Hey All,

I just wanted to share something with you...I don't and never have completely committed to religion and as I have gotten older I realised that I don't like religion, it causes conflict and severe difference of opinion when ego's are involved and each think they are right and refuse to accept that others do not think the same way as they do. Faith and spirituality however is something I really gravitate towards. I think someone who has faith it's apparent for all to see, something in their nature.. they are calmer, accept life's challenges by overcoming them and not letting themselves drown in them.
I am one of the latter, when challenges occur, I fall...hard, when things get difficult I feel like I am really struggling, as though I will never make it through. Of course I do make it through and then the next challenge comes along. It means that I always feel as though I am up and then down and happiness and strength, commitment and focus are only temporary - nothing fulfils me for long.
I have been intrigued by the teaching of the Kaballah this evening - I had heard of it before as certain celebrities follow it ...that is not my point though - I am still reading about it and for anyone who follows it I hope I have gotten this right but I watched this guy talk about challenges being opportunities for success and the basic things I got from his talk was this.

When challenges arise we immediately assume they are negative and we respond with negative emotions. In terms of Kaballah however, they teach that when challenges force us to react in that way that we step back as soon as possible and decide to accept that these challenges are here for a reason and that it means we have the strength to overcome them.
He said the 1% of our being is used to achieve the most common - short term success - meaning we determine our "illusionary success" by what we can see, smell, touch, hear, taste and the other 99% is "real success" meaning anything that we want to succeed at and how we measure true success is by actually working and overcoming our fear, negativity, pain, comfortability to achieve it. If success is instant - the likelihood is that it won't last, if you want lasting success you must continue to overcome things, always moving to the next level.
I am sure you can see how this can be applied into your own life.
For instance - money - when you have it you are happy - when it's gone you are not... but if you accept the challenges financially, overcome the negativity and stress and worry you can see the way forward - maybe by budgeting more efficiently or a way of making more to get by.
What about relationships - when the person is there for you things are great, when they do something that annoys you like being lazy - you fight - but if you step back and take the negativity out of it - maybe you can see a way forward, a way of talking through things without having an argument and breaking up over something superficial.
what about weightloss - health journeys - this is the one I most identify with! so the scale tells you, you have gained weight or stayed the same but you have been working your butt off - you feel like a failure which leads to a binge which leads to more negativity and more binging and the downward spiral begins - but what if we took a step back and took the negativity out of it - so the scale doesn't move - it's a challenge and by recognising how you feel and overcoming it you can move forward.
Going back to short term success - perfect example is when we binge eat, it is an instant gratification and we enjoy it - but does it last?? no!! which leads to the next time you feel you need more food that gives you that feeling. It is easy to go through a drive- through when you are tired or to just buy a chocolate bar or bag of crisps/chips but if you recognise the challenge that you are tired and want something easy and overcome it by making a delicious healthy meal you are one step closer to your goals - inciting success!.... long term success because it means that you will continue to do that allowing you to keep the weight off - hence long term success.
same for exercise!
same for anything that requires constant work and challenges - when things get easy - step it up - find new challenges to overcome - overcome your negativity, stress, worries, pain, upset and ego to see a way forward a way to continue even when it's the hardest thing you have done.

although! no-one is forcing you to do either - it is a choice! always a choice.
If you want success in short bursts then that's up to you! and so is the option to achieve long term success. It's down to you! you can't blame others, the world, and blaming yourself just creates more negativity. take a step back and see how you can overcome your challenges to enable you to move on and succeed!!

I learnt all that in 40 mins! however, knowledge is only power if you use it! I am intrigued to say the least!

what do you think??

**** edit*** also this is not something you can switch to overnight - it takes practice like anything you want to learn and apply to your life :) xxx