The Tribune

By MICHELLE MILLER

THE key difference between the sheep and the shepherd is one follows and the other leads. When it comes to your life, which role are you playing?

Shepherds by nature are leaders. The irony here is that every shepherd was once a sheep who transitioned to shepherd status – whether by force or by consent. The reality is, when it comes to your life, if you are not the shepherd, then you are in fact the sheep, which means that your life is not necessarily under your control.

You see having control over your life offers no middle ground; you are either you are in control or you are out of control. There’s no such thing as being sought of in control of your life.

Perhaps this straightforwardness about control is what makes it such a challenge. Instead of finding the courage to develop control, many opt to remain in the ‘sheep state’ of mental and emotional slavery.

This reduces confidence and produces the habit of blaming, complaining but remaining. Make no mistakes about it – those who blame and complain most are like the sheep. They are without the confidence to manage or govern themselves.

Constantly looking for a shepherd, they unknowingly become prisoners of a paradigm that’s long gone. The habit of fault finding disavows your power to master your mind. I am certain that as a reader of this column this habit doesn’t apply to you. You know all too well that you have the power. Nothing outside of you has more power over you than you do. For this reason, you must be the shepherd and assert lead yourself to greener pastures.

Don’t spend your time waiting on some self-appointed shepherd to lead you to higher ground. Quite frankly, you stand a greater chance of being led astray.

Let’s be honest, much of today’s highly touted ‘self-appointed’ shepherds are much more focused on their own personal prosperity and not necessarily focused on the personal well-being of the sheep in their flock.

Consequently, now is the time for all sheep to muster the confidence to stand up for themselves. Find your power within and reclaim control over your life. It’s time to become your own shepherd.

Fail to do so and you remain in the ‘sheep state’ stuck in the valley of fear and frustration. You can do better than this. Not because I say so you can but because you are born to win. You are made in the image of the master creator. You are born to be more than a sheep.

Having control speaks to your sense of confidence to take responsibility for how you show up in the world. Bear in mind that confidence is a step by step quality. It is the result of having clarity. Nobody goes to sleep and wakes up a surplus of confidence. It doesn’t work that way. You must work at it gradually. Everything takes time, effort and commitment.

You will get out of life only what you put in. If you stay in the bondage of being a sheep, you will live a life of frantically looking for what you already possess. There can be no greater frustration.

Now, if you find that you are content living in this state, then you have succeeded at living an ordinary life.

However, if you desire to live a life of significance; having meaningful impact and you are willing to invest the commitment, then you are moving towards becoming the shepherd. Start now to do the work on your mind and your thinking skills.

Leader to leader, this is your life and you have full authority to control how you manage yourself. Decide now to get in the driver seat and leave the ‘sheep state’ – be the shepherd and govern your own life. Make today the day that you reclaim control over your life. Being the shepherd gives you the unstoppable confidence to live the life you love.

What do you think?

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