When struggles became simple

Struggles became simple after I made one small adjustment in my thinking

As an independent artist and business person, I struggled for 20 years before things started to click.

In my attempts to better myself, something important was revealed to me, and that is the principle that most of our suffering is self imposed. Those feelings of discomfort, fear, apprehension, torment, doubt, can often be directly attributed to our own expectations not being met.

It is wanting this moment to be different than it is.

It is DESIRE manifested into BITTERNESS.

“You should treat me different, you don’t. That sucks.”

“Pain hurts, I don’t like the way it feels. That sucks.”

“I want this, I don’t have it. That sucks.”

I had impossible standards that created impossible relationships. And I’m not talking about with people. (although that caused problems as well) I’m talking about my relationship with the universe.

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When I speak on the universe, I’m speaking in the broad sense of how the energy and functionality of our world operates. These aren’t woo-woo daydreamer concepts. These are observable principles that exist.

When I plant and tend a seed, stuff happens.

When I take an action, a reaction occurs. And those reactions form a recognizable and fairly predictable pattern.

So when I REALLY understood my suffering was self imposed, I figured out how to HACK my thoughts and completely change my future.

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I cannot control YOU. I cannot force YOU to want to buy my work. I cannot force YOU to like me. My goal cannot be to become rich and famous because that requires YOU to do what I want.

So NOT needing YOU to provide something to ME as a result of MY effort meant the pressure was off. I no longer required ANYTHING specific to happen. I only required consistent effort from myself. And that is VERY doable.

My goal changed from impossible to extremely achievable on a daily, almost moment by moment basis.

I changed from EXPECTING certain results out of my work, to being CURIOUS about what would happen if I just kept practicing.

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I changed from WANTING more money, to accepting that money may or may not ever come. I was working at a gig that managed to pay the bills, and I made time for my art. I accepted this reality. So the amount I was receiving or not receiving was neither a positive or negative experience, because it is an irrelevant factor to my true purpose of being an artist.

It was almost absurdly simple. I would work every day to become the best man and artist I can be. I can do this under any and all circumstances.

This also means I'll NEVER be the best man and artist I can be if I still have another day to get better.

Hmmm...humility? Is that you? You never told me how empowering you were!

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It's WAY easier to EXPECT nothing from yourself beyond TRUTH in you ACTIONS.

This is what you say you want, so BEHAVE AS SUCH.

The universe cannot respond to conflicting messages. Your thoughts and your actions must be in alignment to open up thepathways of the future you desire.

And let me fortify your determination; the universe REQUIRES a great deal of convincing. It's been around for a while so it heavily doubts humans when they make claims about what they want.

So when you SAY "I want to be an artist" and the universe sees you haven't practiced in weeks, and/or sees that you don't even want to tell anyone that you did some work when you did, then the universe is going to reward you accordingly.

This is a hobby, not a serious pursuit. Here are the results of having a hobby." A+B=C That's the universe giving you what your ACTIONS say you want.

Conversely, when you SAY "I want to be an artist" and the universe sees you at the dek every day, sees you telling people every day about your work, sees that you're trying to get better, sees that you have the right intentions for the abundance once received, it begins to believe you're serious and will slowly trickle in tests of success to see how you respond. Respond well, and you'll get the next test of success.

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The final breakdown is this: Ultimately, your world is yours. The people you have in it. The way you spend your time. The way you act and react.

All of these things are attracted to each other and WILL multiply.

Your past thoughts, decisions, and actions will always reveal the truth of your current circumstances.

Knowing this can help you direct furture thoughts, decisions, and actions into existence more in line with what you claim to want.

This was my big change. Complete acceptance of MY personal responsibility for being in MY current circumstances.

This is a daunting task. Bearing the full responsibility for your current circumstances is a brutal revelation. We dig ourselves into VERY deep holes. It's disturbing to realize we put ourselves there. Anchoring yourself in your truth comes with intense change in how you behave, and therefore will disrupt your existence and those in it massively. There will be many moments where the desire to stay in the comfort zone of mediocrity will be difficult to fend off. It's easy to do so.

But stay steadfast. Equip yourself with forgiveness and fire, and blaze your trail as you never have before.

Above all, be kind in your journey.

Your goal, after all, is to becone a a better person.