Where am I standing?

By Ana Li Cortés.

Now we are at the fun part. By this I am talking about the need to know where you are standing. To start with, let me ask you a question: When you want to go to a specific place, what is the first thing that you need to know? Of course! You need to know where you are! Isn’t that right? The first thing you need to know is from where you are going to leave.

I know that sometimes it becomes hard to acknowledge where we are, because if we do, then we are accepting that we have somehow failed, that we couldn’t accomplish what we so much wanted. But, acknowledging our true situation is a positive sign that we can indeed change. Also, it lays bare those things that we need to improve or modify in our behavior and forces us to face it. If we are willing to acknowledge, even right, then we have the primary ingredient to produce a change of vision and attitude to our own misery.

In order to do this, let me invite you to do the next exercise:
Image that you are in the city of Monterrey, México and that you want to travel to Phoenix, Arizona. Everybody knows you are in Monterrey so, you go to the airport and ask: Excuse me, what do I do to get to Phoenix? The tickets clerk tells you: the Monterrey-Phoenix ticket costs $ 400 USD. You get upset and answer back: No, you are not getting what I mean. I am not in Monterrey but in San Antonio, Texas; therefore the ticket must be cheaper. Then the clerk says: Oh! You are going to go to San Antonio first and from there you want your flight, right? You look at her with an expression saying «this old lady doesn’t know how to sell tickets», and after your thinking and your facial expression, clear enough for her to see it, you continue saying: No, let’s see, what is the part you are not getting? Right now I am in San Antonio and I need a ticket from here to Phoenix.

I’m pretty sure that by that point you are thinking, what a stupidity you are saying! Well, believe me most of us behave this way. To begin with, we don’t even know where we are; we are stubborn and believe that we are at another place, and when people tell us: Can’t you see it? You get really angry and consider them crazy and start gathering all the «proof» that confirm that you are right. You are in San Antonio! You don’t know and don’t understand how they cannot see you there.

Now, the clerk can sell you the ticket from San Antonio a Phoenix. You can sit and wait for the plane, but it will never be announced. You will wait and wait until you get frustrated. Due to that, you go back to the clerk and yell at her, asking her why on earth she sold you a ticket of no use for you. Nevertheless, the only truth is that it was you and you only who caused this situation because you did not admit the place you were.

Is it clear the reason why you need to know where you are? As long as you don’t know it you will not be able to draw a map that shows you the route to your desireed destination.
You and only you can change your life. You write your destiny every day and with your actions you describe what could bare abundant fruit in the future. It is true that your destiny starts from where you take off, but the place where you take off does not determine the place you can get to. It is only you who with dedication, effort, faith and strength decides what your final stop is.