Sometimes people find themselves inadvertently cultivating a desire for things that are out of harmony with their beliefs and values. Wrong desires are the foundation of untold pain and suffering. So much of what is wrong in the world today started out with someone acting on an inappropriate passion.
Such actions never lead to a life of personal excellence. Instead they rob you of your dignity and sense of self-esteem.
The problem with justification
When we want something in life, there is a tendency to justify our actions and excuse behavior that is out of harmony with our deep down sense of right and wrong. We may not even know we are doing it on a conscious level or we may minimize the situation telling ourselves it’s no big deal.
The problem is, a on a deeper level we have created a conflict, an internal battleground. If we allow ourselves to continue without correcting the problem, sooner or later that internal conflict will undermine our efforts and we will be forced to compensate.
Use your power of choice
But remember you have a choice. The same skills that allow you to assign a positive emotional value to average daily activities also give you the power to devalue unwanted or inappropriate tendencies.
Doing so will make it possible for you to choose to be passionate about things that support your personal values and to discard anything that offends those values.
When you choose to be the one who decides what you will be passionate about, you become the master of your own world and the designer of your own life.
Circumstances verses attitude
The quality of our life is more about what we make of it than what our current circumstances are. Really, it’s all about attitude.
Circumstances have a way of changing. Sometimes they support our dreams and passions while at other times they provide a challenge. The ability to keep your dreams alive in the face of challenging circumstances is one of the greatest attributes of a successful person.
When you’re passions are in harmony with your values and beliefs obstacles become opportunities and walls become hurdles that you can jump over.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Jonathan,
I don’t believe in the implications held within the Adam and Eve story, but other than that you make some great points. Within us all is a personal guiding system that tells us when we are making choices that are in harmony with our core reasons for being alive. Learning to listen to our intuition, gut feelings, and inner sense about things makes it easier to know what to say “no” or “yes” to. Thanks for another great article!
Annette Colby´s last blog ..Will is Your Ability to Choose
Hi Jonathan,
I think we all have to find the positive side of every experience. There is always one there. Knowing to let go of the negativity an experience may have created is what has to happen. The sooner you let go and an except things happen for a reason which always for the better, your passion for life is stronger and you are more happier.
BunnygotBlog´s last blog ..Advertising Towards Dummies: Interview With An Advertising Professional
Very interesting, Jonathan!
I wouldn’t use the word “bad” in relation with a desire, because ultimately every desire is good. I think it’s more about a vibrational mismatch that can be sometimes very appealing to us. We’re having this strange attraction to false music, you know. Getting swamped in this field is a real danger, though.
Dragos Roua´s last blog ..Flashes
‘The ability to keep your dreams alive in the face of challenging circumstances is one of the greatest attributes of a successful person.’ I like this and tried to tweet the quote, but too long to give you credit.
I think the trouble with values and dreams is that they’ve been created by everything that has come before: life, parents, community, and history. It’s easy to lose your way and think I must be doing something to change. Everyone needs to relax. Ultimately, consciousness is peaceful. It’s reactive expressed/lived by us.