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Don't believe me? Think this is ridiculous? Or may be I am losing my mind?
Stop for a moment and just consider what would happen if you found yourself in a situation that demands that you come up with a quarter of a million dollars or something terrible will happen. May be someone you love so much needs life-saving surgery and he or she does not have insurance; or a dear friend is accused of a crime he or she didn't even commit and you are his or her only hope for bail money; or you're about to lose your house to foreclosure and end up on the street.
You earn like 60K a year (may be less), you have no real investments or money in the bank and you have no ‘wealthy" relative or friend. A stranger comes up to you and says they can give you the money -- and you don't even have to pay them back but you must first perform a task before they can give you the money -- all of it.
What you are being asked to do is not something immoral or illegal or life-threatening but something that if you didn't need the money really bad you'd never do it. Would you do it? Do it for someone you love, for a dear friend or to save your house?
If not, what would stop you? Pride? Stubbornness? Stupidity?
May be this "moral" story (I was told as a child) will make sense.
In a certain village, it was customary for the richest man in the village to send out word that on a particular day at a particular time he would give very precious jewelry, and gold and silver ornaments to anyone who showed up at the recital of the story of his charmed life. Every time he sent word out the villagers turned up in numbers. Before the gifts were handed out, the rich man told the story of his charmed life -- a very long story that went on and on for hours and hours. And even though it was the same story the villagers had heard so many times before, no one complained and no one got up to leave because at the end of the day, it was all well worth it.
On this particular day the rich man had been told the previous day by a seer (psychic) that he was dying the next day. And since he had no family or close friends (they say it's lonely when you are rich) he came up with a scheme to find someone to inherit all his wealth.
When the villagers were all seated, he told them he had a very bad stomach upset and asked the villagers to bear with him. As usual he began by telling the story of his charmed life but as he was telling the story he farted audibly. He apologized but continued with the story. The villagers were forgiving and let that one pass. When he farted the second time, a few villagers grumbled. By the fourth fart, the smell was unbearable and a few villagers got up and left. Fifth fart, more villagers got up and left. Ninth fart, all the villages had left except for one man.
Needless to say, this one man inherited all of the rich man's wealth. When the villagers asked him how he was able to sit there with all that smell, he replied, "a rich man's fart does not smell".
He became the richest man in the village. And the story of his charmed life he told at his own recital ceremonies was about how on that charmed day when the rich man farted, he was about to get up and leave but then changed his mind when he remembered that it was taboo to take back into the house any gifts that had been taken out of the house. He thought to himself, if everyone else leaves, the rich man has no choice but give me all those gifts.
At fart five, he knew he needed to stay focused on all the precious jewelry, gold and silver ornaments and not be overwhelmed by the smell of the rich man's fart. He silently told himself over and over: a rich man's fart does not smell… a rich man's fart does not smell… a rich man's fart does not smell...
The lesson of the story?
Don't let vain pride, stubbornness, short-sightedness or stupidity stand between you and what you want -- whether is it's a relationship or the life you dream about.
In my own life, there have been too many times when I let pride, stubbornness (and yes, occasional stupidity) stand between me and a good opportunity or relationship. But there have also been many times when I told myself "a rich man's fart does not smell". Sometimes it was someone whose help I needed to get me to the next level in my business but the person seemed bent on "beating me down" instead of "holding me up". But because I really needed their help, I set my eyes on what I wanted to achieve and not get overwhelmed by their antics.
Take a moment today to ask yourself, where am I hurting or failing myself because I am:
-- too proud to ask for help when I need it
-- too proud to take help when it's offered and I really I need it
-- too proud to admit that I don't know what I don't know
-- too proud to change my mind even when I know I am wrong
-- too proud to show emotion
-- too proud to admit that I care
-- too proud to admit that I am afraid/worried
-- too proud to loosen up
-- too proud to learn something new or try something different
-- too proud to risk failure
-- too proud to start from the bottom and work my way up
-- too proud to do the hard work required to get what I want
-- too proud to make the first move
-- too proud to say "I am sorry"
-- too proud to take advice from someone younger, someone with less formal education, someone I think is "inferior" to me
-- too proud to accept that I am not perfect
-- too proud to admit I am too proud
Too proud for your own good is another way to say it.
About Author: Internationally renowned Dating & Relationships Coach, Christine Akiteng has devoted years of her life re-uniting couples and has seen over and over again first hand what works. She has woven together solid-gold advice on just about every stage of getting back together with your ex to help you make the process less scary and shaky and more exciting and smooth as possible.
Christine's main website: http://www.torontosnumber1datedoctor.com
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(1 year 75 days ago.)
