It’s hard to be content with yourself sometimes. You might feel like you’re not quite good enough to stand up to the rest of the world. You long to experience the riches of someone else’s life. Practice celebrating your gifts rather than being envious of the talents of others. You’re stuck with you, whether you like it or not. You might as well look around and check out your own aptitudes. Pretty soon you may be surprised to discover you aren’t lacking at all. In fact, you are rich with talent.
250
Congratulations! You have arrived at day 250! How do you feel? You are more than two-thirds of the way through the year, and your life is changing—maybe drastically. This is the point where you are probably feeling one of two things: either you are gaining confidence, or you are completely confused. Don’t worry. Either way you are right on track.
Spend at least thirty minutes writing in your journal today. Try to capture the emotions that have come up over the last 250 days. What has the journey been like so far? Has it been a vacation, or has it been hard work? Maybe it has been a little of both. Specifically how have you changed?
You have been asked to complete a lot of exercises in the last couple of months. You are continuing to increase your awareness, but now you are adding concrete actions to back up your newfound knowledge. Has that been difficult? Sometimes transformation is painful. Have you been willing to change?
Secondly, take some time today to meditate about the extent to which you are completing the exercises in this book. Have you really been getting into the work, or have you turned in a half-hearted effort? Are you waiting to see if you notice any minor changes before you really go for it?
Finally, do something really nice for yourself today. You’ve come a long way since and you have an interesting road ahead. Stop and appreciate this moment.
251
It is important to have confidence in yourself, but there is a line you shouldn’t cross: the line into self-absorbed thinking. If you are all wrapped up in yourself you do make a pretty small package.
Today you are going to look at an alternative to being wrapped up in yourself. What if you took a genuine interest in other people? It is important to be in tune with your own thoughts and feelings, but you are not all there is in this world. Look around and see who else is out there. Make friends, help others, and learn from those around you. If you do so, you are latching on to a wealth of knowledge, camaraderie, and love that will nourish you in ways you cannot even begin to imagine.
Your assignment today is to make a new friend. You may decide to talk to someone at work that you’ve never interacted with before. You could also strike up a conversation with someone in a waiting room. Age doesn’t matter. You might find one of your children’s friends fascinating if you spend a few minutes talking with them.
The object of this exercise is not to turn you into a creepy stalker or a nosy neighbor. Just take an interest in someone else when the opportunity arises. People really do enjoy talking about themselves when given a chance. You probably won’t have trouble starting a conversation. Make it your goal to find out something new and interesting about another human being. Pay attention to others for a day and see how it enriches your life.
252
You will be studying friendships for the next few days, and one of the most important aspects of a good friendship is highlighted in the quote above, attributed to Winston Churchill’s mother. Treat your friends like your
