Three tips to meet success on your bumpy journey

At the start of the new year many resolutions are made. Proof of this can be seen in the self improvement commercials on TV right before Christmas and continuing through the first two weeks of January. Companies trying to sell weight loss formulas and memberships to health clubs are pretty common. We seek happiness and search for self improvement. Both are worthy pursuits.

We humans are hardwired for happiness. The pursuit of happiness is even written into the U.S. Constitution. The problem is that the roads of life don’t frequently lead us to happiness. It takes work to live in “Mayberry.” The good news is that success and happiness can be attained. Start by considering the following three ideas:

1. If what you are doing in life is not working and it hasn’t been working for a long time, then consider a change. There is no shame in moving on to something new.

2. Realize that if you want something then you’ll have to do it yourself. Assume that no one is going to help and make the change yourself.

3. Life rewards action, not thought. A good idea starts with a good thought, but action is very necessary to boost your well being.

Paradise Lost

Previously we discovered that Eden was not a perfect place. Both Adam and Eve had to deal with temptation even before either did anything wrong. Adam was warned by God not to eat a certain fruit and Eve was warned by Adam of the consequences of eating from the forbidden tree. Not only did the first couple have to deal with temptation they also had to deal with the possibility of death.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Even though Eden is described as a paradise both Adam & Eve faced the possibility of death even before giving into any temptation. Death isn’t very appealing even in theory, but the first couple faced even more difficulty in paradise, Evil. Evil was allowed to lurk through the Garden in the form of a serpent and the serpent was able to leverage the temptation Eve was laboring under by catching her alone.

Evil said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

We all know that Eve did succumb to temptation and Eve, in a sort of role reversal, was able to convince Adam to eat of the fruit also. Paradise was good before the fall, but after the fall humanity suffered greatly. Now, part of our struggle is a struggle to deal with the consequences which resulted from the act of Adam & Eve. One of the consequences deals with work:

“… in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you… In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground…”

The challenge to us then is to overcome the curse of Adam & Eve and attempt to live in peace and prosperity. This challenge has been met by individuals throughout history and it can be accomplished by you. Creative ways to overcome difficulties have been described in many articles on this site and we will continue to explore this theme in the days ahead.

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Seeking Paradise

Many people have heard of the Bible story about Adam & Eve and the Garden of Eden. Eden means “delight” in Hebrew and the Garden has been described as a paradise. The word “Eden” brings to mind beautiful plants, plenty of delicious fruit and friendly animals.

The life of Adam & Eve before the “fall” has been described as perfect. Their bodies were apparently perfect, they probably did not get sick, they had plenty to eat, they were not laboring under the weight of sin and may not have felt any physical pain.  The Bible states that Adam & Eve walked around the Garden naked and neither felt any shame.  To prevent boredom, the couple was given work tending Eden.  Imagine the delight, the laughter, the joy both Adam & Eve experienced being with one another.  They were two, yet somehow completed one another. But all was not perfect in Eden.  God tells Adam, before Eve was even created, that all the fruit in the Garden may be eaten except the fruit from one tree.

God commands Adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  So despite the pleasant surroundings, the wonderful company, and the perfect weather, “Paradise” apparently had at least one rule and a monumental consequence would follow upon breaking it. The Book of Genesis warns that death was the consequence from eating the fruit of the Tree of  Knowledge.

Although Adam & Eve’s physical needs were well met, the couple had a battle to wage in Paradise.  This battle was not a physical battle, with guns and weapons, but a battle in the mind. Thousands of years later, we too continue to fight the battles of the mind.

To be continued…

Visit us at Rob.com and Focused Intent.