Michael A. Michail
Copyright © 2013
All rights reserved
We all have goals, dreams, plans, things we hope to accomplish in life. We make our best effort to achieve these desires. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don’t. And as time goes by it often appears as though we are not connecting with what we really want in life but are merely pursuing illusions. Worse, we might be following a path designed for us by others such that the goals we strive to attain are not the ones that can bring us any personal happiness or satisfaction. We find ourselves chasing someone else’s desires and leaving our own by the wayside.
When we are young we think about what would make us happy. As we get older we start to think about getting the things other people tell us will make us happy. Sometimes this is necessary for what might be called the greater good. Perhaps you dream of a life as a beach comber, earning minimal amounts of money but having great freedom of movement. Yet, if you have a family to support, you may need to earn enough to pay for food, clothing, shelter, education and some level of comfort for all involved. Choosing an alternative goal – a happy family – over your own personal desires – being a beach comber – is one thing; completely abandoning your own happiness, knowingly or unknowingly, for the sake of someone else’s will is a different matter.
To be happy and satisfied in life, your goals should be in line with your personal values and they should contribute directly to your sense of self-worth and accomplishment.
Take this quiz to see if you are on the right path to self-fulfillment.
QUIZ
- When you awaken in the morning, do you wish you could somehow avoid your day?
- Are you glad to get away from the work you do when it’s quitting time?
- Do you feel constantly restless and tense?
- Does your life seem void of meaning and useless?
- Do you feel you should have been born in a different century of time?
- Are your relationships with others constantly unsatisfactory?
- Have you felt like you were in a rut or been just plain frustrated over a long period of time?
- Do you feel that the life you are now leading came about more from the advice of others than from your own choice?
- Does your self-image make you feel unworthy to have happiness and success?
- Are guilt feelings of any kind causing you to punish yourself by failing to set and achieve goals?
- For whatever reason, have you come to believe that failure is your lot in life?
- Do you have negative opinions about yourself?
- Do you constantly blame others for your lack of accomplishment?
- Are you negative about life and people generally?
If you answered yes to any of these questions and especially more than a few of them you are not pursuing your true goals and the goals you are pursuing will never satisfy you even if you achieve them all.
Inside of you right at this moment, at the CENTER of your mind, is the All-knowing, Divine Mind of the Universe. Within this mind is a definite purpose and pattern for you in the Universe that can fit every time period in your life. Through meditation and the thoughtful examination of your own values and needs, you can devise the goals and dreams that can truly make you happy and then generate a workable plan for real accomplishment. Take advantage of the resources available to you – both internal and external – and start going after your real goals rather than the false goals others have laid before you.