Saturday Musings – Are You Limiting Yourself?

Determining your own limitations is often necessary for your very survival but are you placing limitations upon yourself that you’ve accidentally embraced? As we journey through life there are many well meaning people that say things to us that impose limitations upon our thinking. Isn’t it time to snap the shackles of good intentions?

A silly example of this can be a belief that you can’t sing. You may not be able to sing like Pavarotti but “can’t sing?”, I think not. It’s the rare individual that can’t actually sing but most of the population have bought into limitation that not only can’t they sing but for the sake of those people around them, they shouldn’t sing.

Have you allowed others to limit what you are capable? Such as, you have to work to pay the mortgage, so the bank now sets the limits for your own life. You can’t start that business you’ve always wanted to because of the financial risk. You have a sense that you’re in a mess and you can’t do anything without disaster befalling you.

You could believe that last statement or make decisions that break the bindings of the limitations that you have embraced for your life. Sometimes a simple decision maybe to just sell the house....

A number of years ago Roselyn and I were having a cup of tea and lamenting the fact that our two eldest children were wanting to borrow our second car all the time. Sometimes they wanted the car at the same time and we had to have the wisdom of Solomon to decide who could borrow it.

I had an epiphany.....we should sell the car. So we sold the car and the problems went away.....at least for us.Our two kids quickly grew up by saving money and bought their own cars.

One of the few things that can’t be taken from you is the power to view yourself in a fresh perspective. Is this hard to do? Yes, it is but once you do so it can be so liberating.

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned physically for 27 years and all during that time he soared with the dream of a country free from the oppression of apartheid. They could imprison his body but not his mind….only you can’t decide to let others imprison your dreams.

In the movie, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, the main character, Walter (from the above photo), had always wanted to break out of his mundane world and embrace his dreams. He’d avoided pursuing his dreams and adventures largely because he feared what other people would say about him. Eventually, he broke free of his shackles and had one adventure after another.

Maybe, just maybe you really don’t need a lot of the things you’ve surrounded yourself? The minimalist movement is gaining traction as people are realising they don’t need a six-bedroom house with only two people living in it. A TV in every room, several cars and fifty pairs of shoes hasn’t made them happy. What they long for is to embrace the adventure of life and build long lasting relationships.

What this means is if you want to sing, then sing! If you’ve always wanted to do a marathon then do one! If you’ve always wanted to lose weight, then change your lifestyle so it’s off once and for all.

I would encourage you to examine your life but not fall into the trap of despair. Get excited about the possibility of making some radical decisions that will set you on a new exciting course. On the flip side of the coin, if you are truly happy with what you are doing then stay the course and continue to bring joy to those around you.

Remember, you have one life, so go and live it.
Have a great weekend!