When I was 15, I was bored with my life. I no longer wanted to be the nice guy who was always polite and followed instructions. So, I decided to shake things up and changed my hair to look cool. I also bought a used leather jacket and started acting a little flippant.
A few days later, my uncle Chick dropped by to pick up my father to go bowling. He noticed the different me and said, "I see you're making some changes, Bobby. What's great about feeling restless is that it's a signal that a new life is available. But be cautious of choosing changes that really change nothing."
I offered a flippant remark back to my uncle. Being a patient man, he reached over, touched my shoulder and replied, "The truth can hurt at first, Bobby. However, sometimes it helps if you take as fact what you are taking as an insult. It's often the truths that feel most jolting can be most valuable. It's an undeniable fact that your restlessness contains incredible energy, Bobby. However, only when given proper direction will the energy truly reward you. I imagine your world is feeling cramped right now, and you're ready to burst free from your usual ways. I encourage that. Yet, there's a better way to grow. Just make sure you give that energy a purpose other than meaningless rebellion."
Back then, I wasn't capable of enduring an awkward moment with a watchful mind, and so I ignored my uncle's advice. However, his sincerity stuck with me, and it eventually helped me come to my senses. Shortly thereafter, I realized that I was rebelling without a purpose.
Even now, five decades later, I continue to reflect on the wisdom that my uncle offered. How many times have I been impulsive? How many times have I hastily made a change that changed nothing? How many times have I decided to shake things up in my life simply as an act of rebellion against the old with no real plan for something new? How many times have I avoided looking at the real problem, which was not out there in the world, but rather, inside of me? Moreover, how many times have hastily made changes proven disappointing and regretful?
Truth loves the no-nonsense inquirer. Daring to ask questions of this nature can help you to see things differently. Your very awareness of being trapped in rebellious tendencies is the leverage you need to break free.
Certainly, it's wise not to ignore the pain of restlessness, but it's wiser still to look inside before trying to rearrange the outside world. When we make changes with proper purpose in mind, we get the liberty we seek to live the fresh, new life we desire. Stated in another way -- every change you make that empowers you to grow, strengthens you to break through the old and welcome the new.
No matter what your age might be, it's a natural urge to want to burst through to higher levels of living. Imagine being an amateur skier who has mastered the novice slope. You feel an urge to go higher. Do you think that changing your equipment and skiwear is all that's needed? Do you think that swapping your ski-buddy for someone new is all that it takes? Indeed, higher peaks are ready to be conquered, but first you must alter your opinion about what you're capable of achieving and hone your focus on what you want to accomplish. The moment your self-opinion as a skier goes higher, opportunity will knock. You will be inspired to learn what you need to know to ski the higher slopes.
The biggest obstacle to making positive changes is stubborn insistence on old points of view that keep you stuck right where you stand. If you truly wish to make changes, the following two tips can help you:
Tip # 1: Instead of trying to change the truth to fit your point of view, allow the truth to change your point of view. New view, new you, new life.
Notice when you've secretly deceived yourself into believing that you have all the answers. Be alert to your hostile reactions when someone suggests that the change you're making won't give you the answer you're seeking. Hostility is often a sign of stubbornness. How are you to cause beneficial change in your life if you refuse to change your mind? Where the mind flows, your life goes.
Tip # 2: Your world and the conditions in your life are out-picturings of inner dreams. Let old nightmares go and a new world will grow. New dreams, new world, new life.
Don't blame the world when your efforts are thwarted. The world is simply a mirror reflecting your visions back to you. The way to change your world is to dream vividly of the life you'd love to live. Then learn to occupy the dream. You break in a new dream by acting as though it's already so, while daily walking through your familiar world; sort of like breaking in a new pair of shoes by daily walking through a familiar park. Remain faithful to your new dream until it feels comfortable. Question all opinions that don't support it. Soon the dream moves from feeling like fiction to feeling like fact. When it feels like fact, it's natural to act in ways that support it. Soon thereafter, the unseen becomes seen -- the dream in your head becomes actual in your world. You are at your very best when whatever you choose to do, first you assign it a purpose that serves the world and serves you.
International Bestselling book author, Rob White, offers other inspiring short stories that reveal ordinary gurus who come to you to prove there's no such thing as a final failure unless you say so at his RobWhiteMedia.com website.