Empowering Thoughts | 22nd May 2026 | Evil Influenced Past | God Blessed Future!
Thoughts | Words | And Feelings!
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The easiest thing for the devil to do is to keep us in constant fear of the future, worry of the present and embarrassment of the past.
That way we will never be able to look at the future with excitement, joy and fulfilment.
We will live and die re-living mediocrity day-after-day.
That’s why God is so essential to break the devil and bless us with a prosperous life!!
https://youtu.be/PTYWYTGNGtE
Ask and You Shall Receive | What About Timid Feelings and Fears | Can I Ask for Courage and Bravery?
Ask and You Shall Receive | Took Me A Long Time to Believe This
Yeah, let’s get down to basics. Ask and you shall receive is Biblical, and I, for some reason, kept the Bible at arm’s length. You can ask me why, and I will tell you that the ungodly did not want me to go to the Bible at all. Because when the Bible starts to make sense, then the ungodly have to find a new home. Till such time, I was its home.
Reading the Bible is not equal to trusting the Bible. Going to Church every Sunday is not equal to trusting God. This took me some time to get. Now that we are in it, what is trust or trusting all about? Let me explain it as I see it. If I can go through an event, situation, or challenge and I feel secure that someone’s got my back, then I am trusting. That someone is the God of the Bible. The more I get into situations that seem insurmountable and the more I pray and trust, the more it gets resolved. Sometimes, even without me doing anything, or let me correct that, most of the time without me doing much of anything.
Now, that’s trust — trusting that God’s got your back and that you can ask what you want in prayer in Jesus Christ’s name and that it will be answered. Why? Because it is written. Jesus said that to the devil, who came to tempt Him. Every time the devil asked him to do something, Jesus shot back with clarification, stating that “it is written”. So, I assumed that “it is written” must be powerful.
What is written has to happen. As simple as that. That said, what can I take to God in prayer and/or asks?
Can’t Ask For Feelings and Mindset | Shouldn’t I Control My Feelings and Mindset?
For a long time, I was of the opinion that I could ask God only a few things or things above a certain level, and nothing too downright ridiculous. Meaning, asking for a job was fine, but asking for boldness to face a situation or asking for a mindset where I wake up every day expecting the best is out of bounds. Why? Because if I am going to ask for a mindset or feelings as well, then what am I doing in this world at all?
But that’s where I was wrong. Asking for feelings and mindset is much more important than asking for a job. Both will be granted for sure, but the former is more important. Let me explain how. Let’s say you are in a race and on that race course, your competitors have a clear path, but you have a dog standing in your path. You may have to wrestle it or jump over it or veer around it to get to your finish line. That is a bit unfair to you since the others have a clear path. That “dog” is your feelings and mindset, which distracts your focus from the finish line. Whereas your competitors can stay focused on the finish line. Who do you think will win? Who do you think is disadvantaged? You know the answer, don’t you?
So, you see why you have to deal with the feelings and mindset first. Ask for a better mindset and feelings in Jesus’ mighty name. It will be done. Once the obstacle is removed, can’t you now focus on the finish line? Can’t you have real goals and stay focused on them? Can’t you focus and move forward with intent? You sure can.
This realization made me understand that the ungodly wanted me to forever wrestle with the dog while the world flew past. Don’t fall for it. You are made to fly, so fly. Nothing less than that!
Ask Whatever You Want to Ask | And Then Boldly Trust and Go Forth in Life
So, there is nothing out of bounds in asking God. You can ask for a clear mindset as much as ask to win the race. Both are asks, and you can trust God’s hand in your life. Don’t let the ungodly tell you that you can’t ask for victory, as that would mean that you don’t do the work. It’s actually the opposite. The ask for victory and the following belief in it, moves me forward to train and grow stronger to win. I no longer wrestle the dog. I deal with the track. That’s the difference when God has your back.
So, get this straight and get this right. God is true. God is trustworthy, and God answers prayers. Most of all, God is always listening. Go talk to Him, believe in Him. And…..
… enjoy your life!! 😊 😊
Image Courtesy: Jesus Gives Strength — Grok
Prayer Raises You Above the Noise Level | When That Happens | Sense Between the Good and the Bad
Noise Level
Back in my college days, we used to have an interesting concept called the “noise level” in physics. What is it? It simply means that there is an inherent noise level in our environment under which any signal that we present won’t be clearly heard. This concept was true at the time of discovering the superheterodyne receiver as much as discerning audio signals from space today.
This noise level is true even in our lives. There is a continuous chatter on in our minds. All the thoughts and experiences run a 24 by 7 audio channel in our head. Above that, there is the voice from God and the noise from the ungodly. God’s voice through the Holy Spirit is clear and usually above the noise level in my experience. The only need is our willingness to listen. But the other voice is the problem.
The ungodly voice operates at the noise level and creeps up with thoughts and suggestions as if it were our own. So, with all our experiences that we are replaying in our minds, the ungodly continues to make those experiences sour by opening up its own unruly chatter.
Here’s where the problem starts.
Noise Level Takes Over | And Becomes the Only Voice
It took me a long time to realize that the noise level chatters were the grass under which the serpent hid and kept whispering in the dark. The chatter soon became debilitating until the whispers were the only thing left in my head. To make matters worse, I was moving away from God around this period. A perfect crucible for the ungodly’s experiments, and I was the subject.
During this phase, it was difficult to tell the difference between our thoughts and the ungodly’s whispers. For example:
I would be thinking about the award that I received for my performance and playing that episode in my head..
And…
Out of nowhere, another thought would emerge, which would go something like — Yeah, the award was good, but I didn’t look great, or the shirt was soiled, or others think that I didn’t deserve it, or I just got it because I am close to the boss, or some other useless thought related to the award.
And all of these happened to me. The first part was the original thought, and the second part, though it also seems like my own assessment of the event, was clearly not from me. How do I know? Because I listened to it and found myself in depression. These are the classic self-sabotage ingredients that come together to put us down. Just that some of those suggestions are not our thoughts.
You would argue that this happens with everyone, but not everyone goes into depression. True. And I went into depression because I distanced myself from God. The only shield in my life, I chose to put down and allowed myself to be attacked. But there lies the good news, too. God does prune away the grass and shows us the ungodly.
But for that, you need to pray!
Prayer — the Lawn Mower | God — the ungodly Destroyer
It is funny that I came up with the example of prayer being the lawn mower, and it is. Prayer is not just the lawn mower, but also the noise cancellation power. The noise level gets destroyed by prayer. In either case, the chatter in the head stops. And what does that do?
It exposes the whispers. When prayer colors the background of our life, it highlights the whispers. We get to know that it is not our voice (or thought). Then the next job becomes easier. All we have to do is to “rebuke” the thought and “command” the thought and the evil spirit behind the thought to leave us and go fall in the fires of hell, by the Mighty and Holy Name of Jesus Christ. And it works. It worked wonders in my life.
I didn’t know that the chatters in the head could be stopped. Without the grass, the serpent cannot come close without being detected. And if it can’t come close, it can’t manipulate our thoughts. And then, guess what we are ready to hear? The voice of God.
This is what prayer does. It destroys the chatter and installs “God’s Voice”, the Holy Spirit’s call!! I have learnt from my mistakes. No more prayerless life. God and his protection are non-negotiable for me. I will do everything in my power to stay in God’s grace through prayer! And I think you should, too.
Image Courtesy: Mohamed_hassan at Pixabay(dot)com
Does Prayer Actually Deliver? | The Younger Phase | The Depression Phase | The Prayer Phase!
Growing Up | Prayer Was Too Much Effort
The growing-up days were all about playing and having fun. But Mom used to ask me to pray all the while. My elder sister was different. She used to play and also pray. I used to find that strange. How could she be taking time out from the fun times to pray?
Prayer to me was an arduous task and one that was devoid of fun. There were too many rules, and it had to be done only because Mom insisted. Even then, when Mom did not bother to ask, I did not bother to pray. Even my sister would ask me to pray. I was least interested. I just didn’t like it.
Prayer was about a process to be finished rather than a Father to be spoken to. Sadly enough, I saw prayer as nothing different than school homework. It had to be done otherwise, there would be punishment. I used to do both prayer and homework, but did not enjoy either. This is where I went wrong in building a relationship with my Heavenly Father. It would take me many more years to realize how silly I was and what a relationship I passed in my younger days.
The good news is, I am still here and have been given another opportunity by my Father to make amends and straighten my path. But the opportunity did not come by until I realized that I needed it.
The Shaky Life | The Depressed Life
A lack of relationship with the Father took its toll. Prayer was the last thing on my mind. It was something to be done when every other aspect of life was taken care of. In other words, something to do for fifteen seconds before going to sleep. I was so bad with God that I didn’t even keep a promise that I made to Him as a kid. I had covered that in the previous article, and those interested can read it here:
Thorn in the Throat | Betrayed Promise | Depression | God’s Saving | Single Story Connected Experience | by Awakenedgyani | Dec, 2025 | Medium: https://awakenedgyani.medium.com/thorn-in-the-throat-betrayed-promise-depression-gods-saving-single-story-connected-d5ec7d2c880b
The one true aspect of distancing from God that I didn’t realize is that I was growing closer to the ungodly. Unlike God, where we have a choice to be with Him, there is no such choice with the ungodly. The ungodly will take every available opportunity to hijack and ruin our lives. There is no invitation required. And yet I gave the best invitation to it by keeping God away from me. The ungodly, demon, devil, evil spirit, or whatever you call it, had a field day in my life. Depression was one of the last of the debilitating outcomes. I call it last since the devil does not stop at depression. I had suicidal thoughts. That’s how it would have been victorious. But then God saved me.
Despite not deserving it, God touched my life. He did use my wife, my friends, and my therapist to reach me, but His Hands were unmistakable. How could I have known Jesus and yet choose to distance myself from Him? God’s Grace that was ever shining in my life, despite my disinterest in Him, how could I have been blind to it?
Prayer felt like a cry for help for the first time. I could sense that prayer was me calling out to the Creator of the Universe. I was desperate. If I had had the right perspective about God earlier in life, my life would have been such a beautiful time. I lost that time. However, I am glad that I am able to see God’s presence in my life now.
But the experience without God and with God is extremely different. I intend to share it here.
Talking to God | Peace, Acceptance, and Intelligence Follows
While many would understand peace and acceptance of oneself, it would be a bit odd that I also put intelligence in the mix. That’s because the Bible says so:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom — Proverbs 9:10
I have grown to understand this a lot better now. I used to ask myself early on in my life why I should fear God. Shouldn’t I be loving God? True, love God but also fear Him. We loved our parents and yet feared them as kids, didn’t we? Didn’t that make us good kids? Then how is this any different?
Anyway, I was talking about my experience. What changed? Here’s what’s happened. I am on my business journey, and over the last two years, the visible difference is how I am approaching the same business. Nothing has changed. Same parameters, same challenges, same work to be done, and same output expectations.
Let me clarify how things were for the most part of my business while I was away from God. It was driven with anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, doubts about myself, debilitating mental attacks on my work, extreme pessimism, lack of interest in getting started, procrastination, and not achieving the result I had set out to achieve.
With God, the picture was different. Remember, nothing had changed when I embraced God Almighty, Jesus my Savior, and the Holy Spirit. But the perspective did change. There was a new energy to look at my business, ideas that seemed to come out of nowhere, joy in my work, peace and a relaxed mind, sharp focus, believing that I can succeed, opportunities in the same work environment (wonder where they were hiding before), immense optimism, and an assured feeling of victory.
As I said, nothing physically had changed, but my mental faculty is running at light speed. I am loving it. This is what God’s grace in my life looked like. Now tell me, why wouldn’t I want more of this? More importantly, why didn’t I listen to my Mom as a kid? 😊
It’s good that I am back on track, and all thanks to God. I recommend that all of you’ll should taste and see that the LORD is good. You will love it just like me!!
Image Courtesy: Running Away from God | Image Created using Grok
Thorn in the Throat | Betrayed Promise | Depression | God’s Saving | Single Connected Experience
Thorn in the Throat
I think I was ten or eleven years old when, while having my food, a fish bone decided to lodge itself in my throat. Now, that wasn’t new. Like any fish-eating human, it was expected to happen, had happened to me before, but it eventually got washed down the throat. So, it was a momentary pain, and then it was all fine.
Not this time, though. For some reason, this fish bone had a bone to pick. It wouldn’t budge. I could feel the painful prick each time I swallowed. We tried everything — swallowing a handful of rice, a banana, drinking water, and repeating each one at least three times. It didn’t work. To make matters worse, it was nighttime. There would be no doctors. If I needed medical help, then a hospital was the only solution. The hospital is a place we went to if there was something seriously wrong, not for trivial issues.
*Image Made on Grok | AI*
It looked like the hospital was very much on the cards. I could see my dad tense, mom worried, sis confused, and I was s*it scared. I didn’t know what to do. I could feel the pain just while swallowing my saliva. But if I said I felt the pain, then everybody around me would continue to be worried, and at that point, the only alternative was not an alternative at all.
I think that was my first memory of making a decision, a painful one. I lied that the thorn had washed down. It hadn’t, but the relief at home was worth it, and of course, a temporary relief for me.
The problem wasn’t over, though.
Prayed to Mother Mary | Promised Something | Thorn Gone | Promise Broken
So long as I didn’t swallow, there wasn’t any pain. But swallowing your saliva was partly a natural habit. I was scared to do that, though. I went to bed, but I don’t remember how I fell asleep.
The next day, being a Thursday, was a school weekly off. So, it was a day to get up late. Not for me. I probably swallowed, and that prick woke me up. Since everyone was sleeping, now was my chance to explore and see if I could do something about it. I took a torch and looked into my mouth in the mirror. I could see the thorn. I tried reaching it, and surprisingly, my index finger touched it. I could feel it, but couldn’t move it.
I was in tears. And then I made the first promise of my life. I had made some earlier also, but I distinctly remember not keeping it. Come on now, I was only ten. But this promise was to Mother Mary. I didn’t know I had to keep it. I remember praying to Mother Mary:
“Please let this thorn go, and I will do one Rosary every day for the rest of my life.”
Now, this may sound dramatic and miraculous, but I AM NOT JOKING. It wouldn’t have been even half a minute of me praying as above, and the next swallow, I was at ease. I couldn’t believe it. I saw in the mirror once again. The thorn was gone.
I turned to Mother Mary and profusely thanked her. And, of course, did the first Rosary then and there. But I don’t think I went past even half a week before I gave excuses to myself to do the rosary. I literally broke the promise. I remembered it, yet never bothered to make my promise good.
Unkept Promises With People? | No Repercussions | Unkept Promises With Divinity? | What Do You Think Happens?
The thorn in the throat episode passed away, but the feeling of relief never did. Even growing up, as a youth, an adult, a married man, and later, a father, I never forgot the promise that I did not keep. And even then, I wouldn’t do the rosary regularly. I would do it as and when I pleased. Normally, prayer was a fifteen-second affair for me, and the Rosary was a full ten to fifteen minutes long. So, I thought that the fifteen minutes weren’t time well invested. I was some investment guru! I still don’t know how I thought it was okay to not keep a word that I gave the divine.
I distinctly remember sweeping the entire experience under the carpet and telling myself that it was nothing. God would forgive and accept me. In hindsight, it was not me telling me, but the ungodly whispering in my ears. I failed to see what I had gotten myself into. ***How could I have overseen the biggest miracle in my life and brushed it aside as nothing? How did I believe that there would be no repercussions?***
Repercussions were looming. I wasn’t ready for it. And the repercussions were due to the ungodly. Not God. God, in fact, saved me. Gave me another chance. You’ll see.
The Ungodly Came Knocking | I Was Knocked Off by Depression | Found My Footing Again | Thanks to God!
My life was going well, successful school and college years, pretty successful and fast-paced work life, but the intermittent failures were there, too. Somehow, the voices only amplified the failures and never let me revel in the successes. And guess what I kept hearing more often?
‘You don’t keep your promises.’ [My colleagues, friends, and spouse would say]
“You need to keep your promises.’ [My bosses would say]
Those statements were hitting alarmingly, closer to home, right?
The ungodly voices and the focus only on failures eventually took me down. I was in depression, roughly 33 years after failing to keep my promise with Mother Mary. I am not saying, depression was God’s way of getting back at me. It never was. Depression was my way of moving away from God. I had free will, right? God wouldn’t overrule it. But the devil… that was a totally different ball game.
God wanted to help, but I was too focused on the ungodly. However, learning came soon. After a long time, I realized that I couldn’t get away from my promise. I am glad that I realized. Imagine if I had died without fulfilling my promise. Can you imagine what would have happened to me? It would have been an eternity lost. Thank God, I just lost a few years to depression instead of eternity to the ungodly.
What Now? | Making My Promise Good
One of the problems during my depression phase was the unending torment of the ungodly voices. Torment is an understatement. Those voices drive you crazy and take you to the edge of suicide. Life has improved a lot as I started leaning on my God. Those voices haven’t stopped fully. I still keep hearing them now and then. But during my Rosary phase and praying phase, it just gets silent.
Now, I am intelligent enough to know that salvation lies in me keeping my promise first. The engineer (Ok, you don’t need an engineer for that) that I am, I calculated the number of Rosaries that I haven’t done. So, that’s a total of 34 years since the ‘thorn in the throat’ episode. The number of rosaries, therefore, is: 34*365, which leads to a total of 12,410 Rosaries. Remember that it was one Rosary per day.
In other words, I would have to do 34 Rosaries every day to complete my backlog. If I do 10 Rosaries every day, then I will be able to complete the backlog in 3.4 years. Phew, some task! But better to get a chance to complete it in this life than no chance in the next one.
I am glad that I will be able to keep my promise. And I hope that by keeping a promise made to God, I will also learn to take promises seriously and keep them with others, too!
Image Courtesy: Image Made on Grok | AI
Kept Watching Money | Lost Interest in Work | Grew Tired | And Then Blamed Money for It
Interesting Experience | Unwanted Outcome
I had spoken about my energy exercises around money, and how I had a breakthrough in my perception of money. I had spoken about it in my previous article, and those interested can have a read.
Money Problem | Somehow Managed to Drive Money Out of Work | And Hence Had Work But No Money | by Awakenedgyani | Dec, 2025 | Medium https://medium.com/p/cf9cc1a8fd7d
This article is a continuation of the one above. I followed up with my energy exercises to check for any intense feelings around money after the clearing that I previously achieved. This was a pretty focused one. I mentioned in the article above that I had somehow replaced the term “stocks” that my friend had stated with “money” and thereafter adopted an arms-length approach to money.
I was curious to find out why I replaced “stocks” with “money”. Was there indeed an experience behind it, or just another no-specific-cause replacement of one word with another?
Boy, was I surprised to know that there was a reason!
The Reason | The Experience | And My Dislove for Finances
Yeah, I invented the word “dislove”. So long as you get the meaning, it’s all fine.
So, the reason for the replacement of the word “stocks” with “money” was because of one specific experience that repeated itself over a couple of weeks in my first job. You see, I was working for a client and had finished the job at hand (I was a very quick worker) and literally had almost the entire day at my disposal. I was at the client site and had a room to myself and nothing much to do. I tried completing some work for my office (office of parent company, not client company), and as luck would have it, I had really rounded up all my work. So, no work. That’s when I said, ‘Ok, let’s look at my stock portfolio. ’
Now, remember, this was my first job, and I had never done anything of this sort before. Why? Simply because I had never invested before, nor was I too much into portfolio checks. But then something happened that got me hooked. As I opened my portfolio, one of the stocks in my holdings just shot up. I remember that distinctly. It shot up so high that it hit the 20% circuit breaker at the stock market. That was an extremely exhilarating and first-time experience for me. I mean, the translation of that 20% upward movement was big on my portfolio. And for the rest of the day, I just kept refreshing my screen. Why? In the hope that my other stocks would also do something similar. In hindsight, what a tiring day it would have been to be just hitting refresh.
But the experience did not end there. The next day, at the same client’s office, the same thing happened again. Work allotted, work finished in one hour, no new work, no follow-ups, no parent office work, and literally seven hours at my disposal. I logged in to my portfolio again. The same stock hit the 10% circuit breaker this time. For those who don’t know, in our stock markets, the first time there would be a 20% circuit breaker, and thereafter 10% each day. Again, I was refreshing the screen for something to happen. And here is where my first experience with boredom at work followed (remember, this was my first job). It was tiring as I waited for “something to happen,” and “nothing happened,” and I was tired mentally. This experience followed for the next two days as well.
Things were different on the fifth day. I arrived at the client’s location, and there was a lot of work to be done. But none of the work was for delivery on the same day. The earliest one was to be reverted in a week. But I thought I would keep working and check my portfolio once in a while. That made sense, but that’s not what I did. Once I finished some work for about half an hour, I logged into my portfolio. This time, no circuit breakers, but yes, largely all my stocks were in the green. There was a change in experience this time. Despite having work, I did not have much interest in getting back to work as there were no immediate reverts or expectations. So, I went back to refreshing my screen. By now, it was getting tiring for me. I distinctly remember the boredom and tiredness I felt and the odd need to sleep.
The saga continued until day eight. On day nine, I had to get a hard grip on myself as I had only three days left to deliver one of the first outcomes to my client. And I remember being able to get back to work and making a conscious choice of not opening my stock portfolio. However, by lunch break, I thought I could just check while I am having my lunch. Bad decision. I fell back into the refreshing-the-screen saga pretty soon. Even after lunch, I remember going back to the page-refreshing saga, while I lost track of my work.
That evening back at home, I felt the worst that I could feel. I was full of guilt that I was using up the client’s time (and his money) to do my personal work. That, too, personal or otherwise, it wasn’t “work” at all. I felt terrible. And here comes the banger that I carried for the rest of my life. This is it:
I thought that this focus on increasing my money was an extremely tiresome experience, and it stopped me from doing my work. Work and money can’t go hand-in-hand. ****I cannot focus on my work if I am distracted by money.****
Ta-daa. And that was it. That’s where I started believing I should not focus on money (the fact was I was focused on my stocks), or else I wouldn’t be able to do my work. This realization was crazy. It was, after all, having its genesis in my own experience and not my friend’s, as I had earlier thought.
What a revelation!
Cleaning the Past | Clearing My Mind
Once I narrowed it down to that point, clearing things was easier. As I write this article, I have a couple of my crypto portfolios open on other tabs on my laptop. I am smiling to myself that I am focusing on my work of writing this article while not being distracted by the prices. So, my Ho’oponopono sessions to neutralize the experience of “money” and “work” seem to have worked.
The new thoughts that I have reinforced are:
• My money keeps growing even when I don’t watch it
• God’s blessing of money keeps flowing to me
• My work focus is so enriching and fulfilling
• By God’s grace, both money and my work keep flourishing
• If God wills, money and work can go hand-in-hand
Man, the relief that I felt after the clearing is amazing! I don’t see money as a distraction from my work anymore. I can be relaxed about money and my work. And this is the exact scenario that I need for myself while running a business. So, work and money can indeed go hand-in-hand.
Once again, all this could be possible because of God the Father Almighty, His Son, Jesus Christ, my Savior, and the Holy Spirit. The nudge in the right direction at the right time is what gets me out of trouble always. And it remains so even in this current episode. I am so glad God is in my life!!
I hope you find God and his directions for yourself, too. His mercies and divine interventions are incredible!
Image Courtesy: Peggy_Marco at Pixabay(dot)com
Money Problem | Somehow Managed to Drive Money Out of Work | And Hence Had Work But No Money
Odd Conundrum
As confusing as the main title reads, that’s how I had been going through life for a good amount of time. I couldn’t work the logic behind it, but it went something like this — I shouldn’t be focused on money; instead, I should be focused on work. There’s nothing wrong with the statement, as the underlying assumption is that if my work is good, then money should follow. And I assure you that’s not what I experienced.
It was an odd arms-length that I had with money. I used to feel worried if I looked at money for too long. The inner voice/s would be blaring at a high pitch that I should be focused on my job and not money. This was difficult because I could never look at money or the raise that I should be planning. Or even another job with better monetary benefits.
Life was on autopilot — do the work, and money will follow. Until the work remained, but no money. Even then, I was scared to look money straight in the eye. So, I had to plan my work and business without taking money into consideration. I had a ballpark for money from each line of business but would avoid getting into details.
It was blatantly silly, comprehensively idiotic, and naturally stupid. How would you run a business whose success is based on the money that you make, and you wouldn’t want to look at money? Well, what can I say?
Odds With Money | Nothing New | Same Old Same Old
As an energy exercise practitioner, knowing EFT, NLP, and Ho’oponopono and having solved many of the underlying negatives in my life, I have had minimal to no success with money. I’ve been in a job, and I’ve been in business, but without exception, I have been only at loggerheads with money. There is no getting around this.
And to let you know, I have tried clearing a lot of things. Some of them are as follows:
1. Money is evil
2. God and money can’t go together
3. Focusing on money will eventually make money my god
4. Those focusing on money don’t become big in life
5. The successful CEOs are the ones who were passionate about work and not money
There were many more. But do you see that most of the points make sense and kind of got me opposed to money. This opposition is what I got tamed in all of my energy exercises. Then, shouldn’t I be ok with money? Strangely, no. I still had a problem with money.
It was just beyond me how could a CEO or business owner be successful, if they do not think of the money that his/her business would make? It was no longer about the individual alone but about the company as a whole. If I couldn’t be ok with money then there was something drastically wrong. And that scared me. Because I thought, in my eagerness to correct things about money, I would likely get involved with money and eventually make it my god.
Oh, baloney. I was screwed.
Some Hope | Some Clearing
Then I tried a new approach. To not think about money for a certain period of time, until I had no choice but to think about it (bills don’t wait for my experiment, right?). Here’s what happened. After going weeks without thinking about money, and then, when the bills arrived, thinking about money again, yet keeping an arm’s length distance from it, I realized I wasn’t getting anywhere. It was a hopeless endeavor to achieve nothing. But then something chimed.
I had to go back to God and the tools in the form of energy exercises that God had shown me. On one of the sessions around money and my inescapable zero traction on the topic, I got back to an old conversation with a friend. This was just around the time both of us had started work, and I got into stock trading in full gusto.
So, during one of our evenings catching up, I told him about stock trading and how he could do it too. I remember now what he said:
***“I don’t want to look at stocks. Because if I do, I will be unable to take myself out of it and will not be able to focus on my work.”***
This is all he said. I still am clueless as to where the stocks in the statement were replaced with money. It is easy to surmise that stocks were about money, so I am assuming that at some point, I focused too much on what he said and reorganized the statement in my head as follows:
***“I don’t want to look at money. Because if I do, I will be unable to take myself out of it and will not be able to focus on my work.”***
Notice how not only did I change stocks to money but also internalized my friend’s statement as my own. If neither of them had happened, I would have been in a better position. So, what did I do next?
Energy exercise and relieving myself from the cold embrace of unwanted feelings. So, I reinforced my mind with a new thought that work and money both are fine, and I can work to earn money. It’s absolutely possible and alright. It is also fine to look at money and plan for the amount of money that I would earn. That kind of took away the edge from my mind. I feel a lot freer to look at money and its planning.
A Sigh of Relief
I’ve got to admit that the kind of suspense and unease around money and the suspended animation in which I placed money seems to have dissolved to a certain extent. I am certain that this would be a strong move forward. I am eager to see how things pan out.
For those who are in a similar situation to mine, I hope the article helps, or at least points you in the right direction. I hope you can find the areas to clear and move forward in faith. Above all, it’s by God’s mercy that I could find these corrections, and I will forever be indebted to the Almighty Father, Jesus Christ, His Son, and the Holy Spirit!!
Image Courtesy: Rilsonav at Pixabay(dot)com
Self-Pity | Perfect Plot to Stay Stuck | Wanna Progress | Discard Self-Pity
Feeling Bad For Oneself | Why?
The idea of feeling pity for someone else for the struggles they are going through and taking action to help them is seen as a big-hearted approach. To see the discomfort of a fellow human and do something to alleviate that discomfort is surely commendable. And it is. But to take the same term “pity” and apply it to ourselves is actually an incredibly troublesome journey. It is so bad that even the Bible warns against it.
But why? Here’s why. Self-pity is that journey we take where we tell ourselves, ‘oh, what a difficult life I have had’, ‘oh, how cruel the surroundings had been’, ‘oh, how bad things got’, and ‘oh, it’s the world’s responsibility to make it right’. Now, the last part is the problem.
So long as you look at your past objectively, it’s all fine. But the minute you look at it with victimhood and then blame everyone around you for it, you enter the self-pity zone. And it is an absolutely useless territory. You then live a life seeking others’ validation, approval, and assistance. That’s not what strong people do or need.
Self Pity | Petty Pity
If I can highlight the last part from the previous section — ***‘validation, approval and assistance’*** — this is the hallmark of weak individuals. All the success gurus would tell us that we need to be strong within so as not to seek validation from others. Look at any of the successful entrepreneurs; did they wait for the world’s validation? No, they just took off and provided their service or product to the world. They were strong within.
Now let’s look at the opposite kind — the weaklings. In the current world scenario, do you see such weaklings? Those whose feelings get hurt as soon as someone says something incorrect (perceived incorrectly, not really incorrect) about them? Those who expect you to affirm them? Those who seek your validation for their survival? Those who clearly seem to be living in delusion but need us to affirm their delusion? I think you’ve got the drift of who or what I am referring to. This is one of the outcomes of self-pity. This is the — ‘Oh, how the world treats me, the world needs to change’ — philosophy. Absolutely useless, serves no one, and only irritates the world around you. Worst of all, the person in the middle of it gets nowhere and gets, in fact, invalidated by the world. And then they start on an even stronger journey of self-pity.
That’s all cool. But why am I speaking about it? Because I, too, went on my own journey of self-pity. Much more respectable journey than the above example, but an equally bad one in terms of outcome.
Here’s My Story | Self-Pity | Depression | To Taking God’s Hand to Come Out of It
One of the greatest gifts, in my opinion, that I got from my first job was the introduction to Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). EFT is an energy exercise that we could use to clean up our unwanted feelings. In many cases, these feelings emanate from our past, our childhood, and nobody warned me that I could clear the past, but I would be left with the knowledge of the past.
What does that mean? While you clean your unwanted emotions, many of them emanate from our childhood based on our unhappy experiences with our parents, our neighbours, or our friends. Some of these emotions are suppressed, while many are easily accessible once we do the energy exercises. While we can rid ourselves of the emotions, we become aware of what we went through as a child, and that’s where the problem is. So, while the emotions were neutralized, the knowledge of what we went through stays. Now, nobody warned me that I could get into a self-pity mode based on what I endured. We are not to do that. But somehow I did. And as more and more of the past emotions cleared, I became more and more aware of what I went through. And as you know, very soon, I was feeling pity for myself.
I did not have someone to slap my back and say, “Get out of it,” and so I stayed there for a long time; a little too long. I later went into depression and got an even stronger reason to feel self-pity. Just to clarify, there were a lot of reasons for my depression, and self-pity was just one of them. And there started the saga of never-ending pity for myself and how the world had been cruel. I am telling you from experience. That’s how you feel. You feel that you are a victim of the world.
The fact was, I wasn’t a victim. I was strong for as long as I knew. The only problem was that doing the energy exercises highlighted my weak past. And I stayed focused on my weak past, forgetting that I had a much larger, stronger past. This is where I went wrong. As you can imagine, I came around when I realized that my past was quite powerful and there was hardly anything that could shake it. And, more importantly, I realized even now I was quite powerful. Very powerful.
And hence I speak from experience. Self-pity is a useless feeling to carry. The Bible was right. There is no place for self-pity; else you risk becoming a victimhood-filled weakling. You stop being of any purpose and run a 24*7 seeking-validation channel. And that validation will never come, pushing you further into self-pity.
So, That’s What Is Wrong With Self-Pity
When you are in that zone, snap out of it. You are way too strong to feel pity for yourselves. Maybe you did have a cruel childhood, but how do you know that those experiences did not shape your stronger self today? How do you know (or not know) that much of your strength today comes from your unhappy past? Truth is, there is no easy way to find it. So, why then subscribe to weakness and embrace self-pity, when the opposite could be true?
I have only one thumb-rule: God, the Giver of all, is here to help. He got me out of depression, and he showed me where I went wrong. He works unabated and wants only to prosper me. Find God. He will help you out. Just like God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, my Savior, and the Holy Spirit worked miracles in my life.
Hope this article helps to check where you are going wrong with self-pity in your own life. Be careful and throw it away as soon as possible.
Image Courtesy: Maksymchuki at Pixabay(dot)com
Want to Turn a Winner? | Then Play By the No Choice Rule
Rule? | Ok, Let’s Not Call It A Rule
Now, this may sound harsh when you are told that there are no choices in many matters, and we just have to go on and move forward. The element of choice appears to be a gift, but in many ways, it turns out to be a curse that is well-packaged and perfume-sprayed. And that’s the kindest definition for choice.
I am not against choice, but where the choice is applied. Our parents’ generations and the ones before seem to have got it right about choice, but the current generation is all messed up about choice. And that’s why we see a generation that does not know genders. Anyway, we digressed. Let’s get back on topic.
Choice is a gift when we know how to use it. Otherwise, it might as well not have entered our lives. What am I talking about?
Let’s see.
Having A Choice Is Not A Choice
The earlier generations knew where choice came into play and where it should be kept out. That’s why we saw an extremely well-oiled system running the world order, and therefore, great economic progress. But this gave rise to the cliché — good times lead to weak men.
The generation that was the recipient of this well-run world order did not have much to do and thus started the ‘whiling away’ by expressing choices in areas that didn’t have any. For example, when it comes to God, there simply is no choice. We pray, we gain spiritual strength, and we move forward. However, this has changed today. God is a choice. Atheism is a choice. Obviously, a generation that has grown up assuming ‘God is a choice’ wouldn’t understand what a fragile life he/she is living. In fact, for them, it feels like a constraint to say that there is no choice around God. That is the problem.
Choices were to be applied to the bad side of life, while the good side of life was to be followed without changes. I mean, why would you change the good side that works so well? God works. Every. Single. Time. Why would you change that? On the contrary, you were to choose drugs or no drugs, alcohol or no alcohol, smoking or no smoking, and many more areas that negatively hurt not only our soul but also our physical body. This is where choices were supposed to be. So, even if someone fell into those traps, they could choose to come out of them. But sadly, that’s the opposite of what we see in the world today. Cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs are normal, while God is a choice.
When Choice Is Taken Out | Baptism By Fire Follows
Growing up, I had no choice around studies. I had to study. What was the outcome? I was one of the many successful engineers graduating from college; I topped my class, in fact. The same logic applied to work — no choice. I had no choice but to work. Result? I was one of the top-performing employees. Then came the choice. I read a book (in fact, multiple books) on the law of attraction. And this coincided with my moving away from God. And what happened?
This is what happened. The Law of Attraction gave me the illusion that I could take it easy on the physical work and focus more on the mental state. Sounded interesting back then. After all, why work hard when I can just align myself with all the goodies of the universe? But the underlying sinister plot was why God, when I can just align with Him and snatch the goodies out from Him? Isn’t that what the law of attraction teaches? Align, and all that you want will flow to you? Yes, that’s exactly what it teaches. And that made me a lazy, passionless, criticism-avoiding, pain-detesting, hoping-for-a-better-tomorrow, easy-success-seeking moron. What’s more, I had moved far from God, too.
This is what choosing the wrong thing does. Working hard and staying God fearing are not choices? These are realities that everyone needs to accept. The challenge in life is not to make the path smooth (by the way, a smooth path was never promised) but to make ourselves so strong that we are more rugged and hardened than the path itself. Isn’t that what life should be teaching us? How to be tough? When we veer from this “no choice” journey to having choices, we end up confused about genders. And not to mention fragile egos that get pulverized when people don’t dance to our tune.
Is Choice Good?
The answer is yes, but with a caveat. Choices are good only at places where we need to improve. Not where we have to follow the grind and become stronger. You don’t choose away gym or aerobic and hope to become muscular. You don’t choose away work and expect to feel accomplished. You don’t choose away from ‘making a difference’ and expect to be successful. You don’t choose away God and expect life to be enriched, full of passion, exciting, and prosperous.
****Choice in good places is bad. Choice in bad places is good.****
Read that once more till you get it. If you still have doubts, the only thing that I would advise you is to go ask God. He is real, and He answers. He will guide you to the truth, because He is the way, the truth, and the life.
I hope you find your truth and know that there is no choice around the truth!
Image Courtesy: Kingrise at Pixabay(dot)com
Holy Spirit’s Voice | Choose It!
Thoughts | Words | And Deeds
The voices that tell us that we are not good, not worthy, useless, or can’t win are not from God.
Imagine how much stronger God’s voice through the Holy Spirit would be! But..
We have a choice. The Holy Spirit does not overpower you or take over without your will. You can choose to listen to the Holy Spirit.
So, call in the Holy Spirit and let Him tell you how wonderful a creation you are!!
Video | Spiritual Strengthening
https://youtu.be/ycsJ_kO-zbY
Bible | Jesus Christ | Book: Matthew | Chapter 3 | Verses 1 – 17 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**John the Baptist Prepares the Way**
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him {Isaiah 40:3}.’”
4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.
5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan.
6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with {Or in} water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with {Or in} the Holy Spirit and fire.
12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
**The Baptism of Jesus**
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.
14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”
15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.
17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Video | Matthew | Chapter 3 | Verses 1 to 17
https://youtu.be/kWc77haCgmo
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
The Word of God | Bible | Book: Genesis | Chapter 21 | Verses 1 – 34 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**The Birth of Isaac**
1 Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised.
2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him.
3 Abraham gave the name Isaac {Isaac means he laughs.} to the son Sarah bore him.
4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God commanded him.
5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”
7 And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
**Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away**
8 The child grew and was weaned, and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast.
9 But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham was mocking,
10 and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”
11 The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.
12 But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring {Or seed} will be reckoned.
13 I will make the son of the slave into a nation also, because he is your offspring.”
14 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes.
16 Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she {Hebrew; Septuagint the child} began to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.
21 While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
**The Treaty of Beersheba**
22 At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do,
23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”
24 Abraham said, “I swear it.”
25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized.
26 But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”
27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty.
28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock,
29 and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”
30 He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.”
31 So that place was called Beersheba {Beersheba can mean well of seven and well of the oath.}, because the two men swore an oath there.
32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines.
33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Eternal God.
34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Video
https://youtu.be/59M_Jn0-0JI
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
Bible | Jesus Christ | Book: Matthew | Chapter 2 | Verses 1 – 23 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**The Magi Visit the Messiah**
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi {Traditionally wise men} from the east came to Jerusalem
2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:
6 ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel {Micah 5:2,4}.’”
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
**The Escape to Egypt**
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son {Hosea 11:1}.”
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more {Jeremiah 31:15}.”
**The Return to Nazareth**
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,
23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Video | Matthew | Chapter 2 | Verses 1 to 23
https://youtu.be/tE5AqELT-bY
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
Bible | Jesus Christ | Book: Matthew | Chapter 1 | Verses 1 – 25 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah**
1 This is the genealogy {Or is an account of the origin} of Jesus the Messiah {Or Jesus Christ. Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) both mean Anointed One; also in verse 18.} the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jeshoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah {That is, Jehoiachin; also in verse 12} and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.
**Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son**
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about {Or The origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this}: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.
19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet {Or was a righteous man and} did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus {Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua, which means the LORD saves.}, because he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel {Isaiah 7:14}” (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Video | Matthew | Chapter 1 | Verses 1 to 25
https://youtu.be/IfVJU3W30lU
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
Perfectionist Childhood | What It Does To You | What You Can Do To Deal With It
Perfectionist Childhood | What Does That Mean?
The title of this section is a play on words over the normally known perfectionist parents. The idea is that parents who seek an unprecedented level of perfection from their children put the child under excessive stress and therefore scar them for life. While this is true, what psychologists fail to realize is that those parents themselves would have undergone equal or even more stress as a child, and as a parent, they are only reliving their childhood. We fail to see their struggles with their parents. Having understood this part, we will forgive the parents and focus on our childhood without blaming them.
Coming to the topic, a childhood with perfectionist expectations puts the child in an extremely nervous environment. The perfectionist expectations are also at times accompanied by anger and resentment. What this does is that it pushes the child towards uncertainty. Let me digress over here and then come back to the original point. Usually, a perfectionist childhood results in the child being perfect in the intended area. For example, a child expected to be good in their curriculum does end up being the best, same with a child experiencing expectations in sports, art, or any other areas. This is the good part, and hence, having expectations is not bad. It just gets overboard when the expectations far exceed the required levels. And that’s when things go wrong with the child.
The children in such an environment, though good at the intended areas, may end up having an uncertain lifestyle in other areas of life. This may work in some cases, but won’t in many others. For example, a kid brought up to be extremely good at his/her curriculum may end up being average in his work life later. The skills required to tackle work life in a social environment are very different from those required in a study environment. As such, though good in studies, the child may end up being a dud in real life.
And that is the actual problem.
Strong in One Environment | Dud In Another
A perfectionist environment usually keeps the child focused on one area while leaving other areas underdeveloped. Why is that? That is because practice and familiarity in the known area make them grow well in that area. However, in the other unknown areas of life, they would be struggling. They just wouldn’t know how to cope or how to get used to them.
To make matters worse, they have been conditioned to look for validation, and therefore, in the unknown territory, they would be looking for validation from external sources. The problem is that those validations may or may not come. What does the kid, who is now a grown-up, do?
Also, a perfectionist environment is usually accompanied by a fearful response to anger. Most often, an angry, authoritative figure’s demands are never argued or opposed. This means the child usually knows only one way to deal with an angry atmosphere: either accept the demands or freeze up with uncertainty. Now, imagine if this behavior of unchallenged acceptance or freeing up when uncertain comes in a typical job environment, what do we think would happen to such a person? Mostly, he or she will be taken advantage of or may end up being a failure. Either one is not a great outcome.
The other aspect is to be stuck in uncertainty. A child growing up in a perfectionist environment is subject to uncertainty outside the expected behavioral realm. They do not know how to navigate that uncertainty. As such, they wouldn’t want to take risks or avoid an unknown area completely. This translates to being averse to learning new things and unlikely to take any initiatives. Such a behavior would likely stunt a person’s career in the chosen field. And therefore, once again lead to failure.
So, what then? Are children growing up in a perfectionist environment doomed?
Realization Is the First Step to Recovery | Transformation Can Happen Even In Unknown Areas
I have been the one growing up in a perfectionist environment, and I have gone through all of the above. What are they? Challenges in work life, seeking validation, being afraid of authority, avoiding conflict, being stuck in uncertainty, being averse to learning new things, and playing it safe. What do you think would be the outcome of such a career? You guessed it.
But the good news starts with the realization of such a pitfall. Once you are aware, you know what to do next. There are enough and more energy exercises like EFT, NLP, and more to relieve us of our past. That becomes handy to leave our past in our past. And while doing that, you realize one more thing. What is that?
**Children growing up in a perfectionist environment know how to win!!**
**Make a good note of this point.**
While yes, the child is limited in winning in one or a few areas of his/her life, but the fact is, the child knows how to win. Once the inhibitions are dealt with, the basic ingredients to win are already there. They just have to replicate it in other areas of their lives. Now you understand why there is no need to bash the parents?
So, there is hope. We can change and adapt. And it really helps if you believe in God. Lord God Almighty, the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit have helped a lot. I wish the same help for whoever needs it.
Image Courtesy: Mohamed_hassan at Pixabay(dot)com
The Word of God | Bible | Book: Genesis | Chapter 20 | Verses 1 – 18 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**Abraham and Abimelek**
1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar,
2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”
4 Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?
5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”
6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
8 Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.
9 Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.
10 And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”
11 Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’
12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.
13 And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
14 Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him.
15 And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”
16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels {That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms} of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again,
18 for the LORD had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Video
https://youtu.be/ZeVz0a-YI9M
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
Bible | Book: Genesis | Chapter 19 | Verses 1–29 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed**
1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.
2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate.
4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom — both young and old — surrounded the house.
5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him
7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing.
8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door.
11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here — sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,
13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry {Or were married to} his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.
17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords {Or No, Lord; or No, my lord}, please!
19 Your {The Hebrew is singular.} servant has found favor in your {The Hebrew is singular.} eyes, and you {The Hebrew is singular.} have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me and I’ll die.
20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it — it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of.
22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar {Zoar means small}.)
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.
24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah — from the LORD out of the heavens.
25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities — and also the vegetation in the land.
26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Video
https://youtu.be/sw0JYqDpw98
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
Money and The Anxious Heart | God Is The Solution!
Thoughts | Words | And Deeds
We mistake the situations of ‘lack of money’ and ‘anxiety’ as cases of cause and effect.
Then we deduce that if we had money, our anxiety would be taken care of. Not so.
The quivering and anxious heart could be calmed by God and God alone. If you had God on your side, you wouldn’t have grown anxious at all. Money has no role in it.
Taste and see that the Lord is Good!
Spiritual Strengthening
https://youtu.be/cZZTj8AE-dU
Bible | Book: Genesis | Chapter 18 | Verses 1 – 33 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**The Three Visitors**
1 The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord {Or eyes, Lord}, do no pass your servant by.
4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way — now that you have come to your servant.”
“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs {That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms} of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.
8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There in the tent,” he said.
10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
**Abraham Pleads for Sodom**
16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.
17 Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him {Or will use his name in blessings (see 48:20)}.
19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
20 Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD {Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition but the LORD remained standing before Abraham}.
23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare {Or forgive; also in verse 26} the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33 When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
Video
https://youtu.be/IkWqwXO08Tc
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
Getting Back In the Groove | Experiencing Withdrawal | Easy to Mistake It For Depression
Silence and Loneliness
Most of those like me who have gone through depression know what silence and loneliness are all about. It is one of the crippling attributes that we somehow imbibed, and it remained with us, driving us crazy. To understand the extent of the problem, people in such circumstances not only feel lonely but yearn for it, even in a crowded place with acquaintances. I have no clue why. Because once we get the loneliness that we ask for, we feel miserable all the more.
This vicious cycle drives a person lower and lower and then starts the never-satisfying need to divert attention through social media, sleep, or any other form of non-productive and low-energy activities. And most of us know that the diversions don’t help. They just keep eating into whatever energy is still left, and the result is feeling further helpless and miserable.
But the good news is that we can get out of here much like I could. Everything crumbles when God’s grace gushes forth. For that, all we have to do is seek His help. The help comes, and it does melt away our problems. Just be sure to notice the difference.
The Difference | What Difference?
Much of the horrors of depression is because of the unending chatter in our heads, and that is one of the main reasons we don’t want to be with others. The chatter starts judging, ridiculing, hating others, and tells us how others are not good for us. That is one of the many reasons for us seeking solitude. Because we erroneously think others are bad, but more than that, we want the chatter to stop. But it doesn’t.
The thing is, when help does arrive from God in whatever form, the demons of depression run away, leaving a pretty big void. The chatter is gone, and there is a visible emptiness. Now, if we don’t know what to do with the emptiness, we can mistake it for the very thing that left us.
The silence and loneliness this time is not depression. How do we know the difference? There is no chatter. There is only peace. The problem with us is that we mistake the silence for what we have been accustomed to believing so far — that things are not right, and things are not working out. And in no time, we have a relapse.
Relapse? What do I mean?
Relapse | Just Like In Addiction | It’s About Getting Used to the New | And Letting Go Of the Old
I am not saying depression is addiction, but depression, if it lasts too long, has made us accustomed to it. We don’t know what to do when we have our powers back. We don’t know what to do with the freedom. That’s where the issue of slipping back to depression rears its ugly head.
By no means is God’s grace so easy to whittle away. But, definitely, God’s grace needs recognition. We need to recognize that we have been delivered. That’s when we start to plan our independence. We need to look forward and move forth in confidence. Remember, we haven’t done this for so long that we don’t even know how to start. Take God’s help, take your friend’s help, take whatever help you can to find out what you can do. That would be the first step to get into a routine. A new routine.
Be kind to yourself if you find yourself a bit low. Why? Because you don’t know how to handle peace. You don’t know what to do with freedom. And that’s ok. The important thing is to know and acknowledge that you have God’s peace and freedom. Thank Him and be grateful for what you have. Start noticing the difference and take up something to do. Something constructive. Fill your time with positive and loving attempts, which include work, self-talk, acknowledging family, etc. Get into the groove. This is the new reality.
The more the new is acknowledged and practiced, the more it will become second nature. That’s all that needs to be done. You are in unfamiliar territory, and hence, you feel overwhelmed in the beginning. But as you start experiencing this state more, you start becoming comfortable, and you will start loving it more.
The New Reality | Understand It | And Replace the Old
The new reality needs a new shift in perception. The need to kill time by inviting distractions gets replaced by the need to fill time with constructive things. The need to shy away from social gatherings gets replaced by gratefulness for our social circle. The habit of hating the silence is replaced by the acknowledgement of God’s presence in that silence.
So, understand that the change you desired has happened. You may lose joy for some time, but that’s ok. Once you get used to the new reality, the joy will return, and it will be way more than you ever imagined. And this time, the joy is not dependent on anything or anyone. It is here to stay. And that’s how we move from pain to a heart filled with gratitude.
A heart filled with appreciation and gratefulness for God the Father, His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will automatically fill your world with joy!!
Image Courtesy: Lonely — Saydung at Pixabay(dot)com
The Word of God | Jesus Christ | The Way, the Truth and the Life!
Thoughts | Words | And Deeds
The number of times Jesus Christ Has made a path for me, or shown me the direction, is astounding.
Now, I truly understand what the Savior meant when He said,
“I am the way, the truth and the life.”
I realize that Jesus Christ is not just the way to the Father but also the way in this life while I am still here!
Spiritual Strengthening
https://youtu.be/G8aLytbyEZQ
Bible | Book: Genesis | Chapter 17 | Verses 1 – 27 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**The Covenant of Circumcision**
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty {1 Hebrew El-Shaddai}; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.
2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him,
4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.
5 No longer will you be called Abram {Abram means exalted father.}; your name will be Abraham {Abraham probably means father of many.}, for I have made you a father of many nations.
6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.
7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.
10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner — those who are not your offspring.
13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant.
14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.
16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”
17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”
18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”
19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac {Isaac means he laughs.}. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.
21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.”
22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.
24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,
25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen;
26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.
27 And every male in Abraham’s household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.
Video
https://youtu.be/kdw6LvLJOLY
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
Crazy Perspective Change | I Am Left Behind | To Let’s Catch Them and Overtake | World Has Changed
Perspective | Paradigm | Life | Change
I mentioned in one of my articles yesterday about a change in perspective that occurred by the grace of God. I don’t know how or when it did, but it just did, and then I hit the ‘aha’ moment. I had heard of these literal “Eureka” moments, but I experienced one for the first time yesterday.
Life had been on an autopilot of pessimism, unending regret, guilt, and powerlessness, for I had been left behind. I was in depression, and then when I was ready to come back, I realized I had been off for too long. I was left behind. Far behind. These kinds of thoughts are debilitating, and the one time that we conjure up the courage to battle it out, you hear voices like “too little too late”, “this won’t be enough”, “you have become a nobody”, and the like. With these thoughts, ‘debilitating’ is an understatement.
But things changed. All the mental struggle to get going got washed away just like that. Just a change in perspective. The new perspective was ‘what if I catch up with them?’, ‘What if I can overtake them?’, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun?’, ‘Just like while driving?’
That’s it. That did it. You will not understand the depth of the difference in perspective until you understand the inner dialogue I was subject to under each perspective. Let’s look at them.
I’ve Been Left Behind vs. Let’s Catch and Overtake Them
Here’s how the perspectives and, hence, my inner talk and energy differed.
**Perspective 1: “I’ve been left behind”**
1. Extremely agitated. Almost childish
2. Not wanting to deal with reality
3. Wanting to hide
4. Wanting to isolate myself even from friends
5. Always comparing and non-stop attacking myself
6. Feeling useless
7. Feeling worthless
8. Ashamed of myself
9. Hurt that I can’t do anything
10. Even when trying to do something, hear inner voice attacking the work — ‘too little too late’, ‘this won’t be enough to catch up to them’, ‘they are far ahead’, ‘they will be surprised that someone like you failed so miserably’
11. Even when working, thoughts like ‘how do you even know this will work?’, ‘What if you are putting effort behind the wrong thing?’, ‘What will you do if this fails? What is plan B?’
12. Even if I could get myself to work on my opportunities, there would be instant attacks like, ‘All that energy is going to last just one day. Tomorrow you will be back to doing nothing’, ‘There is hardly any meaning in doing this work’, ‘Nobody even acknowledges your work’.
13. Unending regret and sadness
14. Unhappy with the progress of family members
15. Absolutely hurt to see others progressing
16. Only recollecting failures in life
These and many, many more useless thoughts, feelings, and inner talks. These aren’t even the tip of the iceberg.
And now look at the contrast. All in a day.
**Perspective 2: ‘Let’s Catch Up With Them And Overtake Them’ [For clarity, the catch up is with people I felt have left me behind in career and life in general]**
1. Amazing energy levels to deal with work
2. Working comes naturally, and the idea of catching up and going ahead is motivating
3. The thought that all I have to do is put in some solid number of hours every day is good enough to take me across the finish line is inspiring. I feel in control again
4. Work seems fun
5. Energy levels are high and constant
6. When hearing about others’ success, the feeling that I will catch up with them soon chimes in
7. Absolutely open to socializing
8. No longer second-guessing, instead feel confident about talking to others
9. My current situation is no longer an impediment. In fact, the very feeling of changing the current situation is so exhilarating
10. Constantly in good humour
11. Feeling I can do a lot more
12. Accepting myself
13. Forgiving myself
14. A deep sense of appreciation for my past
15. A sense of gratitude towards God for showing me the way
16. Confident
17. Eager to get on with things
Again, these are also the tip of the iceberg. I didn’t even know that so much positivity existed within me. Some of them I clearly remember, I couldn’t feel about myself (earlier). But suddenly, all of them are easily flowing in.
This is just miraculous!!
God Played A Big Role | The Energy Levels Are Amazing!
So, like I said in the beginning, it all happened in the blink of an eye. Moments ago, I was struggling and hating myself and being a victim left behind in time, and then, poof, I am one of the most confident guys out there. This is what God can do in our lives. It is just amazing.
Also, I had tried energy exercise for so long, perspective changes, new thoughts, motivational speeches, goals, visual boards, and more. All of them worked to some extent and in some context, but nothing compares to what I am going through now. It is mind-boggling and even mind-bending.
I had never thought that one of the things that I loved back in school, later while driving, or even riding — catching up — would be the perspective change I required. I don’t have to try hard to catch up; it’s just natural. And to bring out something natural to become one of my motivations is something only God could do.
Thank You, God!
Image Courtesy: OpenClipart-Vectors at Pixabay(dot)com
Bible | Book: Genesis | Chapter 16 | Verses 1 – 16 | With Modern Day Takes
***Biblical Stories one at a time. The verses are from the New International Version of the Bible.***
**Hagar and Ishmael**
1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar;
2 so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my slave in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.”
6 “Your slave is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think best.” Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.
7 The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur.
8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
“I am running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.”
10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.”
11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
And you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael {Ishmael means God hears.},
for the LORD has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward {Or live to the east/of} all his brothers.”
13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen {Or seen the back of} the One who sees me.”
14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi {Beer Lahai Roi means well of the Living One who sees me.}; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So, Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne.
16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Video
https://youtu.be/sGoIQdJtwSU
**Image Courtesy:** My Own.
Have Been Left Behind | What Say? | Can I Catch Up? | Catching Up Was Fun While Driving
A Bit Down Over The Past Few Days
I had been a bit down in the past few days, wondering how I could have been at the wrong end of life, receiving all the unhappy endings. I seem to be getting things wrong, and to make matters worse, I can’t even keep up doing what I am doing. How could I succeed if I am unable to do what I am supposed to do?
Back in school days, it was quite straightforward. Study all the chapters for the exam, take the exam, and get the first rank. Life, in a way, is quite straightforward, like our school days. The only mistake was that I thought life was something more and different than what it was.
True, there are differences or additions to what we did in the past, but in summary, if you put in the hours, success would/should follow. I forgot this somewhere in my journey.
And the result? I think I have been left behind, far behind, by my friends, colleagues, and even my own family members. I have been putting the reason for this debacle on depression for some time now, but it is about time I took charge. And here’s what I did.
Got A Change of Perspective | And I Like It | How About Catching Up? | And Overtaking?
So far, I had been beating myself down because I was unhappy that I was left behind so much. Everyone went ahead. Even those who started after me are miles ahead. But me… I am nowhere. And this kind of thinking contributed to my depression. Anyway, that’s the past.
Now, then, I got a change of perspective. I like driving a lot, and that too on open roads to go as fast as I can. I like catching up and overtaking (in a very sane manner, 😊), so how about doing that in real life? I can feel the energy pumping up just at the thought. It is exciting. It is inspiring and it is motivating.
I am looking at everyone who has gone ahead as someone to catch up with. I can increase my speed and make it to them. And then… overtake them. How would that be? Exhilarating, right? For me, it is.
That’s what I am on to!
Couldn’t Have Happened Without the Nudge from God!
I’ve got to admit that most of the past few years have gone by ruing the missed opportunities instead of looking ahead. I tried a lot of things, including things to feel motivated. But there just wasn’t that spark. It would all work for a few days, and then back to square one.
This time, though, I got something I really feel like doing. There is no change in the business that I am doing, but the perspective of where I stand and what I can do has changed. And that’s a lot more than I can ever ask for. Needless to say, this nudge in the right direction has also come from God, and I will be eternally grateful to God the Father, Jesus Christ, His Son, and my Savior, and the Holy Spirit!!
Interesting what God can achieve in our lives in just moments, and we tend not to take this help and continue struggling. Sometimes we are weird. I am glad that I got going thanks to the right nudge from God!!
Thank You, God!
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Really appreciate the gesture! :) I hope I can keep entertaining you and all readers with something interesting from my own experience.
Onwards!
All That I Hoped to Happen In Life Has Not Happened | Doesn’t Seem to Be Happening Either
The Past
I started with a lot of excitement after my graduation, that I would be taking care of my parents and would be instrumental in earning and supporting them in life, and in the foreseeable future, would be some big guy with a big name and unheard of fame. I thought this would be life to the fullest.
And the life to the fullest also started in that manner. The victories were immense, and I was going forward quite well. Though I’ve got to admit that I couldn’t stop second-guessing myself and always kept comparing; not just comparing but kept hurting myself mentally, saying ‘I wasn’t enough’ and ‘I wasn’t good enough’. It took a toll.
I thought I would be famous, a high earner, a big name, having a big house, big cars, and a lot of things. This is not far from what most would hope for, if not aim for. That was me too.
But that’s not how things went.
The Present | Far From What I Aimed For
I look at myself now, and I seem to be a shade of my previous self. The only area that I have gotten stronger in is mentally, and that’s all thanks to God. But that’s where my story of improvement ends.
I am staring down a business I don’t know if it will take off or not. I have good opportunities I am working on, but always unable to get myself around to do it. My better-half’s earnings are what run the house. I have an ailing but stable father. I have a daughter at home. I am working from home, and most of the time, it feels like I am doing nothing at home. I can’t see myself getting famous anymore, earning big, or achieving big things. Most of the time, I feel I will die an unknown face, only remembered by the next generation. There would be hardly anyone who would even know me beyond that. There would be no legacy to remember.
More than that, it is the crippling comparison. Yes, that never died. It was there when I was successful, and it is here while I am not. And comparisons with my wife are never-ending. I seem to hate myself that I fell behind. All that everyone thought I would be, all that I thought I would be, has become nothing but a distant dream. And I have no one to blame.
I can’t seem to get around making money. I can’t seem to put my money in something that works. Even those things that seem to work for others just refuse to work for me. I don’t seem to be going forward.
The only work that I seem to be doing that adds any value to anyone (or so I think) is taking care of my father, since I am at home. And, of course, being available for my daughter. But these are things I could be doing even while earning or doing a job, right? So, what’s so great about doing it without a job or a source of income?
I know God’s watching. I know God’s helping, but why do I feel that the things that I so wanted — money, big house, car, fame, and all are a distant dream? I don’t even have the confidence that they will happen at all.
And that’s where I am.
So, What Now? | The Future
There are some silver linings for sure. I am a much stronger person mentally, and one who has improved my relationship with God. That’s a definite plus. But I am also changing my perspective from hereon. What is that perspective?
I am going to accept that money, power, fame, a big house, or a car are not going to happen anymore for me. All of the above has happened to my wife, and many will continue to happen. And may God continue His blessings on her. My work of taking care of my parents, my writings, and my opportunities are all that are left behind with me. Some of these have nothing to do with money, while the others are, and yet I haven’t seen any money in them. So, in a nutshell, it seems I am working on dud opportunities from a monetary standpoint, but still, I can make a difference to people who read what I write. That’s all. That’s all there is to it.
Given the above truth, can I accept myself? Am I a failure? Will it still be a success if I power on? Will I end up doing nothing of importance for anybody in my lifetime? I don’t know the answers to any of the above. The only possible difference I could make for anyone is my father and my daughter. That’s all I can see as of now, and here too, why couldn’t I be working and taking care of them both? I have a lot to answer, but don’t know how.
The only new thing in my lifetime is the firmness to power on. I have never felt that way before. I was always standing at the edge of failure and fearing that I would fall into failure until I actually fell into it. Meaning, I was never confident of winning or even knowing that I should stand firm in doing what I was doing. The result — I always gave up. I was never firm. That’s what has changed now.
This firmness to power on is what I am focusing on now. And no prizes for guessing that it has come from God. Everything I am doing, I will do it with utmost sincerity as if my life depended on it — taking care of dad, daughter, and working on the opportunities I have. Money is not going to be the judge of how I fare, but the sense of accomplishment. In all this, I will also continue to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. And I hope that all the other things shall be added unto me.
One other thing I want to test out is whether I can catch up. I am visibly left behind big time. Not only my wife, but my friends, colleagues, and everyone who started with me have made it big and gone places. Not me. Heck, even those who started after me are way ahead. Question is — if I focus hard and give my 100% for 100% of the time, will I be able to catch up? That would be cool if I could. It’s a tough one, but I didn’t invent the phrase ‘never say never,’ right? So, maybe this is the fun that I am looking for. How about catching up?
I’m putting this out today. I will be back on 12th November 2026, and let’s see how standing firm has helped me. Until then, I will still be writing about my own tryst with the lowest of lows in my life and hope that it helps readers in any way possible.
Image Courtesy: Geralt at Pixabay(dot)com
Check Your Inner Voices | Don’t Be Naïve to Dismiss Them As Mere Thoughts | You May Regret It
Inner Voice | Not Equal to Inner Peace
The inner voice is most confusing at first, then becomes an uninvited guest if not dealt with, and finally merges effortlessly with our being so much so that we tend to call it thoughts. And then starts the obvious change in our personality depending on who that inner voice belongs to. But what’s the confusing part? The confusing part is the character/being behind the voice.
I have grown up in a family where I was taught from an early age that conscience is crystal clear if I am ready to listen. That means, conscience is within me; inner voice, in other words. As a Christian, the Holy Spirit also speaks from within. Again, inner voice. So far, so good. Either one being the inner voice is not a problem. But nobody warned me about a third voice, which also speaks from within, and its only job is to blow up our mistakes, shortcomings, and failures.
Again, so long as we have cognitive awareness of these voices, we are still good. Why? Because we can choose what to hear and what to ignore. The problem starts when we have been listening to these voices for so long that they aren’t distinguishable anymore. And when that happens, we call it thoughts. There starts the misery.
Inner Voice | And Me
The thing with thoughts is that we assume or are at least trained to believe that they can’t be controlled. There are no clear statistics, but I would reckon a good percentage of people in this world would be living and passing away from this life without even knowing that they could control their thoughts. We will talk separately about thoughts at some other juncture, but let’s focus on the inner voice.
Taking the idea of inner voice from the previous section and thoughts from the paragraph above, what happens if we mix both? We tread on thin ice. What do I mean? If I start making the mistake of assuming my inner voice is my thoughts, then I have dug my grave (or elevated myself), depending on who that inner voice belongs to. To add fuel to the fire, if I also believe that thoughts cannot be controlled, then I am literally living a life where my inner voice will non-stop throw trash on me or elevate me in life.
I have been a recipient of the not-so-pleasant inner voice while believing that thoughts cannot be controlled. Any reason for depression not being the outcome?
An Enemy Within | A Grand Mess In the Making
I had mentioned in a few of my earlier articles that I have come out of depression, all thanks to the Mighty God and the angels he sent in the form of my counsellors, but I can’t forget how horrible it was when I was trapped in my own head. It’s a mess I didn’t see coming, and I suspect neither would the others in a similar state.
I don’t know when it started, but my best guess is at the beginning of my career. I can go back to the time when I was in college too, but back then, at least, there were enough and more distractions in friends. College days were bad only when I was alone at home doing nothing. Otherwise, it was still manageable. But once I started working, hanging out with friends became less frequent, office friends, though many, weren’t the ones as close as my childhood friends, and then started the journey of lonely times. To add to the loneliness, my second job had a work-from-home option, which made matters worse; note that this was at a time when there was no work-from-home concept elsewhere. That means it was a cultural shock for me to be in a work-from-home environment.
The ease of finishing my work in no time and then having a lot of spare time to do nothing is where the inner voice crept in. That was also the time where I did not know that thoughts could be controlled. I was steamrolled by negative thoughts, which would go unabated for hours, and I could only be a silent witness. The garbage that was splashed on me under my watch was incredibly disturbing. I was breaking down internally, and my self-image was bludgeoned. The irony was, I still looked a million-dollar worth on the outside. So, nobody knew what I was suffering or going through.
**Note:** Now you understand why depressed people are not easily identified. Because they look normal on the outside, plus, they themselves tend to not know that they are going through depression.
Heck, even I did not know what I was going through. It took my wife and me a grand 17 years to know that something was not right. That’s when the intervention came, and that’s when the correction started. Seventeen years is a long time to be continuously killed internally, and now it is easy to see why depressed people are suicidal. Because they want to put an end to what they are going through internally.
Here is the identity of that mind-numbing, soul-tearing, self-image-butchering inner voice. What Is It?
Inner Voice | The Ungodly Within
I had problems believing that the inner voice could be from the netherworld. It just seemed to be too dramatic, and the use of terms like evil spirit, demon, etc., kind of put me off from believing that we were even seriously discussing a topic. Take yourself, for example — does it make you feel that it is worth reading, after you noticed me pointing to the devil being the evil inner voice? No, right? I don’t blame you; I was like you and hence suffered for seventeen years.
Make no mistake, all the horror movies we watch, all the narratives we hear around us [or hear in our head (inner voice)] have led us to let our guard down. Ironically, the same narratives have also made the good voice a bit of a joke and a non-serious reality, bordering on being a myth. So, the outcome of such a misplaced logic is — God is a myth and there is nothing called a devil. And in this murky environment, where there is no Savior, an evil inner voice gets to flourish unchecked. I was a victim of this erroneous logic, and I have reasons to believe most depressed people, if not all, would be too.
Having understood that inner voice can be evil, and it definitely was in my case, we get to the next step — calling in the cavalry from Calvary. I mentioned already, I am a Christian, and so Jesus was my go-to protector, and boy, did I see how I wasted seventeen years by not staying close to him. I strayed too far and thus lost a lot of time.
The good news is the identification of the enemy within. Only when we have a target do we move to eliminate it. The thing with such enemies is that they are able to conceal themselves in the guise of thoughts or self-talk and therefore remain hidden. But when they are brought to light, they wither away and flee from us. That’s what I did, and the light I shone on the evil one was Jesus Christ. The fleeing was obvious thereafter!
So, Keep Checking the Inner Voice | Don’t Let the Enemy In
From now on, keep a guard for anything and everything that you hear internally spoken about you. All the negative, all the attacks on your life, on your physical self, on your abilities are nothing but from hell. They definitely are not your thoughts. They have to be dealt with absolute contempt. Don’t go easy on such voices because, given a choice, it would never go easy on you.
You alone are not sufficient to deal with this voice. You need heavy artillery, and there is none heavier than Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit in the whole of the Universe. He is a dependable, time-tested, faithful-certified, and battle-proven ally. When your thoughts are overwhelming, just say this:
I rebuke you, evil voice (or evil one), in the name of Lord Jesus Christ.
I command you in the name of Lord Jesus Christ to leave me and go fall into the fires of hell.
Say this and see how the ungodly voices fall silent within. I have tried it and it works. Keep your chin up, get yourself ironed up, and listen to the voice of the Godly. The voice is ever-present!!
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Have You Experienced This? | Completely Stuck | Unable to Move Out of the Depressed Zone?
Emotionally Stuck | No Way Out
I have been in this situation for a long time in my life, and the most recent one was last week. What was the situation? Emotionally and mentally, so stuck in an episode that coming out was absolutely impossible. I haven’t been able to shake it off, but I think I got a breakthrough recently. I will share the breakthrough and what happened, but before that, what was this situation like?
Let me give you a recent example — I wanted something to happen, which did not, I was obviously upset and didn’t want to speak about it. It got worse when I wanted to shake it off and move on, but the ego (I don’t think it was ego. We will come to that in this article) wouldn’t let me, and then I was angry that I wanted to move forward, but moving forward would somehow jeopardize my position of power (in truth it wasn’t a position of power rather of weakness. We will cover this too), so moving forward was not an option. So, I couldn’t move forward, I couldn’t be happy where I was, I couldn’t go to a position of happiness, nor could I do anything to improve the situation. It was a literal quicksand. The only outcome was my sinking.
This has happened before, too. I remember as a kid, I had this problem with my mom. I asked something of mom, but mom didn’t give, so I got angry with mom and did not want to speak. Mom tried speaking, but I wanted to show anger (also, this was a way to seek mom’s attention), hence I wouldn’t speak. Mom kept trying, but I wouldn’t budge. After some time, mom got busy with her work, and now I wanted to talk, but I couldn’t lose by talking to her because for me to win, mom had to come to talk to me and not the other way round. I was keen to talk to Mom, but Mom wouldn’t notice since she was busy with her chores. So, I wanted to talk, and at the same time, I couldn’t talk. And now I grew angry that I was stuck. I hated the situation and wanted to vent out, but I couldn’t. Why? Whom could I vent out on? Mom? Can’t talk to her, right? Now the anger was building up and reaching volcanic proportions, and finally, when mom came to talk, I vented out on her, and that was me being one of the worst, ill-behaved child ever!
Notice the problem? My mom, with whom I so wanted to talk, was the one on whom I vented my frustration. I completely destroyed the situation and my mom’s feelings. This is how bad it could be to be stuck. No way out leads to the build-up of negative emotions, and then it is released in one stroke on the person who tries to help, and more often than not, this person that we vent out on is the person we love, mom, wife, husband, son, daughter, or even a friend. They don’t deserve it.
This is why it is a horrible situation to be in. And I think yesterday I dealt with it.
Let’s see what I did.
Hurting Our Loved Ones’ Feelings | It Had to Stop
The childhood example I gave was, though horrible, I am certain, my mom was mature enough to handle it and then comfort me. That’s what she did. Every single time. But the problem never got corrected. It stayed on. Imagine the nightmare when, as a grown-up man, I am in the same situation and the people at the receiving end are my wife and daughter? Imagine going ballistic on them while they have no way to comfort me. Can you imagine the hurt they would go through? I am the one responsible for their safety and protection, right? And I become the perpetrator of attacks on them. What kind of protector am I?
The only good thing in these situations is that I go completely silent. Make no mistake, silent treatment is also torture on our loved ones. But at least I didn’t say things that I would regret. I had to get out of these quicksand moods and find ways to be on top of things.
I did find a way. It took a lot of introspection, but I seemed to have tackled it well. It has been just one day since I handled it, but I can see that I am no longer feeling fear of getting stuck in a mood. I think that is a great win for me.
Let me share the details of my introspection points and what faulty ideas were handled subsequently.
Path to Recovery | Handling Faulty Ideas | Childish Expectations | And To Grow Up!
I have shared in a few of my earlier articles that I had gone through depression, and now I am in the recovery phase. This problem of getting stuck is also one of the traits of depressed people. I don’t know which comes first — being depressed and being stuck in emotions, or being stuck in emotions leading to depression. But solving one thread will allow you to handle the other — be it depression or be it stuck in emotions.
**So, here’s how my experience went. I will speak about the corrections after that.**
1. The first and foremost point was that I found myself in the familiar spot of being unhappy with a situation. In this case, the instigator of the situation was my wife (without her knowledge. She did not intend this to happen), and the recipient of the unhappy feelings was me. In short, I did not get my way.
2. Then started the obvious anger build-up within. I wanted to stay away from her. [Flashback: This is how I behaved with my mother, too. This means I was thinking of myself as a child. But the reality is — I am neither a child nor my wife is my mother.]
3. Now, my wife got busy with her work and left sometime later, and I maintained a distance from her. I think she already knew that I had got into an episode. (She is the only one in the family who knows about my depression. So, such occurrences are episodes where I have asked her to stay away from me, lest she gets emotionally hurt.)
4. But the child in me could not accept her going away. I was ballistic and volcanic with anger. I shut down. I wasn’t talking to anyone.
5. In the evening, we meet, and I am horribly deep in the abyss of anger. I didn’t want to speak since I was angry.
6. She tried her best to speak, but I wouldn’t budge. At this point, she knew she had to maintain her distance.
7. The next day, I wanted to talk, but my ego wouldn’t allow me to. I didn’t want to be the first person to speak. She had to. But that problem was that she wouldn’t, since those were my instructions to her. So, now I am emotionally stuck and incredibly internally violent.
8. Now, I do the best that I can and avoid her. My daughter notices that I have shut down. She is sixteen and is incredibly smart to know that there’s something wrong with me. Remember, she doesn’t know I was in depression or being counseled out of it.
9. I am stuck now — I want to talk, but cannot talk out of ego and anger. My wife can’t talk because she has been asked not to (by me), and now I can’t come back to normalcy.
10. The only solution is if my wife ignores my instructions and comes and talks to me. That too is unlikely.
11. There is no way for me to relieve this stress and incredible frustration that I am in.
12. Notice whom I will turn against at the first chance of venting out my anger — my wife and, in many ways, my daughter.
13. See the futility of the situation and how I am impacting my loved ones?
This is what led me to handle this situation once and for all. I was in a situation that was debilitating for me, but even more so, impacting my loved ones negatively.
**Here’s how the introspection went.**
1. I could see very clearly that I was stuck. I couldn’t shake off the feeling.
2. I asked why can’t I shake off the feeling? (Asking why leads to an answer or direction of answer)
3. In my case, I realized I couldn’t shake it off because I never could do it before. Before meant that my mind was recollecting from earlier episodes. That’s when I understood it was a childhood thing. And later, I could recollect my experiences with my mom.
4. In short, I was behaving like a kid and hoping my mom would take me out of my feelings.
5. Then the question was, why can’t I shake it off on my own? Why do I need anybody else?
6. Here’s something interesting that came out. The only way for me to shake it off was to go and talk. If I go and talk, then I am conceding defeat. This is again a childish thought. Deep down, I wanted Mom to help me out. Mom wasn’t around anymore. So, no respite.
7. But there’s more. The conceding defeat part could also be ego. I suspect ego is just a front end that the ungodly use to conceal their agenda of preventing us from making peace. I have grown to believe one thing — If God is true, then the ungodly is true also. Don’t take that lightly.
8. The other aspect I wanted to check was the generational hand-down. Why did I want to check? Because I was a kid and did not want to concede? Where would I have got that idea from? It had to be something I either learned (parents and/or elders) or was just passed on to me through my genes.
9. I did feel there was a generational trauma aspect to it, and hence I had to deal with it likewise.
So, that’s the sum total of my introspection. And here were the action points.
**Deal with:**
1. Childish idea about myself while dealing with situations
2. Ego of not conceding a.k.a. ungodly asking me not to concede, hence growing extremely volcanic inside
3. More importantly, I had to protect my daughter and wife from these meltdowns (even if it was silent) and therefore, be in control of my emotions
4. Generational trauma of being stuck without a chance to come out of it
So, what did I do next to deal with these identified areas?
God | Ho’oponopono | And Relieving the Pressure of Being Stuck
While getting on the resolution journey, I realized one more thing. I had mentioned that venting out my emotions happened with my mom and later on with my wife, but here’s the thing, the buildup of emotions need not be because of them. I mean, I could have a problem at work because of which I am irritated, I keep it bottled up, and then vent it out on my family. See how unfair that is? They are recipients of my negative emotions for something they did not do at all.
Anyway, I got on to resolving this one too. First and foremost was the realization that I am being childish in hoping for people to come around and make amends with me. That I let go. I took responsibility for being the mature person that I am and made it a point to be responsible for my own feelings.
Second, I had to deal with the ego, which made me feel powerless in stepping down to talk to the other person. Here is where I dealt with the ungodly voices that kept asking me not to concede, whereas conceding was the true victory. There was another realization while dealing with these ungodly voices. The release of myself to be available to talk to the other person was like draining pus from an abscess. The release was physically felt, and comfort followed. With that release, I felt an automatic elevation in my feelings. I was feeling good. I could be like this forever. This is my true state — elevated naturally. This is what the ungodly voice did not want me to realize.
The third part was checking the generational hand-down in this area. I did find this idea of ego (leaning towards MCP) was indeed a trait in some of my earlier generation, and I am glad that I could get it off.
Lastly, I got a session done to reinforce that my wife and daughter were my responsibility and not my punching bag. They would be protected at all costs, and I would be responsible for their happiness. This was empowering too. I don’t know in what way, but it felt good. Also, note that I have always felt responsible for them, but with this clearing (of muck) in my mind, it felt even stronger.
In all of the above four cases, I used Ho’oponopono. I have tweaked Ho’oponopono to sound like a prayer to the Lord God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It works really well for me.
That’s The Story So Far | I Hope It Helps
The situation I had been in for so long made me feel that it wasn’t possible to come out of what I was facing. Now that the problem is dealt with, I am feeling so relieved. It makes me wonder if depression is all about an ungodly war waged on humans, and we succumb because we do not take the help of the Lord God?
Either way, depression can be dealt with. I am dealing with it, and so can you. All the best! All my prayers for you!
Image Courtesy: AI Generated Image by AdonisMedina at Pixabay(dot)com
Generational Trauma | Wouldn’t Have Believed It Six Months Back | Now I Do | Bible Thoughts As Well!
Generational Trauma
My whole life was spent vehemently opposing anything about generational wealth, curses, trauma, etc., and their likes. It just didn’t make sense, and I used to dismiss it with utmost disrespect. But now things have changed.
It has been only six months since I accepted the idea of generational passes. And I mean it with respect, since there are Bible verses that corroborate the idea. We will come to the Bible in a few moments, but before that, what changed?
I had mentioned in one of my earlier articles that I had gone through a book, “It Didn’t Start With You” by Mark Wolynn, and while reading it, there were instances that made sense. So, if you are like me and want a scientific approach to any idea (and dismiss it if there are none), then this book provides some fairly scientific methodology to link generational trauma with what people go through in life.
What is baffling is that some of the experiences are related to people who go through trauma that a relative experienced (a generation or two ago), without even knowing about that ancestral relative. Even this was something I could relate to, and I had gone through a couple of such experiences.
But how do you know if things are the way they are because of me or generational hand-down?
Energy Exercises | And Problems That Just Won’t Go Away | Generational?
The easiest way, from my own experience (and not the book), to know generational hand-down is that a problem refuses to be neutralized, no matter what. I could have done multiple sessions of energy exercises on the issue, and it would have felt like getting resolved, but it wouldn’t have gone completely. In some cases, energy exercises would have no effect at all.
Now, this is easy for someone who does energy exercises like Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Ho’oponopono, and other forms. What about people who have no clue what energy exercises are? The only thing I can suggest or ask them is to look at grooming. What do I mean by grooming? I mean, the areas that you are constantly working to improve in yourself. In such cases, no matter the effort, the improvements seem to be beyond you. However, the improvements in other areas of your life seem to be working well. Those areas where the improvements wouldn’t happen are the areas you can check for generational hand-down.
This is a rough way to identify generational hand-downs and then take corrective measures from there. I am suggesting this because that is how I could identify generational hand-downs in my own life. Why do I keep calling generational hand-downs? Because generational passes are not just trauma, but also wealth, goodwill, blessings, and more. On the negative side, trauma, sickness, and curses. Obviously, we are trying to neutralize the negative ones, but in doing so, remember that there are positive ones too. Hence, hand-downs.
Now, let’s look at why I took the generational trauma thing a bit seriously.
Generational Trauma | Myth or Reality | Bible Speaks!
I have already covered in this article that it was one of the recommended books that made me look at generational trauma (both good and bad) closely. But I wasn’t convinced for long because of no religious or spiritual teachings in this matter. Turns out, I was wrong.
The Bible does speak about generational hand-downs. Here are a few:
Exodus 34: 7 [New International Version]
maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
But there is hope — repentance and walking in the path of the Lord saves us.
Leviticus 26: 40–42 [New International Version]
40 “‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors — their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies — then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
These are just a few of the examples, and there are many more. But these are good enough to tell you that generational trauma, sins, and curses are not a fad, but a reality. And there is hope in the Lord to save us from them.
That’s a Wrap | For Now
I hope readers are able to see the reality of generational hand-downs and how they affect our lives. The good part is, as per the Bible, the good that we do is also handed down. So, it is not only possible to overturn the curses, but also to attract blessings from God that can be handed down to our next generations.
The power of change is in our hands. On one hand, learn more about generational hand-downs and neutralize them with the help of God, and on the other, accumulate blessings which you can hand down to your next generations. It is possible, and it can be done!
Image Courtesy: Mindworld [AI Generated Picture] at Pixabay(dot)com
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