Don?t Give Up!

Don't let anyone kid you. The road to self improvement and personal growth is not a short, straight, well-marked, paved highway. Looking back on my journey, I see a road meandering over hills and through valleys, around sharp curves and over muddy trails, with occasional boulders blocking my way. I can remember taking detours that took me off the beaten path and on to cow paths that wandered seemingly forever through the puckerbrush. It's been a long interesting journey.

My trip began over 20 years ago when I was encouraged by a close friend to leave the world of the "walking dead" and move on to a better life. Walking dead?! Holy smokes! Where did that come from? That absolutely couldn't be me! No way! I was doing just fine. I had a great family, I held some foundation religious beliefs, I went to work every day and brought home an almost reasonable paycheck. I was doing fine. I was fulfilling my obligations to my family. I was doing what was expected of me. I was doing what husbands and fathers are supposed to do. And furthermore, I would darned well continue to do all those expected things until the day I passed from the face of the earth! I was doing just?

Ohmygod! (Sometimes it's a bitch when reality strikes?) That was me! I was living in Zombieville! I was in a rut so deep I could only see the sun at midday. I was doing the same types of things day after day. Thinking the same thoughts ? believing the same beliefs.

So - I started reading books ? lots of books. (Remember, this was way back "when" in the dark ages before personal computers.) I listened to tapes ? and read more books. And I spent lots and lots and lots of time thinking ? about who and what I was and what I really wanted to do with my life. I read more? and listened to more tapes? and thought? and nothing happened! Well, wait just a danged minute. If I'm learning (and I really was) isn't something ? anything ? supposed to change? Shouldn't things be getting better?

Ohmygod! (There's that danged reality thing again?) I really have to DO SOMETHING! I need to put all that information I've been accumulating to work! This personal growth stuff isn't just about kicking back and soaking up words of wisdom. It's about making a conscious effort to change my actions. Dang, this isn't going to be the easy ride I had imagined. This is gonna be work!

So ? I got to work. Gradually I started using the information I had gleaned from all of my reading, listening and thinking to make a few changes in my life. Small changes at first. Simple changes. Like responding to the "How are ya?" questions with "Great!" or even "Super!" I even tossed in "Fantastic!" once in awhile just to see what would happen. (Most folks didn't believe a word of it and probably thought I was just being goofy. But it was working for me.)

And I spent more time thinking and meditating ? and learning. I was starting to see more daylight now. I was moving closer to the rim of my personal rut. But the changes and improvements in my life were happening oh, so slowly. So very slowly. Sometimes it seemed that months went by without any significant improvement. More months passed?

Ohmygod! (Yep, it happened again?) There is no way for any of this to occur quickly ? immediately. It takes time. I need to grow slowly. I can't learn bigger lessons until I've learned the smaller ones first. It's a logical step-by-step process. Start small ? and earn the privilege of moving on to the next step. One step at a time. Whoooeee! This is gonna work!

It was about that time that the whole process of self improvement and personal growth became FUN! I could begin to see that my life was getting better. Oh sure, at the same time I saw a few things that needed to be changed to help the process so I made the appropriate plans ? which eventually led me to make the changes I needed to make. And no, some of these changes weren't especially easy ? or fun - but they were necessary.

So, a little at a time, a step at a time, life was getting better ? and overall, a lot more enjoyable. Now, nearly 25 years after the beginning of my journey, my life is truly "Super!" ? with frequent spurts to "Fantastic!". No, it's not perfect and it never will be. Life's not like that. I still have experiences to add to my life's history and more lessons to learn. There's always more to learn.

So when you experience the delays, detours and occasional roadblocks as you're traveling down your personal growth highway, don't get discouraged. It's gonna happen. It's all just a part of the developmental process. Hang in there. Keep on truckin'. Don't give up! Your personal, special destiny really is waiting for you!

About The Author

Gene, through NuPathz.com, provides an easy reading self-help blog, articles, quotations, thoughts and links along with affordable books and materials written to help folks find the road to a more enjoyable lifestyle, to pass on some of life's "secrets for survival" in a chaotic world & offer a few smiles along the way. It's a down-to-earth, simple approach to discovering a better life.

You can visit Gene at http://www.nupathz.com/

gene@nupathz.com

---

Spiritual Bread Making

All the ingredients to make 12 loaves of bread already... Read More

Get Out Of Your Own Way

One of the biggest obstacles to our self growth and... Read More

Life is About Choosing

Back to our youth days, we were taught that by... Read More

Why Anyone Can Be Prosperous

In nature, when the season is right, all things flourish... Read More

Bad Blood

Direct Answers - Column for the week of August 26,... Read More

Have You Ever Felt GOD in You?

God is the primordial Creative Force that is believed to... Read More

Anam Cara - Going Beyond The Good

In Corrogue I receive a gift of love.I awake to... Read More

From The Ashes

The man plopped down on his chair, defeated.His father's maxims... Read More

Ctrl-Alt-Delete Your Life

Ah, the good old "Vulcan nerve pinch", the three-fingered salute,... Read More

You Reap What You Sow

There is an old principle: You reap what you sow.... Read More

Material Girl

Direct Answers - Column for the week of December 16,... Read More

Tomorrow May be Too Late

A high school senior, looking forward to going to college,... Read More

Play a BIGGER role in life!

Did you ever think that you are not playing the... Read More

Its The Journey, Not The Destination

Don't you just hate clichés like the one illustrated in... Read More

A Key In Hand Is Worth A Thousand On My Desk

A key fault I have, and I can only talk... Read More

The Shattered Identity

I. ExpositionIn the movie "Shattered" (1991), Dan Merrick survives an... Read More

Go Ahead, Toss the Starfish!

There is an old story that tells of a man... Read More

Character is Whats Left When You Leave

1 Samuel 16:7"...The Lord does not look at the things... Read More

20 Ways To Improve Your Life

People often ask me how they can improve their lives.I... Read More

A Resurrection Story

My mother often wound up in the hospital during the... Read More

Go On ! Give your Enemy a Hug

Another preposterous idea from yours truly, even the thought makes... Read More

Change is the Only Constant

The physics professor with the unruly shock of white hair... Read More

The Angels on My Path

I'm leaving on a TV tour in a few weeks.... Read More

The Power of Inner SELF

I am sharing one of the great insights.The fear that... Read More

Once in a Lifetime

A subscriber recently wrote to me and asked me to... Read More

No Problem!

Thanks to Walt Disney's "The Lion King", children the world... Read More

I.Q. You Q. He, She, or It Qs.

I have, in recent years, come to believe that IQ... Read More

Clearing Your Inner Landscape: Freeing Yourself From Emotional Deadwood

Do you suffer from emotional clutter? Is suffering even the... Read More

Time for Sunshine

Having spring around makes you feel different after such a... Read More

Synchronicity

Synchronicity: the coincidence of events that seem related but are... Read More

Journals You Can Keep

Besides your daily feelings, thoughts, and experiences journal, there are... Read More

Money or Faith?

I've been to 64-countries, and yes money comes in handy,... Read More

Beyond the River: Kabbalahs Guidance for Our Times

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and... Read More