“It’s just a simple question of humility. If you’re not humble, life will visit humbleness upon you. I’m a really damaged human being, and it’s still such a struggle, but I’m going to fight to the end this time.” – Mike Tyson
When you think of Mike Tyson, eloquently composed quotes about life aren’t the first thing that come to mind. But Mike summed it up perfectly in a manner I relate to wholeheartedly. Maybe because I’m such a damaged person as well.
When I decide I’m the captain of the ship and I don’t need to do the little things to keep myself humble and on the right path, life has a way of right sizing me. I preach the importance of gratitude in my life. For the last two months my words and my actions haven’t been congruent. I started to take my blessings for granted.
I struggle to hit my knees and pray. I bullshit the process and go through the motions. My words and thoughts aren’t genuine and don’t come from the heart. For me, prayer show thanks and gratitude for my life; acknowledging there is a force greater than myself out there. I pray on my knees as a sign of humbleness and humility.
I focus on the past and future instead of enjoying today. I look at the obstacles in my life and don’t see progress being made to overcome them. I want everything to play out in my time frame and on my terms. That’s not how my life works.
I’m partying too much, not getting enough sleep and getting sidetracked being hungover. My social life is important to me. I need to have fun. If I don’t I become very boring and judgmental of myself and others quickly. I turn reclusive and I miss out on the people, places and experiences that make my life enjoyable.
Going out on occasion and having a little too much to eat or drink helps me feel and stay youthful. The problem is I developed expectations, which take the thrill out of my night and make me feel like I’ve wasted my time. When I am in a place of gratitude I am happy for all my experiences. Even the most commonplace night can be filled with amazement and wonder. It’s a choice to view myself lucky enough to be out with friends enjoying my night.
I invest in stocks and ETF’s. I have done well for myself the last six months, establishing this as an additional stream of revenue. Then I became complacent with learning and researching the market. Instead of investing I was gambling. I felt I knew all the right moves and had everything figured out. Because of my brash behavior, I was taught a lesson and lost the majority of the profit I made over the past six months in two week period.
I’m not enjoying all that I’m able to do with my day. I am rushing through it to get to the next task. There’s no joy in that because I am never able to be present. Its impossible to love what I am doing with that outlook.
Every day I am being taught a lesson. This is the part of my journey where I learn and grow. Maybe I am not learning as quickly as I hoped or having the success I envisioned. Some of my thoughts and dreams may have been too grandiose. Now I am getting shown the reality of how my life will progress if I don’t make changes.
In my past things I haven’t had instant success. Its been painful and taken time. I have a bad habit of forgetting all of the time, energy, and hard work it took to achieve my goals. However, when I get to the point where things are rolling the rewards from my success grow exponentially.
When I accept that I am not the center of the universe, nor the creator off all that takes place in my life, good things start happening to me. I see my life much more clearly for what it is. I don’t have to second guess my actions or my thoughts, I just flow.
It’s like being at bar and seeing a pretty girl across the room. If I over think all of the possible outcomes, I will more than likely talk myself out of approaching her. If I play loose and act on my instincts I may get shot down, but I have a much better chance of success because I’m being natural.
When I was crawling out from my lowest point I would wake up every day and feel blessed to have the littlest things in my life. If I don’t express happiness and gratitude for the amazing life I live daily, I instantly halt my progress and revert back to living a miserable life filled with expectations.
Sometimes life needs to kick your ass in order for you to see how astounding your life truly is. Once you have been stripped of your privilege you can understand the real value of life. Love your experiences, good or bad, for they make you who you are. Learn daily, create progress, stay humble and always give back to others. Never wish to rush through your life because like Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”