The photo? B-cause it makes me smile = feel good!
Sometimes an illness can be like the rough pavement on the side of a highway, sending us alarms when we fall asleep at the wheel and start drifting.
I love feeling great—And right now I’m not.
I’ve got this “ear thing” going on. Caught some little bug when I was in the doc’s office with my son getting his check-up and my left ear just clogged up. Then it became the whole left side of my head and sinus.
It’s not enough to do much about, doesn’t feel like it’s getting worse but it’s also not getting better. So I awake each morning with congestion, a mild headache and nearly deaf in my left ear.
While it’s clearly in my head, literally and figuratively, it’s more a pain in the ass than anything. I’m not running for antibiotics but after a week of this at about exactly the same place it’s getting irritating.
So I’m standing here in the shower listening to the water hit my head like the sound of rain on a car roof. And while it is a somewhat melodic tone I’d still really like to be free of this ailment—I’d like to be well, fully. I know this won’t kill me, but it is enough to zap my energy, take my sleep, and make my head foggy. It has an accumulative affect.
But I see the perfection in this ailment. While I’m longing to be back at Full Strength, without times of feeling “less than well,” I would not know what “Great!,” feels like. If I always felt unstoppable and strong it would just be what is and I’d never give it a thought. Like a fish relates to water, I would not have the appreciation for I’d not recognize it.
I think the same goes for any tragedy. When people face loss and failure, it can have the affect of helping us become more present and appreciate life as it is. The more devastating the loss the more powerful the call to “wake up and smell the roses” can be. This is the hidden gift that’s so easily overlooked when we’re struck by tragedy and loss.
Life challenges us—its’ pressure forges us stronger like fire and pressure strengthen the steal for the sword.
Good news is you need NOT get sick to appreciate being well, nor do lose everything to appreciate financial freedom. Life is not committed to your pain or suffering. What it’s nudging you for is attention—you absolute full presence in the moment. When you drift too far into future fantasy or back into past memories, it’ll slap your knuckles to pull you back to this moment.
And yet, even when you are alive and awake to the present, living in full gratitude of each moment, these things will still happen. For some amount of tragedy and triumph are an integral part of the balance of life.
The question, and the challenge, is; will you embrace them from a position of Strength and accept the opportunity to be even more grateful, even more present, even more of your absolute truest, fullest self? Or will you shrink away, carry the burden, live with regret and become your own worst enemy?
What’s Your Kryptonite?
As one of life’s greatest and most reliable gifts are obstacles, I ask you to consider: what pain, limitation, or belief are you tolerating now that is preventing you from living at full strength?
Most all of us are quietly suffering with something in our lives every day. It’s zapping our strength, limiting our potential, holding us back—it’s our Kryptonite. That powerful, mysterious, yet invisible force that’s zapping our Strength and energy.
You’ve come to learn to ignore it, to live with it, or to tolerate or pretend it’s not that big an issue.
It’s what I’ve been doing with my left ear for over a week now. I ignored the discomfort and finally this morning I decided to at least get it open again and get my hearing back. And it worked. I can hear again.
I feel so much better. Now, I’ve not 100% resolved whatever I’ve had but I’m on the road back. I’m doing something about it—and that’s where it all begins. I began by acknowledging my discomfort and, rather than overlooking the problem, I faced my own weakness.
What’s the invisible Kryptonite in your life that you’ve been tolerating long enough? What limitation are you ready to give up, to abandon?
Are you carrying around an extra twenty pounds that you know is weighing you down like an anchor but it’s not critical enough to do anything about…yet?
Have you been tolerating living with just enough energy to get out of bed? Are you letting stress be the master in your life? Are you surrounded by friends and family that you’ve not effectively enrolled to support the vision you have for yourself?
Have you gradually let your strength, energy and self-image slide as you focused on “more productive” pursuits like making money? Are you done feeling less powerful, confident, capable and energized than you should?
Today is the day to get the Kryptonite out of our pockets and start on the path to the Full Strength Life?
You could wait for a really special event—maybe even something tragic or frightening like your own near death experience. But the reality is that every day is a near death experience, so any moment you wish to grab hold of your full strength life, the reasons are real, inspiring and already waiting for you.
The First Step
Step #1 on the path to your Full Strength Life is recognizing and naming your Kryptonite. Let’s cross procrastination off our list and do this one thing today. Even better, now.
What’s your kryptonite? What’s silently, quietly and invisibly holding you back from your full strength life?
Please do share…
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