Always look within.
Remember, if we are to find what we need and if we are to define our best possible life, then the answers we need to understand are the answers that come from places like our heart and our soul. Before exploring the external universe, start here first.
Remember, our life begins with us.
This starts at the first moment of an early morning when we open our eyes and get out of bed. This grows and gains momentum when we see ourselves in the mirror for the very first time and then it ends each day when we face ourselves in the mirror with a constructive conclusion before heading to sleep.
I have said this before and will say this again. We are always the square root to our own equation. Anything else is only an external matter.
These are the external factors. Rather than being concerned with outside symptoms or instead of mixing ourselves with the unchangeable elements around us, it pays to address ourselves on an internal level.
This means find your stride and set your momentum.
Keep your pace and let nothing distract you.
Remove the emotional narrative and look to the stoic approach. Understand that this is not hinged on passion but instead, the stoic approach is a discipline that is formed on the basic ingredients of goals, plans and strategy.
Make this contract with yourself. Start here.
And again, this is where our boundaries begin.
This is where we learn to dictate and determine our direction to have the life we want to live.
This is also where we make the decision to separate ourselves from the people, places and things that might distract or deter us from reaching our goals or experiencing our new best life.
You are the square root to your own equation; therefore, it pays to begin from within, which has been a steady thought throughout these entries
This is what we’ve been talking about throughout this entire journal.
We always bring our plans back to us. We look to improve on a daily basis and as we grow, the more we improve and the more we are determined to stick to our guidelines and mind our personal boundaries, the more we realize that if we backslide, we never go back as far as where we were – because we are always moving forward.
This is growth on an ongoing basis.
Boundaries begin within. And we’ve said this before.
So do our levels of understanding our own worth and personal value. This all begins within as well.
This begins with our private and personal contract of “self.”
Keep this in mind; we can always update our contract. We can always improve the terms. We can always adjust our movements to reach an improved state of mind.
No one can stop us from doing this.
Therefore –
The time has come to stop worrying about the external conflicts in the surrounding world.
Instead, the time has come to start paying attention to the things within us.
There’s no more room for excuses. There’s only room for effort and the work it takes to reach our best potential.
There’s no more reason to allow anyone to have control or to be codependent over another person.
There’s no more time for rejective thinking.
No.
The time to act selfish is now. To be clear, when I say selfish, I do not mean now is the time to be self-centered.
Not at all.
Now is not the time for ego.
No, we’ve been down that road before.
When I say now is the time to be selfish, I mean this in more of a constructive sense.
Now is the time to take care of ourselves. Now is the time to address the square roots of our equation and to strengthen our roots, and to keep us from toppling over like a weak tree in a big storm; now is the time to dig in deep.
We have to give ourselves a sense of absolute worthiness that will allow us to stand tall.
No matter what the weather says and come rain or shine; nothing is so strong that we will topple beneath its force.
We have to find a way to stand tall, even when life seems to crumble us or make us bend.
Even when life seems to make us fold or wither like a tired flag, surrendering to half-mass in mourning of a great loss.
We have to rise above. We cannot simply give in or forfeit all that we’ve worked for and all that we’ve had.
If anything, we have to secure our roots and if need be, we have to re-navigate our journey to find the right port instead of just, any port in the storm.
No –
To reach our destination of success and personal peace, we have to journey with intent and our intentions have to match our actions and our actions have to match our desire.
We have to associate ourselves with the one absolute truth that keeps us going. And that truth is within us.
There’s nothing external about this.
Life is a journey. Sometimes our feet are tired. Sometimes the sun is either too hot or too bright and strong.
And sometimes, the winters are cold and whether the sun is out or bright is irrelevant because at times like this, the sunlight has no warmth.
So, it’s up to us to make our own heat.
Life is the same way.
Sometimes the day can be perfect. Sometimes life can appear beautiful on the surface but beneath, there’s an impending worry that’s lurking inside of us where no one can see.
We have to rise above this. We have to rid ourselves of the mental or emotional insects that burrow within our dreams.
This is where the weeds look to suffocate our imagination.
This is where the fruits of our labor encounter the worms that look to destroy our harvest. So rather than give in to loss, or rather than let the worms eat the flesh of our dreams; we have to dedicate our time to the soil, to rid ourselves of the weeds and to rid ourselves of the social worms and private bugs that contaminate the fruits of our labor.
We have to grow.
We have to be mindful of our soil and our surroundings. We have to be mindful of the weather because sometimes, the wind blows strong and rains can be heavy; but so long as we are grounded and our roots are strong, then we can withstand any storm regardless of how heavy the wind blows.
Years back, I used to see an old tree that lived across the street from me. The tree was planted perhaps years before my oldest known relative was even born.
This old tree was half-alive. Yes, that’s right.
I say half-alive and not half-dead. I say this because its roots dug in so deeply that during one of the biggest storms of my life and when all of the younger and so-called prettier trees that looked strong and alive toppled to a Hurricane named Sandy, my friend the old tree did not even lose a limb.
Its roots were too strong and they ran too deep.
I used to say hello to this tree all the time. My friend – the old tree.
Each day, before leaving for work, I would see my friend. I would smile and thank it for the lessons, which are that regardless of our prettiness or age or our shape and looks, nothing can topple us if our roots are sturdy.
This is important to realize because as pretty as the younger trees were on the block and as big and strong as they appeared; still, at the hour in question when the hurricane blew hardest, they toppled and fell. But not the old tree.
No.
My friend stood tall.
The reason we need to secure our roots is so we can do more than allow for the rebirth of our sanity; but more, if our roots are strong, then we can protect our sanity as well.
Once we do that, regardless of who notices us or says we’re pretty (or not) and regardless of any which way the wind blows, nothing in the world will ever deter us again.
I learned this lesson well from my friend – the old tree.
The Written Addiction 