Personal development can be ongoing and never ending. Personal development is becoming the best you can be.
You were born to achieve - I believe we all are. There is abundant wealth for everyone and I don't mean only money. Being wealthy to me means first and foremost enjoying the love, respect and loyalty in the rich relationships shared with family and friends.
Enjoying the great heritage created by others, with no effort from me. The people who have dreamed and paid the price to create electricity, communications, transport, home comforts, self improvement material and so many other wonderful creations.
The ultimate price many paid by giving their lives so that we can live our lives as we choose today.
Achieving and contributing creates happiness.
I pulled out my journals today so that I can post some of the great things I learned in this thread and hope it will be as useful to you as it has been to me.
It was such a beautiful day that I decided to enjoy the sunshine at the same time and as I wondered where to begin I decided to go back to where I started - the days when I only had a little hope.
As I put pen to paper it turned into a rhyme or poem for some reason and my afternoon became the following words:-
Along time ago, seems so far away
a small seed of hope was planted one day.
It was so very frail, needed much loving care
for the bountiful fruits it one day would bare.
Enthusiasm, patience, kindness and love
were constantly given so it could rise above
the destroyers of doubt and fear that were rife
in the infertile soil where the seed lived it's life.
Some people were told of the seed in the ditch,
they laughed and they shouted "Impossible" which
could have shrivelled the tiniest roots of the seed,
but the grower ignored them - continued to feed
the small seed of hope which no one believed
could grow and survive in the ditch full of weeds.
The grower kept weeding the doubt and the fear
keeping "the end result picture" so clear
in his mind - kept the faith - with no proof at all
that the seed would grow to be so strong and tall.
For such a long time there was no proof to see
yet the small seed of hope was growing to be
less frail - it was changing into belief
despite the naysayers, who still gave it grief.
And as time went on the belief just grew stronger
developing roots that grew deeper and longer.
Becoming unstoppable, it blossomed and grew
until finally the grower's dream had come true.
"Wow you are lucky" the people say now,
"this part of the ditch must be fertile somehow!"
"Whatever I've done" he said "you can do too"
They replied "we may not be as lucky as you."
The luck that I had are the choices I made,
I just never allowed my hope seed to fade.
The outcome was always clear in my mind
though obstacles and challenges attempted to find
ways to discourage the frail seed of hope
asking "What if you fail - how will you cope?
you shouldn't be greedy - you'll always be poor"
So I read good self help books - showed discouragement the door.
As discouragement got to the door, he asked "Why?"
"Cos I'm tired of existing and just getting by."
I wish you an abundance of encouragement, joy and happiness on your journey of personal development
