Image by: Jedidja
By James Reubin

About three years ago, I left my country to start a new life with my wife. Aside from keeping myself updated with the currency exchange rate, I’ve also made it a point to always check the current events.

In May of this year, they elected a new president. From the time he took his oath of office until this very moment, he’s been very busy “cleaning” the country of illegal drugs. Of course, with this type of campaign, he has crossed big personalities and international syndicates. But, he doesn’t care and has showed no signs of backing off.

Recently, I heard that there was a threat coming from an international terrorist group. It’s not that our president didn’t find it alarming, but during an interview he just said that if he dies, he dies, that must be the will of God but it will never stop him from doing what he has to do to serve the country.

I admire his sincerity and how he is willing to give his all to deliver what he promised.

In line with this, I was inspired to share with you some of my thoughts about whole-hearted living and how you can give your best in everything you do.

Know thyself. Embrace who you are and let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and of what others think.

Know what you want in life and what would really make you happy. Be aware of your strengths as well as your weaknesses so you can empower yourself to make the necessary changes to improve the quality of your life.

Also, be true to yourself and don’t pretend to be someone you’re not just to please others. When you are not being completely honest with what you feel and what you desire, then you are out of alignment with yourself and this could result in anger, discontentment, loneliness and a lack of freedom.

In the piece “The Single Most Important Factor In Finding the Love of Your Life,” writer Daniel Dowling share the ultimate rule that we need to follow in order to have lifelong love:

“Do what you love and never stop.”

When you do what makes you happy, then you’ll feel more alive, and the world seriously needs more of that. People who know who they are and what they need to do to, have what they want in life.

Have a resilient and brave spirit to venture into the unknown and get comfortable with change.

Although change can sometimes be inspiring, it can also be very terrifying. It’s not easy to get out of your comfort zone and shift away from old practices and habits, however, you need to face these inevitable changes to continue to evolve and grow.

In business, for instance, you need to take action and adapt to the growing needs of your customers and keep up with the latest technological developments. You may need to revise your whole marketing strategy or modify your services to address certain issues.

According to writer John Lincoln, you might have to seriously consider building a Facebook Messenger bot to expand the accessibility of your business.

This social platform makes marketing, processing orders and providing customer service convenient for you and your customers.

Embarking on change or transformation may be uncomfortable at first, but if you are fully committed in discovering your full potential, then you have to learn to be comfortable with it.

You have to learn to tell the difference between being strong and being delusional.

If you’re clueless about what sets these two apart, then you will suffer from life paralysis. You will miss all the good opportunities that come your way, you will fail to acknowledge your own weaknesses, and shortcomings and you will not be able to manage your emotions well.

To help you understand the difference between being mentally strong and being a phony, writer Amy Morin of Psychology Today presents 7 signs that you’re just acting tough to artificially boost your ego and to get other people to back off.

Masking your true emotions, manipulating other people, being overly confident about yourself and not being open to learn from your mistakes have serious consequences that can destroy you and can hurt the people around you.

In order to live whole-heartedly, you must learn to be vulnerable by opening yourself up to the possibility of disappointment as well as to be able to bounce back from setbacks.

And lastly, it is important to have utmost sincerity in everything you do in your life.

To become a genuine person, you must start within yourself by keeping your promises, by showing your full commitment to your work and relationships and by giving your 100% in pursuing your goals.

Perhaps you could learn about sincerity through some of the timeless bits of wisdom from the indigenous tribes of North America.

Here’s my favorite, a famous Native American Tuscarora proverb:

“Those who have one foot in the canoe, and one foot in the boat, are going to fall into the river.”

This piece of wisdom can be a perfect guide on your journey to whole-hearted living for it demands full sincerity of your intents and your actions. It gives a guarantee that if you are half-hearted in pursuing your goals, then you are bound to fail before you even make your first step.