10 Tips for Creating a Better Relationship With Life

This past month, a good friend and colleague of mine surprisingly past away, leaving behind his wife and three kids. After the initial shock had worn off, I could not help but reflect on the impact that his life and passing had on my own, and whether or not I was living my life with a true sense of purpose and integrity. It was in this self-reflection that I realized how easy it is to take for granted the blessings in my life, and how easy it is to become distracted from my true purpose and passion. And although I strive on a daily basis to live my life helping people, as I am called to do, I truly am not without faults, and I am not afraid to admit that.

Too often, I believe, we get caught up in the everyday routine, and lose focus of the things we do, and more importantly…the why. It always seems to be a challenge to reorient ourselves back to walking the "right" path, and there have been many times in my life where I even have had to ask for directions! It is my belief that this temporary "amnesia" that seems to cloud our judgment and allows us to take that monotonous job, or tolerate an abusive relationship, or even say hurtful things to other people, is just part of our human condition. I believe that it is when we settle into these comfortable roles, that we create stagnation in our lives and open ourselves up to a world of unnecessary pain and suffering.

In all my years of education and training, I have learned many different techniques on how to spark this internal inspiration and how to bring clarity to one's life. Some techniques tend to work for some people and not for others. However, in my own life I have perfected personal techniques that seem to work for me. I have learned that in order to impart change in myself, I have to push myself beyond the comfort zone, often utilizing techniques that would seem unconventional to most. In addition, I often find myself repeating salient phrases to myself that seem to motivate me, and I thought I would share them with you, in the hopes that they might be as helpful as they have been for me. Here are ten of them:

1. If it is something you are afraid of…it is something you should do.
2. No one will support you, so do it anyways.
3. Never, Never, Never give up.
4. Don't have expectations of others…have expectations of yourself
5. Never make your goals dependent upon the actions of others
6. If you ask for advice from 100 people, you will get 100 different opinions…trust only your own.
7. Don't ask for a lighter load, ask for a stronger back.
8. There is no one in the universe that is like you…why not be different?
9. Who says your life has to be a certain way?
10. Have faith that no matter what happens, everything happens for a reason.