Evans Akpo

What is so remarkable about the homing pigeon?

First, when I think about my GPS, the homing pigeon comes to mind. When I think about humans and the purpose for their existence, this same pigeon comes to mind. The GPS redirects after you have lost your way. But the homing pigeon is one bird that can find its way back home.

Second, you can take a homing pigeon out of its roost, put it in a cage, cover the cage and put it in a trunk and travel with it. You could drive 1,000 miles in any direction, open the truck and let the pigeon out and it will find its way to its roost in spite of the distance and the direction.

Finally, this is the only creature on earth that can locate its way, except for human being (Tracy 2010).  The homing pigeon knows instinctively exactly where its home roost is located.

Humans know they are made for something greater than where they are. The only problem is our failure to utilize our gifts and take risk.  Many are so hesitant to set goals, because according to them, it never works for them. I wish they could try one more time and keep trying.  You could achieve greater than what you think. Just believe in yourself.

When you’re holding on to someone who doesn’t want to stay. – There are certain people who aren’t meant to fit into your life no matter how much you want them to.  And the only ones truly worthy of your love are the ones who stand with you through the hard times and laugh with you after the hard times pass.  Maybe a happy ending doesn’t include anyone else right now.  Maybe it’s just you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself for something better in the future.  Maybe the happy ending is simply letting go and taking a bold step forward.

Not all the puzzle pieces of life will seem to fit together at first, but in time you’ll realize they do, perfectly. So thank the things that didn’t work out, because they just made room for the things that will. And thank the ones who walked away from you, because they just made room for the ones who won’t.

No matter how good or bad you have it, wake up each day thankful for your life. Someone somewhere else is desperately fighting for theirs.

And of course, if you’re struggling with any of this, know that you are not alone. Many of us are right there with you, working hard to feel better, think more clearly, and get our lives back on track.

It’s not what you say to everybody else that determines your life – it’s what you whisper to yourself every day that has the greatest power. So don’t look for others to give you permission to be yourself. You don’t need anyone’s validation to be “good enough” or to have a great day today.

Seriously, you can’t base your ideas of success and happiness on other people’s opinions and expectations! Be your own experiment. Be your own work of art. Be a work in progress. And be OK with it. Let people around you see the real, imperfect, quirky, weird, beautiful, magical person YOU are. That is enough. I know we may be broken, but let’s never quit talking positively to ourself.

I guess most people appear unbroken in the presence of wonderful audience. However, let the truth be told – in the silence of our hearts we appear broken in hidden places. However broken you are, one word for you today is: never quit talking down to yourself.

Nothing will bring you down quicker than berating yourself. The mind is a superb instrument if used right, but when used incorrectly, it becomes very destructive. Be aware of your mental self-talk. We all talk silently to ourselves in our heads, but we aren’t always conscious of what we’re saying or how it’s affecting us.

As Henry Ford once stated, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” One of the major causes of why we fail is due to self-doubt and negative self-talk. The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful. Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts with positive ones, over time you will change the trajectory of your life.

If you try to control everything, and then worry about the things you can’t control, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of frustration and misery.

Some forces are out of your control, but you can control how you react to things. Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects – whether you’re happy or not depends greatly on which aspects you focus on. The best thing you can do is to let go of what you can’t control, and invest your energy in the things you can – like your attitude.

Happiness is letting go of what you assume your life is supposed to be like right now and sincerely embracing it for everything that it is.

Truth be told, holding on can be incredibly painful! Holding on can directly contribute to stress, health complications, unhappiness, depressive thoughts, relationship problems, and so on.

Yet, as human beings, we cling desperately to almost everything.

We don’t like change, so we resist it.

We want life to be the way we think it “should” be.

We get attached to our fantasies…. even when they hurt us. Now lets try the power of letting go and see the result.

So how can we stop holding on?

By realizing that there’s nothing to hold on to in the first place.

Most of the things we desperately try to hold on to, as if they’re real, solid, everlasting fixtures in our lives, aren’t really there. Or if they are there in some form, they’re changing, fluid, impermanent, or simply imagined in our minds.

Life gets a lot easier to deal with when we understand this.

Imagine you’re blindfolded and treading water in the center of a large swimming pool, and you’re struggling desperately to grab the edge of the pool that you think is nearby, but really it’s not – it’s far away. Trying to grab that imaginary edge is stressing you out, and tiring you out, as you splash around aimlessly trying to holding on to something that isn’t there.

Now imagine you pause, take a deep breath, and realize that there’s nothing nearby to hold on to. Just water around you. You can continue to struggle with grabbing at something that doesn’t exist… or you can accept that there’s only water around you, and relax, and float.

Today, I challenge you to ask yourself:

• What are you desperately trying to hold on to in your life?
• How is it affecting you?

Then imagine the thing you’re trying to hold on to doesn’t really exist. Envision yourself letting go… and just floating.

“I will not let any situation permanently steal my smile.” – Even when times are tough, take a moment to pause and remember who YOU are.  Take a moment to reflect on the things that have real and lasting meaning in your life.  And then smile about how far you’ve come.  Honestly, nothing in this world is more beautiful and powerful than a smile that has struggled through the tears.  Any fool can be happy when times are easy.  It takes a strong soul with real heart to develop smiles out of situations that make us weep.  No matter how long it takes, it will get better.  Keep going.  Tough situations build strong people in the end.

Everything to be easy – You have to do hard things to be happy in life. The things no one else is doing. The things that frighten you. The things others can’t do for you. The things that make you question how much longer you can hold on and push forward. Because those are the things that define you. Those are the things that make the difference between existing and living – between knowing the path and walking the path – between a life of mediocrity and a life filled with happiness and success.