For a long time I internally felt inferior at company meetings and business gatherings. It always seemed there were so many smarter and more successful people around, that surely I did not belong. No matter how successful I became or how many plaudits were laid at my feet there was a sense of being counterfeit; that surely I lacked the brains and ability to belong. Of course, I was always mistaken but did not know it. Instead of seeing myself clearly I learned to fake confidence and assuredness. Only a select few were ever able to see past the facade worn by my cowering inner-self.
The erroneous sense of self started with how I was conditioned as a kid. However, no matter what my parents did or didn’t do they don’t deserve the majority of the blame for my lack of self-esteem. I do! My caregivers had control of my life for around a decade and a half. I’ve had it well over thirty years. The majority of making me feel inferior was self-induced.
In the vantage point of latter middle age, now it’s obvious the inferiority feelings were all smoke and illusion. It took a long time, but no longer do I feel like I don’t belong to the “club of successful professionals”. The total of who I am makes me the equal of ANYONE.
You are one thing only.
You are a Divine Being.
An all-powerful Creator.
You are a Deity
in jeans and a t-shirt,
and within you dwells
the infinite wisdom
of the ages
and the sacred
creative force
of all that is,
will be
and ever was.
From “Devine Living:
The Essential Guide to Your True Destiny”
by Anthon St. Maarten
For what took decades to manifest, gratitude abounds within for the healthy self-esteem I enjoy today. I am less fearful, have more courage and generally feel like I can take on the world with a level of vigor previously unknown. As I often say now, the best is yet to come!
All I have learned in life really just boils down to this:
there is only one difference between the so-called wise
and the so-called foolish…and between those who are
truly happy and those who are not.
Those who are wise – and those who are happy –
embrace and appreciate life.
Those who are unhappy and unwise do not.
That is all; that is the only difference.
Rasheed Ogunlaru
One hot afternoon a young child and his father set out for the market. Their donkey was with them. All three walked side by side. Near the river, they came across a group of women, who said, “See how tired the little child has become. Why don’t you put him on the donkey?” The father smiled and did exactly that.
Two thoughts by a favorite young writer living in the Czech Republic:
In his poem “The Devine Comedy” Dante said the “Seven Deadly Sins” are:
February 3, 2013
There comes a time in life when you have to let go of all the pointless drama, and people who create it… And surround yourself with the people who make you laugh so hard… That you forget the bad, and focus solely on good. After all life is too short to be anything but happy. Justice Cabral 
Once upon a time living felt mostly like an endless obligation to have a place to live, a car to drive, food to eat, money to spend and to take care of others. Although it often appears a break through insight comes quickly, usually it is actually wisdom accumulated slowly but fully realized in a moment. How true my perspective of being alive matches that process. From a life of obligated responsibility, to a true gift realized has been my path.
Good Morning Gratitude 