When you’re playing a game, whether it’s on a soccer pitch, a football field or a baseball diamond; the game defines the rules. You can’t tackle the Pitcher or throw a fastball at the midfielder – it’s against the rules. You can mold yourself to the game you’re playing and create the best version of yourself, but you can’t change the game or the rules.
Do you ever watch kids playing together? There are always a few that attempt to change the rules of the game, to their advantage. Sadly, some of them carry this childishness into adulthood. They rarely consider the concept of changing to better fit their environment. Instead they cry, whine, bitch or curse about how unfair life is and that they always get the short end of the stick.
They even begin to believe it after awhile and that they’re entitled to lie, cheat or steal. They believe they can repudiate the “Rules of Life” because they’re not fair. But it won’t work; the more you challenge the “Rules of Life,” the more pain and suffering you’ll experience. In the game of life; life defines the rules, no matter how unfair you might believe it is. The best you can do, is equip yourself; mind, body and soul, to play the game of life – by the rules.
“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. Some things are up to us and some things are not up to us.” ~Epictetus
Don’t Waste Your Energy
It’s not about man’s laws or rules, as they tend to get twisted and manipulated by the psychopaths who believe they’re entitled to lie, cheat and steal. This is about the Laws of Nature, and Universal Law does not vary or change. Like thermodynamics, certain fundamental components of our existence are established and irrefutable. There’s no altering them, changing them or manipulating them. “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred.”
It’s amazing how folks will work so hard attempting to control the people and things that are beyond their control, yet won’t give the required energy to those things that bring joy and fulfillment. As if pain and suffering were the goal. Do you really think that what someone else believes or says or does, is important enough that you should sacrifice your own peace and joy?
You have no control over someone else’s judgment, thoughts, feelings or how they live their life. They’re playing by the same rules as you! You can only control how you feel, how you react or how you act – it’s Universal Law. Your evolution and joy are why you’re here and while you need others to find it, you don’t need their approval. You need your approval!
“Focus on the process, not the outcome.” ~ Grinning Falcon
Control It
What you do have control over, is your health, your diet, what you learn and what you believe. You need to diligently increase your physical strength, your mental acuity and your spiritual power every day. And there’s no short cut – it’s hard work! It takes determination and discipline but the payback is exponential. Evolution of a species or a personality is all about adapting and adjusting to the present situation.
You can only be you and you’re the only one who needs to approve you! Your joy and happiness live within you; nothing outside of yourself is required to experience it. Arguing with reality causes only suffering and pain. Accept what you cannot change. You bring a destiny into the Great Wide World that is valuable and inevitable, but society often steers you the other way.
Improvise, Adapt and Overcome
The Marines are trained to; “Improvise, Adapt and Overcome,” any obstacle that appears, in whatever situation they find themselves. It’s a can-do philosophy that is the perfect mind set for harnessing your destiny. Destiny’s perfect design is to enable you to verify and learn the perfect order of Nature’s Law. Instead of complaining about how unfair life is, take advantage of life’s obstacles as an opportunity to transcend them.
“Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.” ~ Mark Twain
You are a student of Life, The Great Wide World is your school; Your Destiny, the degree. Every obstacle in your path is meant to teach you a valuable lesson, which will bring you closer to your inevitable Destiny. The question is not, “Why is this happening to me?” It’s, “What am I supposed to learn from this?” Evolution is about acquiring knowledge and understanding that you don’t have yet.
Overcoming obstacles and facing your fear are the only way to acquire that knowledge and understanding, which means action. Worrying about your fears or pondering the obstacles that keep you from what you desire accomplishes nothing. Newton’s Law of Inertia exemplifies the rule; “An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion.”
An obstacle is not going to un-obstacle itself while you’re sitting at rest and fear won’t teach you anything unless you run towards it. You need to move. Once you get started, Inertia will carry you through the fear and past any obstacles that impede the path towards your Destiny.