Control your thoughts and you can control your emotions. Control your emotions and you can control your actions. Control your actions and you can control your destiny. After thinking about it, how did you answer the question of what your “poverty” is? Did you reflect on this and why it is that this haunts you? What is it that really holds you back or at least inhibits your progress? Afraid of failure? Afraid to look stupid? Afraid to commit to something and then pull up short? When thinking about this conversation with yourself, think about if you are a person that is more motivated by trying to avoid something or to move toward something. We are all motivated by both, but one is usually stronger than the other. To close this out, let me leave you with some advice, never act out of weakness.
This Week’s Talk
We are just about at the end of the visitation from the Ghost of Christmas Past. Scrooge is having to come face-to-face with how poorly he has treated others, having to reconcile with how shallow he has been, and forced to see that he once had joy in his life and now lives in isolation. In the previous scene, Scrooge was confronted by his girlfriend about his changing values and altered focus of his life. It was a moment of truth where Scrooge, had he the fortitude, could have moved closer to the life he had. Instead, he continued to focus on fear and act out of weakness. Up to this point, we have not heard anything from Scrooge that would generally be considered positive, focused on a greater good, or showing any recent activities that were in service of others.
Scrooge is called out by his fiancé when she confronts him with her realization that he would not pursue her now when she asks “ If this had not been between us, tell me , would you seek me out and try to win me now? Ah, no!” Again, Scrooge lacks the ability to admit his weakness, or at least acknowledge his changed values. Instead, he takes a cowardly approach and simply answers “ You think not”. Have you ever been in a situation where you just were not able to admit being wrong, couldn’t face the pain you created or wrongs that you did? We all like to think that at key moments we would do the right thing. Don’t be so sure…
This Week’s Assignment
After Scrooges lame response to being confronted, his fiancé tells him “I release you. With a full heart, for what love of him you once were.” That is the culmination of her verbalizing that she now believes he no longer cares about her like he once did and that he has been taken over by greed. Her parting words are quite powerful, “May you be happy in the life you have chosen!”
Your assignment this week is to think through the defining decisions and actions that got you to where you are. These could be moments that you failed to acknowledge that you were wrong, failed to be earnest in your dealings with others, acted on your own interests and not for the greater good or any other decision or action that you took that lead to where your life is now. Do I expect this to be painful? Of course I do. As Scrooge says to the spirit of Christmas Past, “Why do you delight to torture me?”
See you next week.