I would have to say, however, that there are certain things I see that stand in my way. These are:

* Fear of failure.
I have this much, but it is so insidious and strong that it is near impossible to ever achieve a victory. The one time I could be victorious, I almost puked. So I am not allowed to celebrate any victories. Ever.

* Old habits.
I have this much, but I want to change them. I don’t want to let my “old ways” stop me from succeeding. I do allow that there will be times I will not succeed. Then I challenge myself to do everything in my power to change the direction of the endeavor.

* Self-doubt.
I have this much. It is not healthy to keep beating myself up with self-doubt. It serves no purpose. It is not productive. The good news is that self-doubt is the least of my problems. I see myself breaking down the barriers of self-do that are set up by myself. I give myself permission to be afraid of failure, fear of success, and fear of asking for help. I see self-doubt as one big obstacle that I can overcome with a positive attitude.

* A false sense of responsibility.
I have this much. I have that much. I am not responsible for my success or failure. I am responsible for my attitude. I have a responsibility to myself and others to be responsible for my success and successful outcomes.

* Not using my “right” brain hemisphere.
I have this much. The right hemisphere of the brain is my source of creative inspiration and ability. It is time to use this hemisphere of my brain, not react against it.

* Getting in touch with my feelings.
This takes practice. Just getting in touch with my feelings has consequences. I am going to practice moving my feelings to the left side of my brain. I am going to make my feelings the most important thing in my life. I am going to make my feelings serve me as the greatest good and not keep them to myself.

It does not have to be a challenge to overcome all these problems. The good news is that it does not have to be a challenge. These are the challenges that I am going to overcome. The following is the first challenge I am going to overcome:

I am going to get in touch with my feelings. My feelings are important. I have the responsibility to take care of my feelings. There is a good reason that I have these feelings. There is a purpose to my feelings. They come from a place of love. The feelings are helpful and allow me to feel connected to myself, others and the world. I am giving myself permission to do these feelings. I am allowing them to be a part of me.

So I challenge myself to overcome the next challenge:

I am going to release them. My feelings do not have to serve me. I am going to release them from controlling my life. I am going to let them be free to be part of me and the world.

The result of this challenge will be to release the feelings from my left brain hemisphere. The left brain is the part of my brain that used to be responsible for my feelings. With that command, I will no longer control them. As a result, my feelings are no longer my responsibility. My feelings are no longer part of my life. It is time to let them be free to be part of the world and also to be part of me.

By embracing these two challenges, I am able to embrace my life. I am going to enjoy and love the feelings that have come with them. So I challenge myself to not keep these feelings bound in my left brain. They are going to a life of enjoyment and love where they belong.

Please do me a favor and do not take the feelings that you have when you are around people and be part of that box. Let the box go and embrace the feelings that come with it. Also take the feelings that are part of your job and part of your home environment. Let them have a life of their own, too.

By embracing these two challenges, I am not only able to embrace the feelings I have but also able to embrace my life. This means that my story will now have a happy ending, too. I am going to have a life that is free of the story of myself that wants me to be happy and in charge of my feelings. I am going to have a life that I create and live.