The most important obstacle that man must overcome to achieve the goals and the state that he intends for his life is within himself. There is no greater test, there is no enemy with greater power.
Man has shown an inexhaustible ability to dominate nature, to prevail over disease, to attack poverty, to challenge the distances that separate us from heavenly bodies, to improve the quality of life on the planet and to understand minute secrets. that hide behind sub-atomic particles. He has shown the ability and power to overcome the adversities that are presented to him, to conquer borders and unravel mysteries. Yet he remains small, incapable, and lacking to control himself, to impose himself on his fallen nature, to attack his poverty of spirit, to challenge the distance that separates him from magnanimity, to improve the quality of his own life and to understand the valuable secrets that detail and fleeting moments hide.He has shown a lack of ability to bend himself and achieve genuine peace.
Man has taken power and patrimony over his environment, but it is still very difficult for him to be his own master. And for this reason it remains an incomplete being. A giant with feet of clay who places the kingdom he has built at risk of implosion.
Despite all the ability and power he exhibits, man is actually one of the most vulnerable creatures on the planet. Unlike other species, for a very long time of its life it is a being completely dependent on the help of others, a being exposed to the variables of its environment, with few resources to face and shape its closest environment. He spends a quarter of his life subjected to external influence and the same trying to establish his identity and his sense of belonging. As a child he is subject to the criteria that his elders have to form him and when he is young to the conceptual formats that society prints him to continue his development. In the first stage of his "independence" he tests the character of the training he has received and experiments with it,timidly probing the reality that surrounds him and that he is just beginning to know. In all this he consumes at least a good part of his life on earth.
In the stage of complete "exposure" to the factors of his environment, man develops his character and personality as a product of the influence he has (family, educational institutions). In the stage in which he tries to define his identity and his belonging to the environment, he develops his life based on what he has become, or it will be said more properly: what they have turned him into, because finally he arrives to the first stage of its independence as a product programmed by others.
From childhood to early youth, he does not have the possibility to evaluate himself with reference to anything, he does not have the capacity (and above all the need) to do any kind of introspection, he can in fact be a well-formed "product" and oriented, or not to be, but it does not affect him at all and does not benefit him at all. It is from the moment in which it develops with a certain independence when the journey of this evaluation begins that it will conclude as the factor that determines the final result of its existence. How much time of your life is spent in this process? 20, 30, 40 years? While it is difficult to determine chronological precision, it is actually easy to establish that this entire period can only be defined as one of Unconsciousness. There is no remedy for this, it is a problem associated with the species.For many years of his life, man is simply unable to be his own master. The possibility that this happens is activated only from the first experiences of independent life and how these condition their way of thinking and understanding their reality.
The referential parameters against which man evaluates himself are related to the results achieved by his acts of life, to the satisfaction, tranquility and benefit that he finds in them from the intimate corner of his own point of view and from space vast that constitute "the others." Only when you act of your own free will, subject to your personal judgment, are you exercising a concrete role in life and can you begin that process of “measuring” yourself.
Identifying the virtuous aspects of character, personality, and general ability to achieve proposed goals and performances does not take long. The man realizes early on what he does well and what allows him to stand out. Failures are treated at this stage with kindness, with the logical sense of who is just experiencing and interacting with life. These same shortcomings, errors, shortcomings and what this determines about results and performance, are attributed to the whim of the conditions posed by the environment and the behavior of others. In general, this is the period of "little guilt", the stage of the hero who is conquering his own life, the time of the victim who owes his misfortunes to the random whim of the environment or the "deficiency" of others. The man,At this point in its life, it is a recently “manufactured” product and it unfolds according to the way it was “programmed”: errors are a normal part of the process and their probable origin demands little or no attention..
This becoming can last a long time (in the case of many, a lifetime). The fact of associating problems, adversity, lack, inability to achieve goals or states of well-being to other factors that are not external, comes later; at the exact point that should be called "genuine maturity." And it is that maturity does not have to be understood as a chronological phenomenon, maturity must always be understood as that point at which man reaches the knowledge and comprehensive understanding of the things that happen to him and the things that surround him, the moment of the conscious interpretation of what he is and what it means in relation to his environment, the moment in which he recognizes the incapacity that lies beyond the virtues, the weakness that hides behind the strengths.Only from this point can you face the possibility of deep Introspection that eventually leads to self-ownership.
This critical moment reaches everyone, at one time or another in life, earlier those who had to suffer premature misfortunes, later those who enjoyed more benign external conditions or reached the conscious stage of their lives better prepared. Here, man faces the dilemma: does he impose himself on his circumstances and achieve his goals by dint of his virtues, ability and experience, or does he do so by first treating his defects, shortcomings, shortcomings and weaknesses? The first is a way to fight the "external enemy", the second is a path aimed at first dominating the "internal enemy".
There are important qualitative differences between both courses of action: the fight against external conditions without considering the internal aspect demands a greater effort; essentially an effort that never ends; the feeling of victory is always fleeting and partial. This struggle consumes large amounts of energy, seldom guarantees comprehensive success, and rarely provides peace and quiet. It is the story of millions of human beings who fight tirelessly every day of their lives, overcome adversity, conquer goals and dreams but do not achieve satisfaction, peace and a feeling of duty accomplished.
The relentless struggle against external conditions is similar to Don Quixote's struggle with the windmills. It has a curious sense in the immediate and is ultimately meaningless. The "external enemy" is never conquered, it only renews itself, transforms itself and takes the lead again. The "warrior" is only the owner of transitory states and momentary victories, because the circumstances, which are generated and regenerated without pause, cannot be owned by anyone.
One can possess excellent conditions to conquer by force the opportunities and adversities that life presents, but if this task is not preceded by the conquest of oneself, it ends up being vain. Man cannot be master of his circumstances, but he can be master of himself, and by being so he avoids becoming a permanent victim of eventualities.
Maturity presents you with the opportunity to do a deep introspection, question yourself and take up the battle against that "internal enemy" that you bring with you after a process of training and development over which you had no control. This decision enables the possibility for you to end up owning yourself and achieve not only a set of worthy victories, but also inner peace.
Man's battle to be master of himself begins by BEING AWARE: of what he is and what he is NOT, of what he has and what he does NOT have, of his strengths and WEAKNESSES, of his virtues and of their defects. Of what is not and should be, of what it does not have and could have, of the weaknesses to be overcome and the defects that should not exist.
Awareness is a state that overcomes doubts and self-delusions, "reasonable justifications", benign lies, complacency and resignation. Only when man becomes fully aware of himself can he act against the enemy within. From the Awareness, the struggle begins that can end with internal victory. This fight may be long and unfinished, but the point you reach will never fall behind the point you started from. Awareness is in itself the most important victory, because from there everything is beneficial, to the extent that desire, will and strength allow it.
No battle or victory against the "external enemies" gives that permanent renewal of strength that comes with the success that is achieved against the "internal enemy". Surpassing himself surpasses in man all the value he can find in victories of another kind. Here is formed that virtuous circuit of energy, that propulsion system that can lead you to where you can not go otherwise.
Awareness is the most difficult part of the process, it is the step that most never take. Self-justification is a powerful enemy, it finds reasons easily, it finds grounds simply. "I am not the problem" is a title of great power, among other things because it can be completely true. We must not forget that the search for faults or defects in others will always have results: ALL people have faults and defects! And that makes it easy to live justifying one's own with that of others.
Making the decision to accept the existence of your own weaknesses and defects is not just a matter of courage, it is one of the most intelligent measures that man can adopt in his life. In this way it concludes by standing out clearly. In this way it grows integrally, more than the average of people who will always live justifying themselves by what others do. Becoming aware of what is and what is not constitutes an unmatched comparative advantage in your personal and professional development. There is no fight that pays more than that undertaken against the internal enemy, the immediate reward is a satisfaction that no external victory can match, a level of energy that the environment does not provide, and a final feeling of inner peace and peace with the world.
Once the Awareness is produced, the fight continues directed by THE REASON. This is what finally "encapsulates" each thing that must be corrected or that must change. Just as every form of happiness is private, man alone, in the absolute privacy of his consciousness, must establish what he has to deal with. Reason in it does not have to fail, especially because it takes part in the task after Acceptance, that which has been achieved through Awareness. The Reason specifies each element that must be treated, and at the same time contextualizes it to identify causes and effects. As Consciousness remembers, reinforces the message and motivates the response, Reason evaluates the particular forms the action will take.The Reason is contained and at the same time impelled by the Consciousness so that the corrective and the changes begin. If Consciousness has defined WHAT, Reason evaluates HOW. In the latter there is no recipe, each man defines the course to the exact extent of his possibilities and potential. In many cases this part of the process takes time to clarify, the course of action is defined after complex evaluations, doubts and fears, within the framework of an indispensable intimacy.
Reason, which establishes the HOW, is followed by Action and this is supported by THE WILL. It is well said that wars are won through the Will! Consciousness contains, Reason guides, and Will is what allows the process to be carried out to victory.
The most important weakness that The Will has is its wear. The phrase "willpower" is associated with a certain level of energy. All human beings have Will, without it it is not possible to understand any type of action, however the fact is that the Will is energized with different types and levels of energy, depending on what it is applied to. Generally there is a greater Will for the action that represents lower levels of difficulty and high satisfaction and less Will for the one that implies high difficulty and little immediate satisfaction.
In the battle that is waged against the "internal enemy", the energy linked to the Will to win is the most precious and delicate factor. The recommended formula to guarantee success is in the gradual administration of goals and effort. As it was established, the energy that produces the "victory" in the battle that is sustained with the "internal enemy" is very high; and she is the one that must be used to bring the campaign to a successful end. This "victory" has to be repeated many times, until the greater purpose is achieved. Therefore the objective itself must be intelligently fragmented. On few occasions the premise that Success is written with a small “e” is better applied, because it is the small achievements that must support the fulfillment of the task.The integrity of the Will in the campaign is not guaranteed by the quality of the award, rather by the addition of many minor but significant achievements. Man's struggle with himself lasts a lifetime without reaching the goal, so it is the walk itself that must be the objective. It is true that consciousness contains and motivates, but without positive feedback it ends up giving in. Hence the fundamental importance of solid Will to sustain the process.but without positive feedback, he ends up giving in. Hence the fundamental importance of solid Will to sustain the process.but without positive feedback, he ends up giving in. Hence the fundamental importance of solid Will to sustain the process.
Finally, the campaign that begins with Awareness and reaches progressive “successes” from the Reason that guides it and The Will that sustains it, must conclude in each case with THE CELEBRATION.
The Celebration deserves an important section. And not necessarily because it emerges as a natural product of a hard battle, but as an indispensable sign of the benignity that man owes to himself, because just as he naturally tends to be benign with his errors and defects, so with greater property he should be with their successes and achievements. The latter, an act of kindness that shines in the light, the former being a hidden act in the shadows of guilt.
The Celebration also has a powerful effect on fear, on fear, those dangerous passengers that inevitably accompany the process. Celebratory acts feed courage, strengthen it; they consolidate the premises on which consciousness is based and constitute an effective vaccine against the failures that await along the way.
The Celebration is the warrior's reward, it is his just reward, it is the song of victory. Just as nothing can prevent life from waiting for you at every turn with its gulps of bitterness, nothing should prevent you from loudly celebrating your victories. This is the healthy challenge that man throws at life, the clenched fist that he wields before the impassive face of circumstances and the severe face of adversity.
Without the effective presence of the Celebration, it can be said that a good warrior is not the one who always triumphs, but the one who returns without fear to battle, but with the Celebration in between, it must be said that the best warrior is not the one who always triumphs., but the one who returns to battle happy. And in this there is a substantial difference, because life being a battle that only ends with death, the absence of fear does not compensate for the trip as much as the fact of doing it with contentment.
Whoever is not the owner of himself cannot consider himself the owner of anything, just someone to whom life grants the title of fleeting tenant.
