This is most true for religious subscription and cultural heritage, but applies to every relationship in our life.
Choice inspires willingness because a choice is driven by our belief in the benefit of our contribution towards others.
Obligation inspires contempt because it is most often associated with the threat of a negative repercussion.
What drives our choices and our sense of obligation therefore must be considered when we find ourselves growing angry at the thought of non-compliance from others, or the expectation of compliance from ourselves by others.
It is quite possible to choose consciously to serve an obligation. But that choice must be done willingly and not under duress. Duress turns a choice into an unwilling obligation.
Fear has a limited life span. Therefore, the moment we establish compliance with a lifestyle or behaviour through fear, we must prepare ourselves for the inevitable backlash.
Live consciously. Love deliberately. And serve without obligation.
Perhaps, beloved, in that lies the secret to experiencing peace in this lifetime.
#hope #expectation #sincerity #optimism #zaidismail #peace #mybeloved #obligation #culture #tradition #religion #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery #selfworth #selflove #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #ownyourshit #ownyourlife #theegosystem #embracingME
Tag: selfrespect
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Willingly obliged
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Forever hopeful
Hope is born in moments when you have no reason to believe in the moment that is to follow, but something good unexpectedly lands in your lap.
It’s born when that unexpected call changes your life for the better.
It’s born when that stranger smiled an understanding smile in that moment that you thought the world was oblivious to your presence.
It’s born when you wake in the morning and discover that despite your worst premonitions, you have a good day.
Hope can be torturous when the events of your life have given you little reason to believe that the good that you experience will last for more than a fleeting moment.
But, knowing that it’s possible for it to last beyond that brief period of joy is what makes it impossible to ignore the hope that bubbles beneath the surface.
Hope is faith. And faith is hope.
Both are intricately woven into the fabric of our struggles.
When we focus on our struggles only, we lose sight of all those moments that planted the seeds of hope in our hearts so many lifetimes before the present moment.
In forgetting, we burden ourselves with more than the burdens of life. We burden ourselves with the burden of ingratitude as well.
Focus on hope, and faith will have your back.
#hope #expectation #sincerity #optimism #perseverance #motivation #goals #ambition #success #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #zaidismail #ownyourshit #ownyourlife #theegosystem #embracingME #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery -
It’s not yet time to quit
Inspiration…if it came easily, it wouldn’t really be inspired, it would be convenient.
It’s in those moments when everything we want to take for granted is not available that we are pushed to consider the impossible as a possibility.
That’s when we dig really deep.
That’s when we abandon convention.
That’s when what we question the limits that we assumed were unconquerable, and attack it with a ferocity that reveals its irrelevance.
Inspiration is what we discover at the end of exhaustion, when giving up is not an option.
Don’t stop.
Keep pushing.
Keep believing.
Your dream is within reach.
Just don’t stop reaching for it.
#hope #expectation #sincerity #optimism #perseverance #motivation #goals #ambition #success #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #ownyourshit #ownyourlife #theegosystem #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery #zaidismail -
Be gentle…to you
When you treat the vulnerable or the gentle ones with contempt, you create the same monsters that made you.
The moment that we realise what we assume to be our nature is in fact a product of our upbringing, we’ll be able to make conscious decisions about who we want to be.
Sometimes, we place so much emphasis on respecting our emotions that we prevent ourselves from seeking answers as to our emotional response.
Humanness is not found in being infinitely understanding, but in balancing that understanding with decisive and purposeful action.
Striking that balance becomes more difficult when raised on a diet of self-doubt and fear.
That self-doubt and fear drives us towards paying forward what we may have received at the hands of similarly struggling souls.
Mindfulness about this state is the only chance of breaking that cycle of harshness or pain.
Be kind to yourself. Begin by seeking to understand what shaped you into who you are, so that you may be able to choose consciously who you want to be.
#kindness #gentleness #compassion #humanness #mentalhealth #selfworth #selflove #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #ownyourshit #ownyourlife #theegosystem #embracingME #motivation #zaidismail #authenticity -
Dare to dream
When we pursue the impossible, we achieve the unbelievable.
But, we’re often so distracted by how impossible our goal might appear, that we lose sight of everything that its pursuit offers us.
Fortune cookie wisdom tells us that it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.
Yet, we lose sight of the growth that the journey offers, and give up the pursuit of a seemingly impossible destination.
Today is a good day to take that step towards that impossible dream that you’ve been courting with for so long.
No time like the present, right?
#hope #expectation #dreams #goals #motivation #optimism #lifegoals #lifecoaching #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery #selfworth #selflove #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #zaidismail #ownyourshit #ownyourlife #theegosystem #embracingME #pursuitofhappiness -
You are more than how you look
Taking pride in the colour of your skin or ethnicity distracts you from your humanity.
Our humanness, our gentleness, our inclination towards kindness – these are all part of our natural state.
It’s our need to be associated with significance or superiority that distracts us from this, and replaces it with the fear of being inadequate.
When we lose sight of the fear, responding from a place of fear becomes our new normal.
Everything that threatens the source of our significance – that is, our skin colour, religion, cultural roots, etc. – then feels like a threat to our sense of self.
Thus, we feel the anger, resentment, or blind rage that rises when we feel undermined because of the colour of our skin, or any other association that makes us feel significant.
In the absence of an awareness of who we are, it is inevitable that our external attributes will be all that feeds our self worth.
#racism #colourism #religion #culture #prejudice #bigotry #socialacceptance #herdmentality #ownyourshit #ownyourlife #theegosystem #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery #selfworth #selflove #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #zaidismail -
The absent parent
Even an absent parent is still parenting.
It’s then on the shoulders of the present one to compensate for that.
Sometimes, the absence of someone has a greater impact on us than the presence of others.
This is especially true for parenting.
The absent parent leaves the child with feelings of abandonment, insignificance, and a low self-esteem, to name a few.
Worse still, it tortures them with the hope that it could be better if only…while distracting them from embracing the life and love that they have.
It’s that unfulfilled hope and the failed expectations that become the burden of the parent who is present, who is still committed to the wholesome development of the child, to mitigate the impact of that negative influence.
While it’s true that the children suffer, not enough is done to recognise the impact on the single parent.
Because the human is often forgotten behind the role or the label that we assign to them.
#parenting #singleparenting #children #selfworth #selflove #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #ownyourshit #ownyourlife #theegosystem #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery #zaidismail #divorce #marriage -
Empathise
Empathy is expressed when we desire for others what we wish to have for ourselves.
Sometimes, it’s something we have, and we hope that others will be able to enjoy the same value and benefit that we enjoy from it.
Sometimes, it’s what we don’t have, yet we hope that we may be able to contribute towards others having it, despite having no reason to believe that we’ll be able to experience it ourselves.
Empathy is founded in our desire to alleviate our struggles that we see in someone else’s life.
That struggle could be something we currently experience, or something that we have experienced before.
It is core to our humanness, and only gets tainted when we respond with bitterness, hoping to see others suffer or struggle in the same way as we may have. Either at their hands, or at the hands of those whom they represent in our life.
Empathy is the difference between peaceful acceptance, and bitter vengeance.
Like that old proverb says, a bitter heart eats its owner.
Protect your heart from the bitterness of this world by practicing empathy instead.
#empathy #sympathy #compassion #gentleness #love #affection #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthrecovery #selfworth #selflove #selfawareness #selfrespect #mindfulness #inspiration #zaidismail
