“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
Guest article by Tony Fahkry
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A life of meaning becomes apparent by stepping up to play a greater version of your life.
Commitment and passion are essential to living a complete life. One calls you to honour your path and the other to embrace the challenges that lie ahead.
To play big in the game of life, one must take bold risks without retreating into the comforts of the known.
Many people prefer the path less trodden. They work in jobs they dislike to pay the bills and do what’s required of them while living ordinary lives. However, this way of life suffocates your magnificence by conforming to societal norms.
You are meant to achieve more.
Your limiting beliefs hold you back from claiming your greatness and purpose because you question your unworthiness.
“We experience the greatest richness in our lives when we invest in some task or value and it returns to us by way of satisfaction or meaning,” writes James Hollis in What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life.
I invite you to go all out and not hold back. A life of regret is not a life of meaning but one of guilt and misery.
There is no joy in lamenting the past, for the best time to take action is NOW.
Meaning is found when you venture into the unknown. There, your greatest accomplishments arise when you draw on your inner resources.
It is not enough to survive, you must thrive in all areas of life to realise your full potential.
To stand out means to live boldly, to impact your life and the lives of others.
It’s no coincidence that you are endowed with precious gifts and talents. Perhaps you are still discovering them, yet the common thread is not withholding them due to fear.
Fear keeps you trapped in a self-imposed prison and stifles your genius if you buy into its narrative.
“As soon as you believe that a label you’ve put on yourself is true, you’ve limited something that is literally limitless, you’ve limited who you are into nothing more than a thought,” affirms the spiritual leader Adyashanti in Falling into Grace.
A Journey of Inner Discovery
Life is replete in meaning when you step up. In those moments your true calling is known, for you have dared to venture into the depths of your greater self.
You cannot go back to your former life once you’ve awakened your talents and genius, for you evolve to a higher state of consciousness.
There is nothing satisfying in pursuing the ideals society lays out for you. These are the norms rather than the rules. You must become the exception – the trailblazer destined to embark on a heartfelt journey of inner discovery.
“Let success mean only that you’re committed, and failure only that you’ve made insufficient progress,” writes Alex Lickerman in The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self.
You may have an inner calling, yet contemplate whether to turn this into a viable career.
Here’s my one minute wisdom: I don’t know the answer and neither do you.
The only way to find out is to try. Lay it on the line and take a risk, however small or big. You won’t know until you keep trying. Yes, you will fail. You will also fall and not want to get up.
However, your efforts may pay off and you will be rewarded. On the other hand, it may not work out initially.
Nevertheless, follow your impulses and try again.
It is a deeper sense of meaning that summons you to give it all you’ve got until you succeed.
Author Victor J. Strecher writes in his book Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Most Changes Everything: “So let your purpose be big, lofty, even outrageous! I want to wake up in the morning with my purpose foremost in mind and go to bed at night knowing that I worked toward it.”
Life will kick you hard when you’re down and insist you to stay there. But when you play big, falling down is your lesson and getting back up becomes your journey of self-discovery.
“Like shining stars, every one of us has the potential to light up the darkness with our own particular brilliance.” — Unknown
As often stated, it is not how many times you fall, but how often you rise. In those moments, your inner resolve, passion, and commitment to stepping up counts.
My fascination with authenticity has grown in recent times to such a degree that I devoted an entire book to it titled, Awaken Your Authentic Self.
Authenticity means aligning with the essence of your greater self. It is the higher mind, not the scared and anxious small self which convinces you of your unworthiness.
As you merge with your authentic self, you awaken your inner powers and step into the life destined for you.
It’s not enough to read inspirational posts on Instagram or Facebook, hoping to feed your soul and go back to living a conventional life. You must take bold action, even in the face of fear and doubt.
“It’s never too late to start. It’s always too late to wait,” states author Jeff Olson in The Slight Edge.
The magic comes at a price and is the tantalising fruit dangling at the end of a branch. For you must climb out of your comfort zone to seize it, and only then will the spoils be awarded to you.
What do you have to lose?
Your pride? Your sense of security?
Consider what you will gain when you step into a life of greatness. To focus on your shortfalls means missing out on the rewards.
Step out on a limb if you wish to realise your hopes and dreams. No one will do it for you. No one will care if you don’t take risks, but many will if you succeed.
“The three killers of dreams are detail-itis, excuse-itis, and the hesitation virus. And they all stem from doubt,” says author Larry Weidel in Serial Winner: 5 Actions to Create Your Cycle of Success.
A Life of Greatness
It does not serve you to blend in with the masses, to be popular one day and discarded the next. The unpopular and nonconformists are those who make a dent in the world.
If you want to create an impression in your life and the lives of others, dare to be different. Dare to expose your uniqueness. Dare to be someone you’ve never been before.
Take risks, small ones – big ones. Who cares, just take them for goodness’ sake. Stop hiding behind your pride or wallowing in your sense of entitlement. You are not entitled to anything other than hard work, perseverance and grit.
So, fail often. Fail fast. Embrace your failures and stop hiding behind your doubts because they’re killing you, one breath at a time.
Learn quickly and embrace the opportunities that come your way. Expect nothing other than gratitude to play your hand as you see fit.
Some cards will fall your way, other won’t. That’s life. Try again.
When you’re consumed by tiredness, go deeper into yourself. That’s the 1% where the magic happens.
Author Larry Weidel says: “Winners know that if you don’t figure out what you want, you’ll get whatever life hands you.”
Don’t settle for second best. Second best is life of mediocrity. A life of mental and emotional torment. A life of doubt and resentment. Don’t be that person. The fire in your belly is there for a reason, don’t extinguish it before it burns brightly.
Laugh at your mistakes and cry at your setbacks. Be as human as you openly can be and enjoy your frailties and shortcomings.
Embrace the person you are today because like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, you will be a different person tomorrow when you step up and stand out.
I wish to leave you with a passage from author Vishen Lakhiani’s book The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: 10 Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life and Succeed On Your Own Terms: “What if life was not meant to be safe? Instead, what if it was meant to be a beautiful joyride, with ups and downs as we take off the training wheels of the culturescape and try out things outside what is practical or realistic?”
So, strap yourself in for a wondrous exploration to the core of your being; the centre of your universe.
When you arrive, you will unite with the essence of your greater self, the timeless being who has survived many setbacks.
The person to scale the greatest summit in their quest to create a life of meaning, not regret.
If you enjoyed this article, why not gain a deeper insight into the principles espoused in Tony’s new book,Awaken Your Authentic Self now available via: Thought Catalog Books, Amazon and iBooks. The book foreword is written by the internationally acclaimed author, Dennis Merritt Jones. Download an entire FREE chapter of the book via www.tonyfahkry.com when you join Tony’s email list.
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