I was speaking to a friend of mine the other day and he got me to realize what it was I have been working for all this time. It was a conversation that took place over several phone calls but seemed as though it was one long call. I sat and listened and listened some more. I must admit that's something new to me because I'm the one who keeps talking and talking. The entire conversation was a great dose of something that I needed and to a degree something that everyone needs from time to time. Now don't get me wrong, I have been working for something albeit I have to get into the habit of reminding myself more.
He started out by saying, "What's the definition of success, Sam?" Do you know? I was like, "Ya! Sure I know!" Of course I do!, who doesn't?" He then asked me to define it. And that's when it all started. I was stuck. For the first time in a long time I was stuck in answering a question that I thought I knew the answer to all these years. I tried recalling what I said when I was a stock broker and was asked that question by a manager or a client. But for the life of me I lost it! So there I was without a clue as to what defined success. If you gave me some time I 'm sure I would have come up with something but not right there and then. He then started telling me about his path that took him to where he is today and the process of listening started. From his humble beginnings to the time he drove a taxi through Dallas and his beginnings in the financial industry, he gave me the cliff notes version of his past 20 years. It seemed like a fun ride! He seemed unscathed and his future blossomed with money beyond his wildest dreams. He has a big phat house on the water, cars, designer clothes, and everything you can buy with money. Here I am a sucker for stories like this I'm saying to myself,"Ya! Alright! That's what I'm saying!" And of course at that time he had to introduce the path that got him there, which by the way wasn't very pleasant at all. Ultimately, he had opened up how he had walked through life aimlessly and with out purpose. He did this and did that. He woke up in the morning only to brush his teeth, take a shower, and go to work to keep the creditors off his ass. He wouldn't answer calls and was afraid to open bills. He then went on about how he had lost his company, his credibility, and all his money trying to make others happy. Now at this juncture I'm wondering,"Ok why in the hell am I listening to this! What does this have to do with the definition of success?" So now my heart has sunken feeling for the guy completely forgetting where he is in society today. It was as if I was vacuumed back in time with me standing right next to him as he told me the experience that changed his life. He said it was a Thursday, he just woke to go to work. He got down to his car and stood by the drivers side door for 10 minutes. He didn't dare open it to get in. That would have meant that he had to put the key in the ignition to start it which he didn't want to do. I was like, "Man, what crowd were you hanging with that you had to be so scared to start your car?" Well come to find he wasn't scared because he thought his car would explode. He was frightened about something else. He was scared to see the gas needle which pointed to empty which would have reminded him that he only had $18 left to his name. It was at this point that he said he was forever thankful. This small event that would have left everyone else thankless and down made him realize the truths to why life had treated him so "unfairly" and why he stood there with keys in hand unwilling to open the door to his car. Everything he had or lack of, his business, credibility, money, his relationships were all lost because he manifested it. In some odd and stupid way he had asked for all this to happen to him. There was a common denominator to every negative event that had transpired to him to that point. From losing his business to the government to missing payments on his rent he had found there to be one common denominator, one thing that all these bad things had in common, him. He had trained himself and his mind to somehow make the world a worse off place for him in every way possible. He only had $18 in his pocket for no other reason than the reasons that made that happen. His revelation came when he realized that it was him who had manifested all this bad, that it was his own thoughts and actions that created the life he was living. That as much as he wanted to blame the government, his parents, his family, his employees, his friends, and the system in the end it was all his doing. That ultimately led him to think that the reverse had to be true. That if he felt that he manifested all this bad then he should be able to manifest good things to come his way. From there on his life did change, not immediately as I was hoping to hear but gradually and eventually into abundance. He made the revelation that success and prosperity is a matter of how he thinks. If worry ran the course of his day then that begets fear which is a negative emotion that will manifest bad things onto him. On the other hand, if he chose to take ownership in the traits of the person he wanted to be years down the road today then he can't help but manifest the good that comes as a function of that. "Kinda like Tiger telling himself at 10 yrs old that he would beat all the pro golfers when he got older", I said. Many people probably thought it was so cute to hear a little boy talk like that but little did anyone know that HE REALLY did think that way. I guess the proof is in the puddin!
In the end, and as he closed up is story, he says he believes success and prosperity is working towards your vision of where you want to be. That if you see yourself with great wealth it's just a matter of inheriting the traits of that person. For instance, what is Tiger Woods' character traits? Hard working, intellectual, driven, no mercy, giving, focused, determined, coachable...the list goes on. Inherit these traits and you can't help but manifest what comes along with them is the message he learned that day outside his car door (of course that was before Tiger).
So why did he ask me that question to start up that super long dialogue? He felt he saw me meandering down a path that reminded him of walking around through life aimlessly and without purpose. He felt all I was doing was waking up only to go through my regular routine (which I thought was a bunch of crap). After listening to his story and and the underlying message I must say that I am much better for that conversation. It does suck to not know the answer to such a simple question or at least give educated opinion on the matter. But even deeper it feels great to know that he may just be right about it. You are the sum of your thoughts!
Thanks Hodgy for making one of our normal conversations seem so not normal but rather educational.
