The Tribune

By MICHELLE M MILLER

Do you ever wake up feeling that life is like a gamble in which the odds are stacked against you? What is worse is waking up in this gamble of a life feeling that you have already lost even before your day starts.

So battling the odds and betting against yourself becomes a daily routine. There are an alarming number of people who live this lifeless perception of life being a gamble in which they have already lost. So much so that they believe that life is literally against them and they can’t win for losing.

Accept this misleading belief and you live your life in a battle against yourself. Remember, you are the thinker who thinks the thoughts that creates your life. So much of what most people believe is only based on what they’ve been told. Very few know anything for sure.

They’ve read one book, heard one sermon, attended one religious service and figure that this repeating this external effort will bring clarity to move through life with joy. You must know more to do more and to be more.

The more entrenched reason why so many are betting against themselves is because they have been told they are not good enough, just as they are and need an accumulation of things to be worthy.

This unfortunate position leads to slavery to material possessions that somehow serve as validation. What’s even more damaging is, the seed of not being good enough spawns low self-esteem and leave many starved for acceptance. Once people see themselves as unworthy, they consume their lives in a quest to prove they are worthy.

This outward search for worthiness, leads to endless frustration. Truth is there are no things out there, of more value than you. You cannot fill an inward void with outward material things. Self-worth and self-value comes from a new understanding; not a new pair of shoes, car or house etc. You may feel better for a minute but after the novelty, you will still bet against you.

Your personal power is your birthright. But you must own yourself before you can own your power. Break away from the herd and learn to trust yourself. Of course, it is difficult to trust a self you have not taken the time to know.

Bottom line is, the idea that you are not good enough is false. You are born to win.

I suspect that many people who gamble are not necessarily playing to win as much as they are playing not to lose. Real winning however, is not what you can buy, but rather, who you can become. You cannot win at a life that you are not living.

Indeed we are all born with an inner spark; but by the time we start school our spark begins to fade. Labels and voices insist we fall in line and be like everybody else; pushing us towards the material trappings of what they call success. Good grades and lots of money is the revered award.

Yet, living from the outside in only reinforces the message of not being good enough. When you shift inward, you begin to unravel your own truth; you stop betting against yourself.

However, it takes work to live from the inside out. Take ownership of your life. Be willing to do the work. Taking the lead is about deciding whose truth you will honour - yours or the world. You need an expanded perception. There is no reality – only perceptions. We each live according to what we perceive as real.

No longer willing to live from the perception of the herd, I too had to come to terms with what was real for me. I learned to stand on my own truth and found the courage to bet on myself. This I believe is the key to mental, financial, emotional and spiritual liberation. As I trusted my inner voice, I gained the conscious freedom to be myself.

Now is your turn. Here are 7 steps to start betting on, rather than against yourself: Accept that you are good enough; Rise above negative influences; Know that life is on your side; Engage in meaningful pursuits; Find value in simplicity; Show up in your life with courage; Be productive – value your time.

People say that insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I think a more fitting definition of insanity is habitually betting against yourself and still expecting to win at life. You cannot really win if you don’t believe in your capacity to win.

Your best bet is to courageously be yourself. You have born for greatness. Make today the day that you take the lead in your own life by betting on yourself and being your greatest ally.

Now is the perfect time to shift your life paradigm