Sunday, December 31, 2006
Lesson # 3: The Choice
One particular life-altering moment for me this year was when Richard Bowles gave a talk on Spiritual Quotient here in Finland. During the course of his speech, he made the audience think about what makes the usually-mentioned most admired people (i.e. Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Ghandi) happy and peaceful. We came up with loads of ideas of course, ranging from faith to conviction to love. However, to Bowles the answer was simple -- all these three people made a choice and they stood by their choice no matter how hard it was. In the process, they have also come to accept the difficulties as a part of the choice and they don't feel so beaten down by them.
For example, Mother Teresa chose to help the poor and the needy. She believed that to be her calling. No matter how difficult her struggle was she maintained her faith and her happiness. She merely saw all the struggles as necessary events that has a purpose in strengthening herself, her purpose and her choice.
Same goes for me. I have made my choice. I have chosen to be an entrepreneur. I know it is not going to be an easy life but I also know this is what would make me happy and would make me contribute to this world. I have made my choice and I am sticking to it.
So, peaceful living is not so hard after all. All you need to do is make that choice, stick by it and love it. I know some will say that you don't know what it is that makes you tick. I also THOUGHT I did not. But actually, I did. I was just afraid to fail, to be poor, to "waste time." But living a life in fear is not fun at all. Living a life believing things are possible is better. :)
My 25th year has indeed been a turning point for me. Three of the biggest learnings were gained during this weirdly ironic year. And if you look at the three learnings: (1) You can only rely on yourself for happiness, (2) To attract the best, you have to believe you are the best, (3) Everything is a choice -- the main link is ME. The power of the human spirit far outweighs the deceit of this world. :) Think about it.
3 comments:
Hey Erica
Thank you for sharing your learning points with us. To me they give definitely a lot of food for thought!
May 2007 be a year with just as many valuable insights!
Big hugs,
Caro
Ok my comment disappeared.... Hmmm. Anyway, just wanted to say that you are a superwise girl and I hope for your year 2007 to be even better than this!
Have to remember to check your blog more often - it's great!
Hey Karin and Caro!
Thanks for the nice comments and for dropping by. I was not updating my blog for a long time but now I am back on track. :)
Anyway, happy 2007 to both of you and may life bless you with good health and wonderful surprises!
Erica
Post a comment »