There is one universal goal that everyone on earth strives towards: happiness. But what is the best way of achieving it? For many of us, happiness comes from helping others. Some of the most inspirational stories of those who have found contentment are the tales of people, such as St. Francis of Assisi, who sacrificed their own comfort to help those less fortunate.
Of course, for us mortals achieving a sense of contentment and inner peace in today’s world isn’t easy—we have jobs, relationships, mortgages and finances to manage and worry about, all of which are external factors but all of which can and do affect our moods and emotions. When everything is living up to our expectations and vision, we feel on top of the world. But if one cog breaks down—perhaps the love of our life ups and leaves with little warning or compassion—our entire world can come crashing down, and other areas of our life suffer.
It is an oft-quoted truth that we must look inside for happiness and love ourselves, while realizing and accepting that no person or external factor should be allowed to affect our capacity to feel content. This is easier said than done and we take a while to learn how to do it. But, if we want to start a career in healing and helping others, we really do need to start with ‘the man (or woman!) in the mirror’ and focus on loving and healing ourselves first.
So, do what makes you happy and what helps you to love yourself. If you’re in an unfulfilling job or you feel that your calling lies elsewhere, take control of your destiny and start taking the steps required to move into a more spiritually fulfilling career—it’s never too late for a clean slate. Go ahead and do it now! Mentally wipe your slate clean, get rid of baggage and negative or pessimistic thought patterns and take the reins; your life is yours and you can change it at any point you wish.
At every stage of our lives we are given choices and forks in the road— take the bull by the horns and go down the path you really want to travel; after all, none of us know how much time we have left so why not seize the day and go for it? Retrain, reorganize and flow with the change.
Set Your Intention
Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi—or Amma, ‘The Hugging Saint’—once spoke of her views on the language of the heart:
Those who speak this language do not care about their ego. They have no interest in proving that they are right or that anyone else is wrong. They are deeply concerned about their fellow beings and wish to help, support and uplift others. They are the givers of tangible hope and of light in this world. Those who approach them are reborn.
People who enter healing professions such as Reiki, Crystal Therapy and Angelic Healing don’t do it so that they can achieve material success or recognition. Rather, they embark on their chosen path to heal, love and to provide their clients with the power to achieve greater harmony and happiness in their lives. Keep similar intentions close to the heart of everything you do, and financial success and a good reputation will follow organically.
Take Action!
Getting to where you want to be in life will happen only if you believe it will and if you make practical moves to get there. That sounds obvious, but so often people dream about their ideal job, but that’s all they do. You make your future every second of the day through your choices—do you stay in, visit friends, answer the phone or let it ring out?
Each decision shapes the rest of your life in some way. Perhaps if you’d gone out, you’d have met someone who would end up changing your life. Taking your first step to switching professions can be as easy as enrolling in a part-time or distance learning course that can be fitted around your day-to-day life.
“If you believe you can do a thing, or if you believe that you cannot, in either case you are right,” said Henry Ford. Choose to have faith in yourself. Quietly focus on your aim, work steadily towards it without rushing or hassling yourself and you’ll get there. Don’t use your energy worrying about an outcome that hasn’t even happened.
If things don’t work out the way you hoped, don’t feel defeated. Think back and remember a time when you felt upset after something didn’t go to plan. You’ll likely recall that although you felt awful at the time, the setback led to something even better! This has certainly been the case for me. Embrace change and deviations—it’s good for you.
Say ‘Yes’
Success is about attitude. My best attribute is my positivity; it’s led me to achieve much of what I set out to do. Positivity at its simplest is telling yourself ‘yes’. For example, one of my goals as a young woman was to move to London. I was £3,000 in debt, had no savings and had no job to go to—but I quit my job, found a friend who was willing to move with me and did it.
I would only accept a job in journalism or as an editor as that was what I wanted to do. After three months of applications and interviews, I was offered a wonderful job, complete with one week’s training in the US. If I’d have told myself ‘no’ when I thought about moving—using the excuse of having no money, no savings and no income—I’d have gone nowhere. Instead, I set my sights on my goal, and went for it. At no point did I contemplate the idea that it wouldn’t work. I knew I’d do it, and after some hard grafting I made it.
Turn Fear Into Passion
If you feel fear, turn it into passion; if you feel anxiety, channel that stressful energy into a positive action to get rid of the cause of your anxiety rather than passively worrying. Be excited by your goal, not intimidated. By all means weigh up the pros and cons and carefully look at your options, but don’t talk yourself out of it unnecessarily.
Some things we have to leave to chance—you never know who or what might come your way to help you on your path. If you keep an optimistic attitude, things will start falling into place. When you think positively, you’ll see things differently, perhaps spotting opportunities and meeting people you wouldn’t have, had you nurtured a defeatist attitude.
Who Are You?
Pinpoint your strengths and harness them to work towards your goal. If you’re quiet and don’t like public speaking, make use of your writing skills or use the Internet, email and social media as much as you can—maybe you can even write a book using your experiences. If you hate writing and feel more comfortable on the phone than texting or emailing, focus on making connections this way.
I hate public speaking so I get my message across in written form. It works well for my personality and my skillset, and I enjoy it. As a teenager, I worked very hard to appear more confident and to disguise my shyness. Doing this was beneficial and helped me to grow, but I never tried to change my character. That’s almost impossible to do—you can alter the way you interact and react to situations and people, but not the way you feel inside. Remember, although you want to make others happy, accept who they are and to heal them, you must likewise apply the same approach to the way you treat yourself. Consider the way you work:
- Do you focus on one thing alone until it’s done, working swiftly with great focus?
- Do you multitask like crazy, completing things simultaneously and working quickly but accurately?
- Do you plan ahead, organizing each detail in advance before beginning?
- Perhaps you stop and start, taking a break from your project when you hit a creative block, and then get back to it when you’ve got more ideas.
- Maybe you thrive on a deadline, leaving everything to the last minute.
- Consider how much you enjoy working with others— would you like to have a business partner? Or would you prefer working alone without outside input? Are there gaps in your knowledge that would make a business partner invaluable?
Understanding how you approach projects will allow you to tailor your strategy to your character.
©2014 by Charlotte Anne Edwards.
Published by O-Books. All Rights Reserves.
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About the Author
Former Deputy and Senior Editor, Charlotte Anne Edwards is a freelancer and author who specializes in Mind, Body Spirit topics, the paranormal and mental health. She lives in Kent in the South of England where she works as a freelance journalist and writer. She regularly writes for Prediction magazine and was formally Deputy Editor of Soul&Spirit magazine. She has two degrees and is presently working her way through two fascinating distance-learning courses on religion, and physics.
