Following Our Heart's Desire

"Life is like a valentine. We never know when an arrow will strike us. We never know whether it will give us hurt or joy. But whenever it comes, we accept it and follow with all our hearts—our relentless desire."


At the present time, we may have been experiencing a lot of struggles to survive life's endearing challenges. Some people might constantly worry about finding the right path in life. Some wanted to achieve their goals and dreams despite limited internal resources. Some would have been giving up and let live as it happens.

The fact that life is difficult is not the ultimate reason for us to quit, but to face life with faith and gratitude. There are so many things to be grateful for in life. One of which is our existence to find our purpose in living. We are here to follow the right path—the key to living a good life.

How we get, there is a question that sometimes we are out of an answer to. We may have tried to solve so many never-ending problems. Some cannot be handled well, resulting in frustrations and distress. However, it is not just the mind we should work for, but also the heart—the love center.

A good heart

Often, we follow our minds. Yes, it is superior and controls our well-being. Nevertheless, we should consider our hearts in our way of living. Our heart carries several functions aside from pumping blood. Hence, we should consider its importance and not take it for granted.

If we feel like giving and loving, we activate our hearts. Whenever we think of being compassionate and altruistic, we use the seat. Therefore, our heart is as important as our mind. There is the mind that interprets, but there is a heart that feels.

Man is good in nature. Thus we have a good heart. I recalled what our college teachers taught us: no matter how wrong a person is, there is still particular goodness in him. He still has a natural gift of a good heart. In that sense, we are allowed to renew and make better use of it.

Our desire

In our lives, we may have made wrong decisions that made us have some regrets. We have followed what other people have told us. Whereas we followed the advice of a friend, we listened to what a stranger said, and we pondered on wrong thoughts without following our honest and own desires.

For instance, in our society, we may know someone living in a dream with his parents. Pursuing a course or career opposite to what he truly loves. He cannot refuse but follow due to respect and love. He cannot live his own life but accept and persevere.

If this is the kind of life we want, we become a prisoner of our fate—our heart's desire. It seems that we do not have a mind and soul. We never realize that life depends on how we make it and not just living to somebody's wishes.

Something to ponder

What keeps us from not following our own will and desire is the reason we are unsure of our capabilities. We still have doubts that haunt us to move forward.

We may ask ourselves, who am I? Yet, we are still struggling to know who we indeed are. What do I want? Yet, they are unsure of what lies ahead. Where am I going? Yet, need to figure out where to head in life. When do I get there? Yet, have to start. Why shall I do it? Yet, doubting own self. And how do I get there? And yet, not utilizing inherent resources.

The questions above are valid because I used to be like that. Sometimes I question myself to better understand who, what, where, when, why, and how I want. It is good to constantly re-evaluate ourselves to keep track of our goals and desires.

Keep going on

Like a valentine, we may have full of hearts around on this day expressing love and affection to dear ones. Everyone gives flowers, chocolates, and whatever they think is unique and worth remembering. Indeed, that reminds us that the spirit of love is alive. Our heart is in working mode, and it teaches a valuable lesson to keep going —to follow our heart's desire.

Life is not just about finding ourselves but about how we create it. Indeed, we are responsible for our own lives; like a sailor, it is our choice of direction. We have the option, which depends on how we use it and make better gameplay.

Life is like a valentine. We never know when an arrow will strike us. We never know whether it will give us hurt or joy. But whenever it comes, we accept it and follow with all our hearts—our relentless desire. We offer our best wholeheartedly and must follow what our minds and nature dictate.

© 2012 Del Cusay

Reaching Our Highest Potential

There will be some failure. There will be obstacles to the path of happiness and success. Sometimes we think of giving up, but we must persevere and continue living with a sense of responsibility and purpose."

Sometimes we think of being incapable of reaching our dreams and desires. We recede from our ambition to reach our destinations in life. Suddenly, we get scared and lose momentum to achieve better results.  However, there are times when we are at our highest peak. We have reached our goals and dreams because of our strong desire and commitment. Our faith leads us to get there—the path toward glorious success.

If life is a cycle, I must agree! — We experience how it is to be on the "peaks and valleys." Life teaches us that no matter how difficult it may seem, still, we have to move forward like a cycle that keeps moving on. We have the human potential to achieve something better we should not fear.

NEVER DOUBT

One of the reasons we do not have progress is a lack of confidence and belief. We fear committing mistakes. We also fear being judged.  We fear to rise and shine.

I used to fear failure and that I hadn't tried my best in the past. I was shy then and not able to speak my mind. I never thought that fear would have sabotaged my chances of success for not giving my best. Now, I have built confidence and a positive outlook in life, and it amazes me whenever I think of what my life would have been if I had never decided to reform.

Some people may still be living a life full of doubts and self-criticism. It is not too late to step up from the shadow. We start to analyze ourselves and dare to give more of what we have. There is indeed a dormant positive force within us that is waiting to be tapped.

WE CAN BE

I have learned that we have to unleash our potential. We have been gifted with a great mind to think beyond the limits—to think extraordinarily. There is something within us that is hidden. And be useful once we learn to develop it. We can be someone that others would not have thought of achieving. We can be a person who once believed that 'it is impossible.

Possibility only happens once the result is evident. We may have been condemned and ridiculed for our wishes, and they may doubt our capabilities. However, people do not know the hidden potential that lies within us.

HUMAN POTENTIAL

Anyone can unleash potential no matter who and what he is. We may be familiar with some real-life stories of how a poor man later became a company's CEO, how a college dropout became prosperous and had a massive influence, and how even an uneducated man became a leader.

Educational status is not a mere factor in being who we are. It is the use of our mind power—our hidden potential. We can all tap into this potential, but we have a huge responsibility to carry.

What about people in late adulthood who have discovered their abilities in artistic activities like painting, film-making, or public speaking and leading a group? It must be that they have learned to unleash their full potential. It's hidden in their younger years, but only then have it untapped and make better use of it.

If only we have the talent and the skills about something, it is now the time to improve it and do the best things possible through it. This time, you should not have more doubts and negative beliefs but must have confidence and competence.

THE LESSON

In our pursuit of happiness, we may still encounter mistakes leading to unhappiness; but we have to keep up with our hopes and high spirit. We have to learn how to live to our fullest potential.

I admit I am not perfect and never will be, but I have the relentless desire to live what I am capable of, enabling me to move closer to my goal.

There will be some failure. There will be obstacles to the path of happiness and success. Sometimes we think of giving up, but we must persevere and continue living with a sense of responsibility and purpose.

We can be ourselves and light up our world by unleashing our true and full potential. We deserve the best in life; it is now the time to offer our best in return.

© 2012 Del Cusay

How Failure Turned Into Success

"Whatever we have failed from the past or the present, we need to redefine our past failures and realize what we did right and disregard what we did wrong and then turn that into wisdom for a winning future."

Sometimes I felt like a failure when things turned out as opposed to my expectations. I set a goal and planned about it, but in the end, it failed. It makes me feel bad, and it is just a natural feeling. Nevertheless, prolonged sadness is not good as it may invite negative and harmful thoughts.

In our lives, we have been experiencing almost everything that it may bring—good or bad. Sometimes we end up feeling lost, resulting in failure. We fail to achieve... we fail to succeed.

I heard stories from people that they failed, failed in major exams, failed in their careers, died in reaching their goals and dreams, etc. Then I realized that failure is okay because we can learn from these failures and use them as experiences for our subsequent success. Hence, I call 'failure'  and' success in disguise.

FAILURE IS A GREAT WAY TO LEARN

We can learn from our failures and recall what we missed or what went wrong. It is an opportunity to reflect on our actions that led to the loss. Likewise, we must fail to realize that there is a mistake in the process of what we aim for. Thus, we must correct it and be as successful as possible on our next try.

I remember way back in college that our teacher would return our essays if she could spot grammatical errors or spelling. I tried to correct it as much as possible but had to edit my work repeatedly as advised. With that experience, I have learned something valuable about my writing, although sometimes someone has to send me a message to correct some mistakes. I am still thankful for the enthusiasm to learn from mistakes—it can be considered a failure.

TRYING TO FAIL

I have tried this approach, and indeed it works. It teaches me a lesson that I should never fear failure and never chase perfection but rather excellence.

What is good about trying to fail is that we do not have to worry about being perfect. The good thing is we might succeed by accident. Think of remarkable inventions by accident, they may have thought of failure, but it turned out to be another great invention.

Sometimes I fail, but now I do not worry about it; I just divert my attention towards more optimistic thoughts and think that today I forgot, but next time I will have it!—gives me more courage to pursue my goals despite the odds.

TRYING AGAIN

We have no reason to give up but to keep trying. If we fail once, twice, or thrice... it is all right. It only means we are persistent with our goal to achieve. The next time we try, we succeed! We did it! Moreover, we are grateful for it.

REDEFINING THE CONCEPT OF FAILURE AND SUCCESS

Our own definition of success and failure is based on our personal experiences. Instead of saying, 'I tried, but it failed,' it is better to say, 'I tried, and I failed, but I have learned and tried again, and I succeeded!'

We can be harmful sometimes, but we must be more balanced and weigh in the circumstances. Some of the good things in life can be attained through re-framing our state of mind.

FROM FAILURE TO SUCCESS

Persistence can significantly impact achieving tremendous success, just like some famous people who have persevered so many times until they reached the status of greatness and success.

Take the case of Steve Jobs, the late CEO of Apple company. He was fired from the company he co-founded and failed at another company he founded. However, in the end, he succeeded and gained the admiration of many people.

We may fail many times, but we will surely succeed if we have the persistence and courage to face our failures.

Whatever we have failed in the past or the present, we need to redefine our past failures, realize what we did right, disregard what we did wrong, and then turn that into wisdom for a winning future.

© 2012 Del Cusay