You Need A Stronger Mind

“If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.”

— Epictetus 

Some miserable people live their life looking for the next opportunity to provoke or bother someone. 

Don’t let it be you. 

Even if they go out of their way to insult you – you can’t get angry if you have a strong mind. 

The easy route is to be annoyed, to be miserable, to be distracted, to be hopeless, to be disempowered. 

And the hard route is to live as an empowered individual. To remain calm, centered, and uneffected by the hate & misery of others.  

Provocation is just another distraction sent by the ignorant to destroy your inner peace. 

The ignorant have no life of their own so they become lifeless parasites, literally like diseased bugs, trying to spread their disease – their hate, misery, violence, ignorance, pain, etc. and they’ll get you if you don’t put your bug spray on. 

And what is your bug spray in this situation? It’s focus. 

You must remain focused on your mind and your life. 

What are you doing with your life? 

Where are you going? 

What do you want your life to be like 2 years from now? 5 years. 10 years. 

Maintain a long term vision, add goals, and act toward your best life, and when other people call you “difficult” it’s because you can’t be provoked or manipulated. 

Stay true to your life path. 

Ignore the haters. 

Focus. Win.

Direction

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
– Lao Tzu

The direction of your life depends on you and your vision.

(if you aren’t happy with your life currently, a new vision might help) 

Dream.

Pray.

Dream some more. 

Pray some more.

And now you’re on your way.

The Power of The Dream

MLK jr. had a dream.

John Lennon imagined.

Jesus Christ lived a vision.

& the list goes on…

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
—Proverbs 29:18

Not only did the dreams of these greats serve as inspiration, they were necessary building blocks toward the quality of lives we live today as they continue to serve & inspire us to dream & take action toward our dreams.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho shares the dream.

Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth shares a vision.

Shakespeare said “Thoughts are but dreams till their effects be tried.”

& Einstein said “Imagination is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”

Your thoughts & ideas — your dreams, hold more power than you think the do.

So what’s your dream?

What do you imagine?

What vision lives within you?

Don’t look back for too long…

Or you’ll crash…

When you aren’t following your own vision and goals you are likely to follow someone else’s vision and goals.

What are your goals?

Remember and never forget that you are the driver of your life. You are empowered to do great things. Everyone makes mistakes. There’s pain in all our lives. Keep going though. You have something the world needs.

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller

Read more related quotes and ideas here.

Love. Peace. Happiness.

Stop Looking Back & Live Life like you’re Driving

I was driving on the highway yesterday as I adjusted my rearview mirror to the honking car behind me. I kept my eyes on the rearview mirror for too long and crashed, totaling my car and injuring my body.

This is a metaphor but very real in that it happens to people every day; you look back for too long, dwelling in the pain of the past as it becomes a habit & nearly impossible to look forward.

What happens when you look back for too long?
You crash.

It’s important to look back every now & then so that you can shift lanes & stay cautious without getting in an accident. Caution is important to moving forward, but too much caution will keep you where you are.

Sometimes by looking back you are just stalling. Sitting. Waiting…Waiting for something to happen, but nothing does, because YOU are the driver. YOU decide where you go.

But it can be difficult to look forward when this ruthless world is quick to punish…

…Especially when you find success.

When you find success you’ll find a crowd of cars tailing you, honking at you, craving your attention. They want you to look back. They don’t want you to follow your vision & move forward. They want you to remember all the pot holes you hit on your way.

How are you responding to the world around you?

Everyone & everything wants your attention. 

Are you giving it to them?

Or are you following YOUR vision?

You are the driver of your life. You are empowered.

Keep looking forward and I’ll see you on the highway.

Quotes on not looking back

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”
Helen Keller

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”
C.S. Lewis

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein

“The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.”
Oprah Winfrey

“We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.”
Rick Warren

“If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you’ve done and whoever you were and throw them away.”
Steve Jobs

“Never look back unless you are planning on going that way.”
Henry David Thoreau

“If you look back, you’ll soon be going that way.”
Proverb

“We ought not to look back, unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors and for the purpose of profiting by dear bought experience.”
George Washington

“Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.”
Steve Maraboli

“I feel confident imposing change on myself. It’s a lot more fun progressing than looking back.”
David Bowie

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Mother Theresa

Here are 3 things you can do to live a life you won’t regret living!