Wednesday the 2nd of August 2023:“Self-Discovery and Growth Through Challenges and Pursuing Personal Goals”!!!

Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 23^oC, warm and sunny.

I am studying more about building websites on the Internet. I started a course before Yasmin’s school holidays and stopped due to holiday stress, but now I am back and enjoying it.

I woke up early for a walk and some exercise. It is a new month, and I am feeling enthusiastic! During the school holidays, I became lazy. Yasmin used the holidays as an excuse to do almost nothing, and I got distracted trying to accommodate her. As a result, I lost focus.

We need to take charge of our lives without letting others dictate our actions. While we can support others in finding their way, we cannot lose sight of our own path in the process. It is essential to limit how much we allow ourselves to be distracted, especially when it starts to interfere with our goals.

When we try to save someone else’s ship, we often fail to realise that our own ship is sinking. Despite our good intentions, trying to help others can distract us from our own duties and responsibilities and also overwhelm the person we are trying to help.

A few days ago, I watched a video by Jordan Peterson, an internationally acclaimed polemic psychologist, who emphasised the need to be cautious when giving advice.

Giving advice can involve taking away responsibility from the person seeking help. If the advice turns out to be successful, the credit often goes to the advisor rather than the person who used it, which can make the person seeking help feel even more vulnerable.

I had never considered this before, but now I understand the importance of being careful and selective when giving advice. It is better to focus on our own weaknesses, traumas, problems, and goals instead of taking on the responsibility of solving others’ issues.

So, the grass is not greener on the other side in the next-door neighbour’s back garden! It is better to look after our own garden before trying to help others with theirs. Charity begins at home.

Facing my own traumas, I now know what I want and what I do not want. I understand what I need to do, and even though it is frightening for me, I am taking small steps, little by little, and walking into unfamiliar territory in the dark.

It is very scary, but with each step I take, I am still okay, and there is something new that I have achieved. This progress feels incredibly good.

It is so good; it gives us the strength to keep going and going, like a drug. It gives us the courage and power to reach for more and more, leaving our comfort zone and striving for something new. Pursuing what we genuinely want takes courage, but when we do it, it is extremely rewarding.