the mirror is a complete and abject stranger, we cannot even recognize our own shortcomings, and we fail miserably to comfort with each passing day those whose lives we inadvertently affect. There is a bright side to all of this, and it begins with a deep and concerted introspection of self, this however, cannot be done unless we first come to a place of total presence and stop all action and all function. We must of necessity be honest and humble about our self-examination, we must be bold and ask the questions that open up our souls to bear the source of the agony we now feel. We must rehearse what went wrong and recall how we stepped off the path of truth, we must endure thorough and disciplined self-admonition, and we must also accept the fact that we must hold ourselves accountable for the actions we took. Perfection is not a process of tangible reality to any man, it will always remain but a fleeting illusion on the horizon of our existence, always tempting us to lurk in the shadows of our imaginations, leaving us breathless and unsatisfied. What we must strive after is self-mastery, this is a more noble and attainable vocation and allows us to discover strengths and shortfalls that combine to challenge our desires to better manage ourselves. So, here’s my simple advice; stop playing roles that are pleasing to everyone except you, stop the false identity that leaves you drained and disillusioned without reward, and stop silently supporting the fallacy of the imposter syndrome. You deserve to be the truest and most unforgettable unapologetic individual you were created to be, stop and learn to smile again, then laugh, take your laughter to the top of a mountain and scream, shout to the world how grateful you are just for being here, and how much you intend to give the universe a great ROI on its investment in placing you here. The universe deserves that, and you deserve to earn your place on this planet. Finally, be generous in sharing and giving, learn to sew seeds of compassion and kindness in the hearts of many, show empathy where and when it is needed, and above all show gratitude that your life matters to the Creator, even if you are not all ok everyone else is.