Why People Making Fun of You Will Help You Rule the World by Lyon Brave

•  “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” -Nelson Mandela
•  Belong:Listen Brave

•                                               RULE 12: THOU SHALL CHANGE AND BE POWERFUL

It’s cool to be a chameleon. It’s cool to be someone who can change and adept as needed. It’s not cool to be a static character that is too stubborn to change even when necessary. Self-correction is what self-help books are all about. If you cannot admit you are flawed, which all humans are, you cannot become the best version of yourself. Recognizing your imperfections and correcting them is part of personal and spiritual growth.

If you avoid responsibility, it’s time to acknowledge this and take responsibility. If you are addicted to drugs, it’s time to sober up. If you are mean, it’s time to become softer. If you are a chain smoker, it’s time to stop smoking. If you have too much meat in your diet, cut back. If your doctor says exercise or die pork chop, exercise. Listen to good advice. Learn what is ugly about your personality and habits and try to change them.

If you don’t know where to begin, look to your past. What mistakes do you constantly make? What have people said they don’t like about you? You cannot truly understand yourself and the predicaments you are in without examining the past. You cannot understand how a tree grows, without knowing about its roots. If you don’t understand what’s influenced you for better or worse, you have no beginning, and without a starting line, you have no direction. You are walking into the same wall blindfolded, when you could just as easily take the blindfold off and not bump into a wall. 

It’s imperative that you study your past so you can learn from your mistakes. If you don’t learn from your mistakes you will continue to make them.

It doesn’t matter what we have done in our past, today is a new day. We are allowed to make mistakes, this is how we grow. The question is who will you be when you grow into yourself. You can be anyone in this life, a victim, a hero, a coward a thief, a billionaire, a deadbeat. What’s important is you understand you do have the ability to shape yourself. You decide who you are and I pray the citizens of the world choose to be worldly beautiful creatures who care about their follow mankind, instead of ugly greedy people who only care about taken as much as possible for themselves by any means necessary. I hope you are wise enough not to be got by a wolf, but considering Trump won, i fear for many of you lol.

When you are wandering around the world feeling lost about who you are, the first clue I can give you to finding yourself is you are a good person. You are a beautiful, powerful creature at your core. If you have begun to view yourself in a lesser light, it is because you have fallen victim to society’s superficialities of what makes a person worthy. You are worthy, but you may have made mistakes along the way. It’s important for forgive yourself and move forward.

Now with that being said, life takes effort. If you are unwilling to put in the effort to improve yourself, you don’t deserve better. If you are unable to change, you deserve to stay stuck. If you are unhappy with your job, of course you should find different work. It really isn’t that hard to find a new job. All those people who complain about the economy and how impossible it is to find a job are making excuses for their apathy. Workers are in demand. There is plenty of opportunity in this world for everyone and if you can’t find it, it’s probably because you don’t have the work ethic needed to spot opportunity.

In the 21st century, a lot of people have a real desire to wear rose colored glasses and only hear lullabies about the good things and there is a real danger of this type of attitude because it will begin to foster mediocrity in individuals and ,even worse it will lie to us and tell us mediocre individuals we are great. If you falsely think you already are the best version of yourself because you were cuddled, you will not strive to make improvements.

In this case, tough love is the best love we can give. Some of us might think this method of teaching is harsh, but it fosters improvement. Whereas flattery generates good feelings, but is not a powerful tool for self-improvement because it doesn’t really offer substantial information oriented in the direction of growth.

In many ways your antagonist is your helper. Instead of feeling offensive and being so quick to defend yourself, listen to what they are trying to say. Maybe there is something about your behavior you truly need to correct. You cannot be afraid of criticism, If you are not being criticized in some areas of your life, there is a good chance you are not participating fully with life. Someone should at least be poking fun at you if we are living up to your potential.

Criticism comes with attempting something new and challenging, attempting to cook, sing, dance, speak a new language are activates that come with criticism attached to them. We cannot improve or learn if we are unwilling to make mistakes. If we are unwilling to accept honest feedback WE CAN'T BE TAUGHT. Winston Churchill said, “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy stage of things.” Like all things, there has to be a balance we do not want to over flatter an individual to the point we are actually coddling them. And we don’t want to be critical of individuals to the point we are actually verbally abusing them, but we need to be aware of our flaws, and not cry because they have been pointed out.

We cannot make a difference in this world if we are ignorant of the problems we face, and we cannot get what we want out of life if we do not know who we are at the core. If we are not acquainted with ourselves, how can we know what we really want? Some might think it’s easy to know who we are, but it’s downright hard. Knowing one’s self is something, which must be striven for to obtain. If it were easy Aristotle wouldn’t have said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom,” and Ralph Ellison wouldn’t have said, “When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.” It is imperative to start inner reflection now and not later, so our souls and perceptions of the world can expand to a higher consciousness and become more advanced and liberated.

We need to evolve as people to become powerful. Evolution is just a fancy word for change. We all have to change. We all have to do better today than yesterday. Becoming conscious of your flaws can free you to reach your full potential. When you are aware what needs to change, what you can and cannot do, you can begin to achieve as you strive to do better.

If you are unwilling to change by your own free will, life will force you to change. If you been at a job you hate for years, but are afraid you won’t be able to pay the bills if you leave, life might give you the push you need by suddenly firing you. If you don’t really like your boyfriend anymore, but are afraid to dump him, he might finally free you by dumping you. If you have been over dependent on other people, life might give you an incredible opportunity to stand on your own two feet by studying abroad.

When life is forcing you to change, it’s important not to retreat inside your head and isolate. The issue isn’t that you got fired, or dumped, broke, or stranded in a third world country. The real issue is you devaluing your own ability to deal with issues on your own. Humans can solve any issue if they put their minds too it.  You are beyond capable of seeing a solution and implementing it, but your own self-doubt slows the process to a crawl most of the time. The problem isn’t conflict, obstacles, or adversity itself, the real problem is you. Learn how to stand up to your doubts and inhibitions. The biggest way to evolve as a person is to stop being a coward and get brave.

12 WAYS TO BE A POWERFUL CREATURE

1.) Repent: You made mistakes, forgive yourself, ask others for forgiveness, and ask the heavens for forgiveness. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.

2.) Ask: If you need something, don’t be afraid to ask. People are here to help you just like you are here to help them. If you don’t ask, you might never receive.

3.) Read scripture on a daily basis: I read a lot of books, but no book is as powerful or as knowledgeable as the bible. The bible teaches us about money, war, love, human nature, language, travel. The bible discusses everything under the sun. If you only read one book, it should be the bible. You will be well read. It doesn't matter if it's fiction or non-fiction. The bible is the first self-help book.

4.) Don’t lose you way: Someone like me, who is very curious, can easily forget my core values, as I try to understand another’s. I lived in Thailand for a while and studied Buddhism. Buddhism has great values, but forgets the most important aspect; I am a child of god. Don’t try to be like those around you. Go where your heart resonates.

5.) Forget blending in: Don’t try so hard to be like other people. You can’t blend in when you were made to standout, so forget what other people have to say about your strangeness. Ordinary people are meant to blend in. Extraordinary people are meant to stand out. You were meant to be extraordinary not ordinary.

6.) Try to keep your body clean: Your body is a temple. Your body is your vessel to move through this world. Don’t pollute your body with toxins. Protect yourself from yourself and the influences of other people. You can’t be powerful in a hospital bed.

7.) Do your thing: Whatever your thing is, do it. If you are good dancer shake it. If you are a really good writer, write. If you are a really good healer, become a doctor. If you are a really good debater, become a politician or a lawyer. If you can burp the alphabet, make us laugh at parties. Show the world that you are in all your silly glory.

8.) Be yourself: Don’t deny who you are so other people can feel comfortable. Giving birth is uncomfortable. It doesn’t make sense to deny you, so other people can feel comfortable. Other people need to grow up. Because we are on biblical theme, I got a message for homosexuals, god doesn’t care you are gay. He loves you. The people who say he doesn’t are being judgmental sinners. Screw them.

9.) It’s between you and god: Nobody has a right to judge you. We have all done things we are not proud of. Hold your head up. Don’t walk with shame. Walk with your chest out. Be proud of yourself.

10.) Keep your head up: No matter what, don’t let this world beat you. People will try to break your spirit, be unbreakable. Be powerful beyond measure. Do not shrink and do not cower. You have the strength to endure.

11.) God Bless You: God is with you. You are not alone and for those of you who don’t identify as Christian, may the force be with you. What’s important to understand, there

Is a universal force that is bigger than us all, and no matter what words we use to describe it, we have to learn to tap into it to be cool. Beware, that using the right language is crucial to tapping into this mystical force.

12.) Heal your spirit: When you are sad, depressed, in pain, you have to find a way to rejuvenate yourself and find the good in life again.

Excerpts from The Importance of Being Cool by Lyon Brave