Dear You:

You are a uniquely gifted human being. Only you possess the matchless skill set provided you by The Creator. Only you can manifest your individual point of view into reality. And, as you have been blessed with a one-of-a-kind set of tools, you have the obligation to develop your talents every single day of your life and take full advantage of every opportunity life gives you to utilize them, regardless of the potential return.

Yesterday, you and I had a lengthy conversation about the present state of things. Believe me, I heard you loud and clear and I understood. I myself have waded through the toxic muck of disappointment, disillusionment, and depression—many, many times. You feel frustrated, unsure, stymied. You can’t seem to see or gauge any progress forward. You feel thwarted at every turn by what you perceive to be a lack of resources and the limited vision of those whom you’ve enlisted to help you, now and in the past. You find yourself feeling envious, even resentful, of others who appear as though they’ve already assembled the perfect team, acquired the essential tools, and found the backing to accomplish all of the things to which you aspire.

Having felt those same frustrations for years myself, I finally realized that I had been dwelling in victimhood. Taking a victim’s posture can never be productive. In fact, I discovered that those enervating emotions only end up creating a self-perpetuating cycle. As long as I took the easy road of complaint, convincing myself that life is unfair, believing that others less deserving had stolen the recognition and rewards I felt were due to me, as long as I saw myself swimming upstream, against the current, that is exactly the experience my life returned to me. This may sound like absolutely simplistic, la-dee-da, dim-headed, Left-Coast gobbledygook, but I assure you this is the law. And, in fact, it has been the law for longer than two millenniums. “As a man thinketh in his heart,” Jesus tells us in the book of Kings, “so is he.”

So, the wise words of the Prophet inform all of us this: If we cringe and cower through our days, believing that life is always on the verge of blindsiding us with yet another sucker punch, that blow will surely be delivered—if not right around the next corner, then around the next one after that. And, although it’s true that we will certainly fall short of our expectations time and time again, we can interpret that reality as an ever-threatening problem, or as a perennial challenge, one we know we can and will somehow overcome, becoming better, stronger, and wiser persons for the struggle. There’s a massive difference between being prepared to deal with adversity, and living in the constant fear and resignation that the next set-back is bound to come. And, despite the visage that some pie-eyed optimists put forward, every person has his or her doubts and fears, peaks and valleys, highs and lows. Those are the seasons of life. We couldn’t really appreciate the warmth and brightness of the sunshine if it didn’t rain, sleet, or snow now and then. Although the horizon may look dark and threatening today, it is our attitude about the storm that defines our life experience. Instead of wallowing in self-pity due to circumstances over which we have no control, we’d be far better off focusing on what we can control, while welcoming the chill, knowing that it is bringing closer to the next heat wave.

Creating a greater, more abundant life experience is dependent on us first expressing gratitude for what we already have: our talents, our beauty, our intelligence, our inspirations, whatever resources we’ve acquired, every opportunity, and every moment we get to exercise our talents and create something that wasn’t there before. We should even be grateful for the obstacles in our way, because we know that they are an essential part of the journey and that persevering will teach us the lessons we need to learn in order to truly appreciate the eventual achievement of our goals.

So, my dear, dear friend, let’s be grateful for all of it. Let’s establish a rock-solid foundation of faith in our own unique talents. Let’s follow our inspirations with vigor, trusting that we are always on the right and perfect path, getting ever closer to our true destinies. Then, regardless of the weather, we can let God do the rest.

In Love and Light,

Rand