Words of wisdom from Margot Potter

"the visitorscopyright 2006 margot potterFor most of my life, I avoided happiness and success like the plague. Even though they kept offering themselves to me, I kept pushing them out the door. Get the hell outta here; can't you see I am wallowing in self doubt? Helloooooooooooo...The thing is, like some demented Jehovah's Witnesses, they kept knocking. Two years ago, I finally invited them in for some coffee. They stayed for dinner. We had a slumber party, popped some popcorn, watched Willy Wonka, painted each other's toe nails, played truth or dare and watched the sun come up. I asked them to move into the guest room. So far, things are working out for us. I still have to kick sorrow and failure out, but we have been together for so long, it's kind of tough. So, they are camped out in the back yard, just in case I need them. Soon, I'll hook them up with backpacks and send them on their way.It's the strangest thing, isn't it? We truly want to be happy, we long to succeed, we ache for love...but some part of us is afraid of what that will require. We feel guilty, we feel undeserving. If we manifest these things...well...we will have to be prepared to take responsibility for our life, to make some serious efforts, to risk failure, to risk hurting others, to stop playing the victim. Ultimately...it isn't fear of failure that keeps us from succeeding...it is fear of success. Being a failure is easy. It's comfortable. It requires little more than the ability to whine and blame everyone else for our misery. When we live in the lack mentality, we feel that everything we have is so tenuous and so undeserved, we begin to feel that someone is looming over us waiting to take it all away. We are right, on some level. The more we cling to things, the more they elude our grasp.To know true success and true happiness, we must find a way to open our hearts to love; I don't just mean Hallmark greeting card love, or some idealized, sterilized, socially acceptable love, not selfish love filled with unspoken expectations...but unconditional universal love. The love that asks nothing more of us then the willingness to dare...to stand strong...to be...who...we...are. Without shame. To finally and fully take responsibility for every aspect our lives, and to assess what works and what does not, and to be strong enough to admit to ourselves what we have to change in order to open ourselves up to true joy. There is a limitless amount of potential and abundance, right before us at every moment. We have to love ourselves enough to feel worthy of receiving them. That's a tough one. We will also have to understand that our willingness to stand strong in who we are will most likely not make us popular. So we have to ask ourselves...selves...do you choose to be popular and miserable, or do you choose to be happy? I vote for the second option myself.I figure, I have had a lifetime of unhappiness and failure, so from here on out, even in moments of absolute sorrow, I am opening my heart up to receive love, joy and success. I am, as are you, dear reader, worthy.(Oh, and don't forget, it's your movie, Scorsese, so get your ass up there on that crane and start acting like a director instead of hanging out by the food service table eating donuts waiting for someone to tell you what to do.)"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing. It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive." From The Invitation Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Indian ElderBe in Peace,Margot" This is from her blog and she is very very wise!!!