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Self-Image

Who Do You Think You Are?

Feb 3rd, 2009
by Gary N. Larson.
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Who you think you are has more to do with the way you behave than you realize. That’s really the key – who you really believe you are. If you really believe you are a failure, if you believe you are bad at math, if you believe you are a poor public speaker – those beliefs manifest themselves in your actions. You become no more than what you believe you are.

Putting on a pair of glasses

What if I told you that you could take your beliefs and change them in the same way that you can take off a pair of glasses and put on another pair of glasses. When you put on another pair of glasses, let’s say a pair of sunglasses, you see everything differently – EVERYTHING! Now what you see, you see through the lenses of those glasses.

Your beliefs are the same way. Everything you do or every decision you make goes through the lens of your beliefs. If you believe that you’re a failure or you believe that you’re this kind of person or that kind of person, then no matter what, you are always seeing yourself through that lens. What you need to do is change the lens of your beliefs – the beliefs of who you are. (more…)

Sheep Thief or Saint?

Dec 15th, 2008
by Gary N. Larson.
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Sheep

I once heard a story about two brothers who lived in a small town in the country. The story goes that both of these brothers were caught stealing sheep. For their punishment they were branded on the forehead with the letters “ST,” for “Sheep Thief.”

One brother was so ashamed that he left the community. Everywhere he went he had to constantly explain the letters on his forehead. He remained bitter about the whole thing and always felt he had been treated unfairly. He eventually died a lonely man and was buried in an unknown grave.

His brother, on the other hand, stayed in the community and tried to win back his neighbors’ trust. He did everything he could to show the people of the town that he was a changed man. He volunteered for community service projects, helped his neighbors when he saw the need, and did all he could to become the kind of man that he knew he ought to be.

Many years later a visitor came to town. He asked a local resident about the strange letters on the old man’s forehead. The resident replied that he had forgotten exactly why the letters were there, but that he thought “ST” most likely was an abbreviation for the word “Saint.”

Like the brothers in this story, each of us makes mistakes in our lives – sometimes big ones and sometimes little ones. And like the brothers in this story we can choose what we do about the mistakes we make. We are the ones that decide how our mistakes are going to affect us.

May each of us choose the good path and become the person we know we ought to be so that perhaps someday we may be known as a “Saint” and not a “Sheep Thief.” Thank you.

Copyright © 2008 Gary N. Larson

Ponder Your Life – Find Your Mission

Dec 5th, 2008
by Gary N. Larson.
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Before a person can truly make big changes in their life they need to take some time to explore themselves and discover who they really are deep down inside. They need to discover what their real life passions and desires are. This process can take a long time. It’s not easy. But with some guidance you can go through this in a day or so.

Time Alone

My suggestion is that you go off by yourself, take a day off work, go away from your normal surroundings, preferably up in the mountains or out in the country, somewhere where you are closer to nature, away from the things of the world, where you can almost commune with God, so to speak, with that infinite intelligence that’s out there, the creator; and sit down and think and ponder your life. Bring a note pad, bring a tape recorder, whatever is comfortable, but some way of recording your thoughts and feelings.

Begin asking yourself questions like, what is it your really enjoy doing, what are the things that you are good at? If you didn’t have to go to work today and you had all the money there was in the world or any of the pressures or demands to earn money, what would you be doing? Now don’t say, “I’d be traveling and visiting Europe.” I mean, okay, so you go on your vacation and you come back, then what would you do with your time? What would you spend your time doing? What do you enjoy so much that you would do for free and what do you do so well that people would pay you to do it? That’s what I think true success is, is to find out what that is.

Find the Real You

Really what we’re doing here is exploring to find out who you really are. I believe deep down inside every person is the real person, the missing person. I think when we were a child, when we were young, the passions, the dreams we had when we were in grade school, that’s the real you. But when we get older people tell us, “You can’t do that” or “You’ve got to do this” and we get buffeted and we get put down and our dreams get squashed and they get suppressed and after a while we forget about them.

That person, the true, real person gets pushed down inside of you and we put on all these fronts. The fake you is what people see. We put on an image of who we are. But that’s not the real you. The real you still exists down inside and you need to bring that real you out, that missing person. So, each one of us has to find out what the real, true desires of our hearts are. Those desires come from the real you.

Are You On the Wrong Road?

For example, I personally know people who have fantastic talents. I know a man who is a superb artist. When he was young there wasn’t anything he couldn’t draw. He could draw people, he could draw cars, he could draw architecture. He was a wonderful artist. Everybody thought he was going to grow up to be an architect or commercial artist, I mean he just loved to draw.

He’s about fifty years old right now. He has spent his career as a postal worker delivering the mail. Now, there’s nothing wrong with being a postal worker. There’s nothing wrong with delivering the mail. Somebody has to do it. It’s an honorable job. But that’s not what he was sent here to this earth to do. That’s not his real passion, his real dream, his real desire and yet he spent his life doing something that he doesn’t enjoy doing.

Can you imagine if twenty or thirty years ago somebody would have sat him down and had him go through this process and realize he should be doing those things that he loves to do, the things wherein his talents and dreams and passions lie. What kind of a career would he have had? He would have looked forward to going to work. He wouldn’t even call it work, it would be play for him.

The Most Tragic Thing in the World

To me the most tragic thing in this world is someone who never realizes their dreams and passions inside of them that I believe God has given them. How sad for those who came to this earth and didn’t use those talents and passions and dreams inside of them, but merely brushed them aside or buried them.

So what am I getting at here? We’re talking about change and yet real change, overall change, of a person takes place when they discover who they really are inside and bring that person out, dust him off, wake him up, whatever it takes.

See the Future “You”

Now once you discover the real you, your desires and passions, then what? At this point I believe you need to get a vision in your mind of that person. See yourself one year, two years, three years down the road and where you’re going to be. What would this person do for a living? What would this person do from day to day? What would he or she look like? How would they dress? How would they act, talk and walk? What time would they get up in the morning? What time would they go to bed at night? How would they treat their spouse? How would they treat their children? Get a picture or vision in your mind of this and then move towards it. See yourself as that person. That is, I believe, when true change can take place inside of you.

When I say change it’s almost as if you are getting rid of the false “you” and revealing the real “you.” That’s when huge, positive things happen in your life.

So take the time to ponder your life, explore your true passions, develop a plan, create a vision, and move towards it.

Copyright © 2008 Gary N. Larson

Quest for Immortality

Dec 3rd, 2008
by Gary N. Larson.
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Since the beginning of time man has been fascinated with eternal life. We have been intrigued with the idea of living forever. Let’s face it. We don’t like the idea of getting old or dying. It scares us.

Ponce de Leon

In the early 1500s the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon heard fantastic tales of crystal spring waters flowing from living springs among the Bahama Islands in which he who bathed in these waters would be instantly endowed with immortal youth and great beauty. He was getting older and dreamed of finding this “fountain of youth” and bathing in it.

He sailed from Puerto Rico for the Bahamas with several ships outfitted at his expense. He went from island to island tasting of and bathing in every stream and lake that he found but with no luck. He continued on and came upon a wooded shoreline with large flowering trees that filled the air with their fragrance. He believed he had finally found the fabled paradise.

It was Easter morning when Ponce and his companions landed on the shores of this beautiful land. He named the land after a Spanish Easter holiday, “Feast of Flowers” or in Spanish, “Pascua de Florida.” Today we just call it Florida. And old people still flock there!

Are you searching for the Fountain of Youth?

It’s kind of silly to think that someone would be searching for the fountain of youth…or is it? Are there people today searching for the fountain of youth? Are you?

Americans have spent billions of dollars trying to look younger and live longer. We are fighting old age tooth and nail. We look in the mirror and wonder, “who is that old person?” Just last year over two million Americans spent over $7 billion on cosmetic surgery. Men are getting facelifts and so are 80-year-old grandmothers. These days you can spend your money on:

  • Botox treatments
  • Microdermabrasion treatments
  • Chemical peels
  • Laser photo rejuvenation treatments
  • Rogaine to get your hair back

The HGH Craze

The latest craze is HGH or Human Growth Hormone treatments. They are supposed to reverse your bodies aging clock. You inject yourself with it on a daily basis and it will only cost you $10,000 per year to do it.

New Age Books

There are books out now that supposedly teach you how to live forever with special treatments and diets and supplements. Now I understand that as we age our body stops growing except for our ears and nose. They continue to grow. Can you imagine what we’d look like if we lived to be 180. Would we be able to see past our noses?

Frozen in Time

Now if you want you can have your body frozen when you die with the hopes that in, say, 100 or 200 years someone will find a way to bring you back to life. This is for real. It is called Cryonics. For only $120,000 you can have this done to your body when you die. There are three of these Cryonic facilities in the United States. They will take your body and put it in a metal pod and fill it with liquid nitrogen and keep your body frozen at 196 degrees below zero Celsius, the point at which virtually all molecular activity ceases. Currently there are 91 people in the United States that have had this procedure done to their bodies with over a thousand more who have signed up – all with the hope of one day waking up in Utopia and living forever.

Aren’t we all guilty of it?

Come on. Admit it. Aren’t we all guilty in one sense or another of pursuing the so-called “Fountain of Youth?” We stare at the mirror in the morning and wonder if there is something that can be done to erase the ravages of time. Our medicine cabinets are filled with creams and ointments that promise youth! We take dietary supplements in hopes of lengthening our lives. We fight aging and death tooth and nail. But is that where we should be spending our time and energy?

Staring at Death in the Face

Several years ago I participated in an American Red Cross blood drive. They take a very large needle and stick it in your arm and proceed to drain out several gallons of your blood (or so it seems!) Even though I was weak after the procedure I still felt good that I had done my duty and perhaps helped save someone’s life.

Several weeks later I received a letter in the mail from the American Red Cross. This is what it said:

Dear Mr. Larson: You recently donated blood and we appreciate your support of our blood program. During that donation you were informed that several screening tests would be performed to determine the suitability of your blood for donation. During the routine testing of your blood donation, an abnormality was discovered. We have enclosed the results of all tests performed on your donation.

(At this point I thought to myself, “Oh, I probably have low blood sugar or something.” Then I read on…)

Your Test Results: The Red Cross screens all blood for the presence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS. One of the screening tests detects antibodies to HIV.

Suddenly my own mortality became very real for me. I sat down and read the letter over and over at least five times. There were two huge concerns going through my mind at that time. The first was the whole stigma of HIV and AIDS. If I did have it, where did I get it from and what will everyone think. The second, ever-bigger concern, was that I could die from this. I wasn’t ready to die. I had a whole life ahead of me. Suddenly life became so fragile, so precious.

The letter said chances are it was a false positive test and that I didn’t have the HIV virus. It said that I should see my doctor as soon as possible to get another blood test. I remember that day sitting in the clinic. They had my chart on a clipboard and the nurse wrote a big red HIV on the top of it. “Thanks,” I thought. Everyone that got my clipboard would look at it and look at me. I just knew they were not thinking good things about me.

Live the life that you have

Gratefully, all the tests came out negative and I am the perfect specimen of health to this day, ha ha! But, for a brief moment in time the possibility of death stared me in the face. It was very sobering. My life began to sort out in a different order than before. Things I thought were so important suddenly had very little value. Other things I had long neglected, such as my family, became intensely important.

I’m actually very grateful to have gone through that experience with donating blood because of the lessons learned. Perhaps its not the number of years that we live that give our life value. Perhaps, rather than spend our time and energy chasing the fountain of youth we ought to live the life that we have. Thank you.

Copyright © 2008 Gary N. Larson

I Have Quit!

Oct 20th, 2008
by Gary N. Larson.
1 comment

quit

Recently I read of a man who had tried for years to overcome his drinking habit. He knew his drinking was taking a toll on his life and was costing him many opportunities. He tried every way he could think of to quit and failed each time. Finally he developed a habit, whenever he was offered a drink or when temptation arose, to say firmly, “I have quit.”

It wasn’t “I’m trying to quit” or “I’m going to quit.” It was “I have quit.” End of discussion. There was no more deliberation or debate after that. The decision was already made that “I have quit drinking.” He didn’t have to think about whether he should take the drink or not. He simply said, “I have quit” as if it were a simple, ordinary fact of life. As a result of using this method, the man hasn’t taken another drink in twenty years.

You can use the same technique for a number of obstacles in your life that you are trying to overcome, whether it’s smoking, overeating, lack of exercise, cutting out fat in your diet, overcoming pornography or drugs or any challenge you are dealing with. You don’t have to deliberate or debate it any more. You can simply say, “I have quit!”

Thank you.

Master Yourself, Master Your Life

Copyright © 2008 Gary N. Larson

Self-Pity – The ‘Luxury’ You Can’t Afford

Oct 8th, 2008
by Gary N. Larson.
12 comments

Tragedy and misfortune strike people every day. We open the newspaper and read about terrible things that happen to others. We ourselves are not immune to having bad things happen in our lives. As bad as these things are, there is something even worse than the tragedy itself. It is self-pity.

You can see how this can happen. People get immersed in a horrible experience and their energy is sapped and their defenses are down and it becomes easy to fall into the trap of self-pity. They begin to dwell on their hurts and hardships, whether real or imagined, and begin to enjoy talking about them and sharing them with others.

Self-Pity a Luxury?

Why do I call it a luxury? The dictionary tells us that a luxury is something we indulge in, is something we enjoy, is costly and is not necessary. Self-pity fits that description perfectly. (more…)

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