By Irina Serban
Photo: farm4.static.flickr.com
Each and every day has its own heroes. Oh, yes, because we are brave and courageous beings when the enemy has a form, a structure, a body, a name. It is then that we know what weapons to choose, how to fight, when to retreat and regroup in order to deliver one last powerful attack in order to destroy our enemy.
We are brave when we fight wars against well-known and very well-defined enemies, when we try to defeat natural adversities and rebuilt everything that was destroyed from and with almost nothing, when somebody is in danger and we do not hesitate once in running to their rescue. We know that we have to use guns or just our fists to fight the wars or to come to the rescue of another human being, we know that we need boats to run from floods, we need water to put out fires, we need to plant trees on muddy slopes to prevent them from collapsing, we need to take cover when powerful storms take hold on everything around. In each and every action we use our intelligence in order to see in chaos the seeds of a new world. For all of the above mentioned situations and maybe for many other, we somehow manage to find that courage which takes us out of our inertia.
What if the enemy is invisible? And I do not mean it as in the science fiction tradition... What if that enemy lurks in the darkest, unreachable corner of our souls and hearts? It has no name, it has no face, we do not know when and how it will attack, but we surely feel when we are under siege. We get that feeling of absolute panic and we start running around in circles, clueless of what to use and how to do it in order to silence it. Where is our courage, our bravery, our fortitude?
Well, they are still in there, in us, but since the enemy is apparently invisible, the panic will not allow us to see our courage. And I will tell you a secret: it is not true that this ferocious enemy has no name, no face. Just go and look into the mirror! See?! Here it is, in front of your eyes you have your worst enemy: Yourself! Or to better put it: your innermost Self. The one which knows you so well, knows your weaknesses, your fears, has a memory that goes beyond what you are still able to physically remember, hears your doubts and can hardly wait to feed itself from all of these and grow stronger. This enemy does not want you to make a move, tries to belittle you and makes you feel unworthy. It keeps pouring into your ear words of the type: 'you can't', 'it's impossible', 'don't try this, it's pointless', 'there were others before you who did that better than you could possibly do it', 'you don't have what it gets to succeed', 'you don't give enough'. You are familiar with these words, aren't you? What about its direct attacks to your heart, your feelings? 'Don't you see, they don't like you', 'nobody understands you', 'they ignore you', 'you're insignificant', 'you're alone'... Ouch, those hurt a lot!
How can we fight such an unpredictable and well-prepared enemy, an enemy which strikes from within? Simply by applying the same rules we apply in fighting the external enemies.
Be a river and the enemy within will become your guide: you will know that the stronger its voice gets, the truer is the path you are on.
Have a good fight and you will live a good life!
Photo: farm4.static.flickr.com
Each and every day has its own heroes. Oh, yes, because we are brave and courageous beings when the enemy has a form, a structure, a body, a name. It is then that we know what weapons to choose, how to fight, when to retreat and regroup in order to deliver one last powerful attack in order to destroy our enemy.
We are brave when we fight wars against well-known and very well-defined enemies, when we try to defeat natural adversities and rebuilt everything that was destroyed from and with almost nothing, when somebody is in danger and we do not hesitate once in running to their rescue. We know that we have to use guns or just our fists to fight the wars or to come to the rescue of another human being, we know that we need boats to run from floods, we need water to put out fires, we need to plant trees on muddy slopes to prevent them from collapsing, we need to take cover when powerful storms take hold on everything around. In each and every action we use our intelligence in order to see in chaos the seeds of a new world. For all of the above mentioned situations and maybe for many other, we somehow manage to find that courage which takes us out of our inertia.
What if the enemy is invisible? And I do not mean it as in the science fiction tradition... What if that enemy lurks in the darkest, unreachable corner of our souls and hearts? It has no name, it has no face, we do not know when and how it will attack, but we surely feel when we are under siege. We get that feeling of absolute panic and we start running around in circles, clueless of what to use and how to do it in order to silence it. Where is our courage, our bravery, our fortitude?
Well, they are still in there, in us, but since the enemy is apparently invisible, the panic will not allow us to see our courage. And I will tell you a secret: it is not true that this ferocious enemy has no name, no face. Just go and look into the mirror! See?! Here it is, in front of your eyes you have your worst enemy: Yourself! Or to better put it: your innermost Self. The one which knows you so well, knows your weaknesses, your fears, has a memory that goes beyond what you are still able to physically remember, hears your doubts and can hardly wait to feed itself from all of these and grow stronger. This enemy does not want you to make a move, tries to belittle you and makes you feel unworthy. It keeps pouring into your ear words of the type: 'you can't', 'it's impossible', 'don't try this, it's pointless', 'there were others before you who did that better than you could possibly do it', 'you don't have what it gets to succeed', 'you don't give enough'. You are familiar with these words, aren't you? What about its direct attacks to your heart, your feelings? 'Don't you see, they don't like you', 'nobody understands you', 'they ignore you', 'you're insignificant', 'you're alone'... Ouch, those hurt a lot!
How can we fight such an unpredictable and well-prepared enemy, an enemy which strikes from within? Simply by applying the same rules we apply in fighting the external enemies.
- We need to establish the battle field. In this case the battle takes place within us.
- We need to find our allies. It is good to have an external ally: a family member, a friend, but your fight is your fight, they cannot get in there, so you are still alone. Your allies are: your wishes, your dreams, the voice of your heart. You will know when your heart is speaking because your heart has no such words as: 'don't', 'can't', 'impossible', 'silly', etc. in its vocabulary. Your heart will tell you to go on no matter what. All the other words you hear belong to your mind, to that inner Self that thinks you are unworthy.
- A war is always fought with weapons. Once you transformed that loud voice, that tries to prevent you from moving forward, in a feeble sound, you are going to see clearly your weapons: courage, power to ignore the annoying buzzing of the negative thoughts, perseverance no matter what. You do not give up on a real battle field, why should you give up on you?
- You will also needa reason, a 'why do I fight this war'. Be it because you cannot stand anymore the inertia state you are in and you feel the desperate need to move on, be it because you have a dream to fulfill, be it because you want to improve your life or change it, be it because you do it for the welfare of your family, in the end, it does not really matter what the reason is, if it exists. Any reason is a good reason. We are not born to stand still and do nothing. Nothing we see around us, from the smallest to the greatest of things, would be here if our ancestors would have stood still, paralyzed with fear by their worst enemies: they themselves.
- Rule number four may be completely overlooked if the voice of your heart is so strong as to silence the rationalizations you will nevertheless keep hearing in your fight. And your heart makes itself heard loudly and clearly when you follow your dream. The voice of your dreams is in fact the voice of your heart, and, thus, you do not need a reason, but only a heart to follow.
- Finally you need a goal.You have to know where you are heading, what outcome you want your fight to have. Are you scared to think on the long run? Then keep in mind your final goal, but each and every day, assign a new one that will bring you one more step closer to the final goal. Just make sure you achieve your daily goals!
Be a river and the enemy within will become your guide: you will know that the stronger its voice gets, the truer is the path you are on.
Have a good fight and you will live a good life!
In the deepest silence of your soul you will hear your heart's voice brought to you by the whispers of the winds. This is the page where they are translated into stories
Join me at The Whispering Voice page
http://www.facebook.com/thewhisperingvoice
Join me at The Whispering Voice page
http://www.facebook.com/thewhisperingvoice
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irina_Serban
A very long post but it's worth the read. I really hope one day I will have the guts to face my deeper enemy and rule over it.
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