Do we limit our own selves? Is one of the main reasons we do not succeed and can not be happy the fact we don’t allow our selves to do so? I always wondered if this is a fact or just another random thought we all get that helps fuel our guilt complexes. I do believe in some cases we do set our own boundaries and limit ourselves in order to keep within our comfort zone. Some people do not like change and rather stay in a unhappy but yet comfortable life then to risk it getting worse or taking on new challenges they fear they will be unable to handle.
When we are children we set our limits and goals by the standards and expectations of both our peers and our family. We take the opinions of those around us and give them the power of authority because when we are children we take everything at face value and as true. By the time we start realizing not everything we see and hear is always true we already have set up a behavior pattern and set many of the boundaries or limits we will live by for the rest of our lives. Though some may and can change by influential experiences and by the influence of others basically they will not change much.
Alas there is always hope because the human brain is reprogrammable and so is the limits and boundaries we have set or accepted. To change both your limits and boundaries is not an easy task because you have to basically ignore the programming long enough to set new boundaries and limits. It is kind of like a bad habit you’ve been doing for years, though difficult to break the habit it is not impossible. Look at people who smoked for over 20 to 30 years and quit. They had to not only break the habit of wanting to put a cigarette in their mouth but the addiction of nicotine. Many have succeeded in quitting smoking and so many have also failed. This shows how difficult it may be to face a habit and addiction but it also shows you can beat both if you are determined enough.
Most of our negative thoughts and the boundaries / limits we have are basically habitual behaviors that can be overcome through time and determination. We have to want to change our limits and boundaries in order to succeed, just like one must really want to quit smoking in order to do so. We also must realize we can achieve much more than we presently believe we can and see that we are only limited by our own thoughts and beliefs. This makes me remember a line from a song I had to sing back in a elementary choir “Nothing is impossible until you try” it was from a Thomas Edison themed school function.
Allot of the times when I feel that I can not do more or better I look at all those in the history of mankind who overcame great odds to achieve wondrous things. People like the early colonial Americans who challenged one of the greatest military powers of the time to achieve freedom and the creation of both the constitution and the great nation of the United States. So many historical examples of men and women who broke through their limits and boundaries to challenge the odds and win. They are proof that anything is possible if you allow yourself to be limitless and break through the boundaries set by society, peers and your own self.
Get out of your comfort zone and discard those limits and boundaries that keep you from being all you can and should be. Be who you want to be and beyond, bring the uniqueness of your individuality to the table of life and be proud of who and what you are. Let no one tell you you are anything but great and wonderful for we all are a par of a wonderful and extraordinary species called the human race.
Well enough of my ramblings for now
Peace and Love to you all
Ray Barbier
Dovestar 