Achievements: Past, Present & Future

I suppose we humans have come so far so fast because we have some innate part of us that needs to achieve things. Whether its to impress others, ourselves, or our god(s) - it seems an inevitable part of us. When we don't achieve things, we seem to oppress ourselves with feelings of shame, blame, and outright unworthiness. I don't know why we do that but can see instances of it throughout my life as well and even as I knowingly seek a higher truth - I still have certain expectations of myself.

To that very end I'm reading a couple of books that discuss the power of emotions, the idea that they emanate from memory (good, bad, experienced, or anticipated) and that the use of visualizations can be enhanced with emotions. This is a subject that really interests me so I like playing with the suggestions they have - one of which is to find an experienced memory that brings up the type of emotions I'd like to create in my future. For example, I want to live in a tropical setting and feel awe inspired peace...so I would think of a time when I felt that same kind of peace and relive it - then flip to the desired state and visualize that possibility with the same emotion. The idea is that emotions amp up the energy around the visualization, through the law of attraction this is one technique to make that happen more precisely.

Regardless of whether or not that makes sense to you, as I started doing it the thoughts that started to come to me was "wait a minute, I've totally been able to do a, b, c - so why couldn't I do x, y, z?" Which led me to the idea that it may be worthwhile to put my constant pursuit of the next thing on pause for a moment and take count of all that I have accomplished...and I recommend you do the same. We have done so much in our lives, grown through so many trials and tribulations that I think we deserve the occasional time to celebrate our worthiness. Hopefully our respective lists will remind us of some other fundamental truths - like we are good, smart, kind, deserving, happy, accomplished, valuable, thoughtful, and powerful beings capable of so much more than we tend to give ourselves credit for. By reliving some of these undeniable truths we may in fact pave the way for more desires to come to fruition. I mean, if you'd done all that's on your already accomplished list - why can't you do what's on your wish list?

By way of example and for my own benefit, here's a list of what I've accomplished. I trust that while some may not look that impressive to you, you'll understand that the circumstances in which I did them make them proud moments in time for me and quite frankly that's all that matters anyway...

• lived through my first divorce at age 11, surviving as the eldest of three a bit wiser with the idea of what's truly important
• lived through my second divorce at age 23, holding my self worth higher than the momentary failings of a young couple
• carved out a career without a college degree, succeeding in all aspects of the training profession from facilitation to design and development to project and people management (and earning as much as my degreed counterparts)
• survived an emotional and financial onslaught thanks to mother nature, learning more about my needs, my stuff, my spirit, and fellow man along the way
• learned to give and reciprocate true love, including the most unconditional aspect of letting go when it was best for all
• prayed for answers to my questions, finding answers when I was able to surrender, allow, release, let go, and just be
• willed the powers that be to deliver a dream vacation in Key West (followed shortly thereafter by a request to take a 6 month road trip), proving that through desire and focus much can be achieved - including my next set of dreams!

Through it all I've witnessed how blind faith ends in clarity and appreciation, desires end up delivered, and enjoying simple pleasures result in reveling in exquisite pleasures. So while I know myself well enough to know I'll forever be on a quest for something - I'm getting better at remembering how many things I've brought into my blessed life already. I believe that will help me balance the desire to achieve more with the gratitude of what I've done thus far...further enabling faith to dominate and the powers of the Universe to best line up the how's and when's of my next great accomplishment.

"Achievements from my past have carved the achievements of my present, and together they significantly impact my future. With so many good things on my side, why worry of what's to come?" - Sarandipity