
When you don’t know the answers…find them. In most cases, there are always answers for everything. It may not be the type of answer you are looking for (i.e. an answer specifically coming from another person, but there may be an answer you can find within yourself). I want to give you a really good example of this that my dad gave me when I was going through a really hard time.
A long time ago there was a situation where I was completely blindsided by someone I really cared about. The decision made no sense, it wasn’t rooted in truth, and it left me feeling like I was in pieces for a long time. Situation would have it that I couldn’t specifically ask about it or inquire into it, I just had to bite the bullet. But as we all know, biting the bullet and taking the high road is really difficult and it can drive you mad if you aren’t mentally prepared for it. I struggled, for months. But at the beginning, I decided that I was going to search for an answer within myself. I knew that I would never really be able to get the answer from the outside, so I dove within. Interesting enough, this project started about a couple of weeks before this deep dive into myself began…and is probably responsible for the direction this blog took and the insights I have realized along the way. Needless to say, it was a defining moment. So as I dug deeper and deeper, I found answers within myself and came to peace with a lot of things. However, there was still one thing missing. This is where my dad’s piece of advice came in.
There was one day I was feeling particularly awful, and my dad out of all people can automatically tell when I am off. We laid down on the bed, my head on his chest, and he asked me why I was hurting so bad. I told him I couldn’t figure out “why” everything had happened. That is when he delivered me with a great deal of wisdom. He said, “Evan, some do not play the same game or even follow the same rules you do. You might be standing on the mound pitching, and they might be holding a football and running in left field. You can’t convince them to play baseball, because they are off in a different world. You just have to wait for the next hitter to come up and keep giving it your best shot.”
I will never forget this. In fact, in many of the situations I have dealt with since that point, I always remember the fact that many people are not playing the same game I am up to or even considering the same things I think about each day. I wrote the other day that if you give people long enough, they will come around to surprise you. I believe this is very true. You have to give people time to work themselves out, and my silence often has nothing to do with being upset or angry, it is just a gift so you can be you …(M.)… I am behind you 100%, I am supporting you, I am rooting for you, I am always here for you…more than you ever will know… and that doesn’t matter if things are quiet and different. My end will never change.
Why did I title this post king? The song above speaks volumes to me because music like this has always been there for me when I am going through hard times. Eminem’s recovery CD came out two years ago when I was really really hurting. I have memorized that whole CD, each lyric, and often of times rap along with him while I am in the gym. He was down when I was down. We rose up together. You are the king of your mind, your world, and your future. Put in the blood, sweat, and tears and you can change your life into anything you want. Every ounce of effort you put it can be fed, grown, and eventually…you will see it bloom into something you never imagined possible.
Evan Sanders
The Better Man Project
Taking good care of your body and making it completely ‘fit for purpose’ is an aspect of ‘physical intelligence’ that you rightly dedicate yourself to. Through that – through the hours in the gym – you get to the metaphysical, or what some call the spiritual. Your form of meditation is a physical and an active form, and through it you develop both your spiritual intelligence and your knowledge of your inner self – your personal intelligence. Elsewhere you write about instinctual intelligence, and also your intellectual journey through your studies and your reading. Your desire to reach out to other people and share your insights is an example of your social intelligence, or empathy with others. So there you have the full set of intelligences. Add to all of that your concern with living in the ‘zone’ and staying in a state of relaxed but focused concentration in which you welcome life’s challenges as opportunities to learn and to grow . . . and you have all you need to live life successfully and achieve your ambitions. The highest ambition is simply to become a fully evolved human being, to become your true self, and to live life fully and productively. Looks like you’re already there.
GF
Thanks for all the inspiring posts, great catch up at your blog!:)
I love your dad’s advice… it really makes me miss my dad. He always knew when I was down in the dumps and he always had some great wisdom to help me out. Those words will always stay with you!
Excellent. I will remember your dad’s advice, too. All joy. HF
The Universe has a beautiful way of putting people in our paths at just the right time… I believe this has happened with you dropping in… so that I would find this post, these words… and be inspired. Thank you.
The best bit of this post for me was the part where you say why you ‘go quiet’. It is indeed a gift. Wow. Amazing things are heading your way my friend.
I wanted to reach out and let you know that I nominated you for a Very Inspirational Blogger Award. I really love your favorite quotes page and think you have created a very special place there! I stop by once in a while and check out what’s new and always find something to love. If you choose to accept this award you have to do two things. You have to list 7 things about yourself, (isn’t that what we do all the time?) and a few blogs that you like.
All the best,
Heather
Enjoyed reading this…it’s so true that others aren’t always on the same wavelength or path as we are. And yes, it is hard – I know this too. Thanks for posting this and have a good day!
you pops is a wise man. that is some great advice. I will be quoting this article some day to my kids!!! Good read!
Well its just like asking the Question #Why? to yourself & to be yourself but be inspired by the outside world. #positivism