Occupy The Driver's Seat For Your Life

Every person sees the world differently, so essentially, there are six billion human versions of reality on this planet and each perceiving its own truth.

— Bruce H. Lipton

As a human being of sound mind (and I believe you are because you are reading this book), you must become the master of your life and the architect of your own destiny. You must not allow your life to be dictated by other people or things, including your circumstances. This means you must occupy the driver's seat for your life. This chapter suggests seven things you must understand to become a true master of your life. First, is the awareness that our realities of life originate from our thoughts. The first time I read this statement, I had to repeat reading it three times before I could believe what I was reading. But I have done extensive research on this, and I can share with you, with confidence and conviction, that it is indeed true. Second is the awareness that we can have full control of our minds and our thought processes. The major problem is that too few people can fully comprehend this fact of life. Third is the awareness of the fact that we truly enjoy our lives only when we have been able to control our mind and our thinking patterns. We must understand that life is supposed to be enjoyable; it's your birthright. Yet too few people truly enjoy their lives. Fourth is the awareness that there is no hidden magical secret that is revealed to a few people only, in controlling our minds and thought processes. This knowledge has been there since time immemorial and has been articulated by scholars from all over the world. Fifth is the awareness that we are naturally programed to react negatively to new things. Negativity is some kind of a natural self-protection mechanism, but it ends up being a major disempowering factor to individuals, which in turn blocks us from acquiring new and exciting knowledge and, hence, limits our true potential. Sixth, we must watch our mental attitudes. It is our attitudes towards life that determine the outcomes we get from life. Seventh is the awareness that thoughts function as a true master key of life. They have the potential to open up new horizons in our life but can also lock and block the avenues to our success.

Your realities of life originate from your thoughts: For a long time, I have been thinking about realities/truths of life. I noted, a long time ago, that different individuals have different realities about the same things. We observe in our everyday life that different people have different interpretations, perceptions, feelings, and opinions about the same things. And these are their realities or truths from the heart! But surprisingly, many people consider reality as something solid out there, which everyone is capable and actually expected to perceive, observe, or see the same way! I am not trying to be cynical, but most of us have heard many sayings that depict this notion. There are many Kiswahili sayings like "Mimi ni mkweli" (I am truthful); Msema kweli ni mpenzi wa Mungu (God likes people who tell the truth); "Ukweli unauma" (truth hurts); "Nimempa vidonge vyake/ukweli wake" (I told him/her the truth) and so many other sayings that give the impression that there is only one truth. This is a big fallacy that this book attempts to expound on! There are many realities of the same thing, or perhaps I would say there are many versions of reality for the same thing, depending on people's perceptions and perspectives. WE SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY! WE PROVE THINGS DIFFERENTLY! AND IN ESSENCE, TRUTHS ARE DIFFERENT FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE! Hence, when you want to understand the truth from another person's point of view, you must understand the context, i.e. the background, environment or circumstance, and the angle from which one is looking at a thing and forming opinions or drawing conclusions. This is because truth or reality is contextual. Some people have gone to the extent of saying that there is no such a thing as truth; there is only perspective truth.

I have done extensive research on the topic. My major finding has been that our realities of life originate from our thoughts. In other words, our thoughts create realities of our lives. The opinions we form and the conclusions we reach about the things we observe in the world outside us depend much on our thoughts. Likewise, the feelings, resentments, joy, encouragement, and all the emotions we experience in our bodies depend on the kind of thoughts that are going on in our minds. Thoughts help us shape the material world that surrounds us. Likewise, the feelings and other emotions we experience in the world within us also originate from our thoughts. Hence, the realities we testify in both our world within and the world without originate from our thoughts, individually and/or collectively.

Fortunately, we can control our minds and our thoughts: Many people, irrespective of their level of education, tend to think that thoughts just happen in one's mind and they do not have much they can do to control them. Statements like "you hurt my feelings" or "you make me feel bad" are very common, and resentment, accusations, and blaming others for individual failures and distress are the order of the day. All these demonstrate the misunderstanding and lack of realization of the simple fact that thoughts are the only culprit for our feelings. As a result, many people go through life experiencing misery and feeling helpless because they do not realize that what they CHOOSE to think about is actually the root cause of their misery and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness.

My research suggests that every person capable of thinking on his/ her own, irrespective of individual particular circumstances, historical background, physical strength, religious belief and affiliation, and even intellectual capacity, educational attainment, and other credentials, has the ability and power to control his/her mind and thoughts and acquire anything he/she desires in life.

I know there are many people whose first natural reaction to the statement above would be "Yah! I have heard that stuff before, but it does not work for me." Let me assure you, from my deepest knowledge and understanding, that by the time you finish reading this book, you will agree with me that indeed it is true: we have the power and ability to control our minds, think on our own, and acquire anything we desire, only that we must develop a burning desire and fierce determination and take unwavering action towards it. A mere wish is not good enough, and...