Determination

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Determination.
Is it better to fight for something or go with the flow?

I suppose the feeling of victory is a worthwhile pursuit, at least at times, and in certain contexts. For example, victory applies to sport, or competition. It’s a great feeling to win, provided you have competed in a fair way, the other side hasn’t been hurt, damaged, or ridiculed, and it’s perceived as a game by both sides.

On the other hand, it’s a great feeling to be in ‘flow’, and this often leads to victory anyway. Instead of fighting for the win, a state of flow makes it simple to win, easy to lead, and fun to appreciate the victory. Plus, the recovery time is far less, because it’s a celebration that energizes you, rather than a fight to the death.

One thing is clear: it feels great to give life your best shot.

What is left up to discretion is what ‘giving life your best shot’ means. You see, for one person this might mean enjoying your life as much as possible, spending quality time with people you care about, and being loving in every interaction. For another person, it might be about climbing the corporate ladder, becoming a CEO, and eventually earning a golden parachute. No ‘one’ person is ‘better’ for wanting what she wants. It’s simply a matter of perspective.

For example:
Let’s say the person who wants to enjoy life as much as possible and be loving in every interaction doesn’t contribute anything to society. Let’s say this person inherits a ton of money, blows most of it on drugs (while being loving to her friends in the process and having fun), and ends up bankrupting the family by accident. Would this change your perspective on her? Or is she still just as awesome for having her priorities right and loving everyone, in every interaction?

I suppose society might judge her as a drug addict and say she’s no longer the favorite choice, but she’s definitely setting an example of living from her heart, if this is truly how she prefers to live. She’s not giving into society, conforming to a life she does not want, and losing her temper with everyone she loves due to ever-growing resentment towards life, God, etc.

Or…

Let’s say the person who seemingly only cares about career and financial success, becoming CEO, and retiring one day is charged by the mission of creating a better life for her family. Let’s say her mother died young, her father barely could put food on the table, but he gave her everything he had so one day she could have a better opportunity in life than he did. She is living her dream — which is also his dream — and making her now-deceased parents proud.

Hmmm… this might give us a different perspective on her. We may have initially judged her for greed and not placing her priorities on family. But, in actuality, her priorities were on family, with a slightly different perspective. If we didn’t have context for her life, we might inaccurately judge her motives.

Today’s thought exercise:

If it didn’t matter what anyone else thought — and you could be fully determined to do anything you want — what would you do? What would be different? And why not make it happen, beginning right now?

So, I say focus on determination and being true to your heart. No matter which action you take, it can always be interpreted as ‘good’ or ‘bad’; rating your action is a matter of perception, and your perspective is the ‘only’ one that counts when it comes to setting your mind (and heart) to something and achieving it.

Sent to you with love, honor, and in service,

Kareem


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Dr. Kareem Samhouri

Dr. Kareem Samhour is known as (perhaps) the best Doctor of Physical Therapy & Kinesiologist on the internet. People come to him for results when other methods fail, injury gets in the way, or health situation is more complicated. Dr. Kareem Samhouri exercising In fact, he and his companies reach a combined total of 1.5 MILLION people on a daily basis to help them with their health. If you ever saw Dr. Kareem on the street and mentioned something was going on with your health, however, he would volunteer and offer to help you for free... that's the Dr. Kareem way.

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