大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Steve Taylor

There have been many times in my life when I felt that I was asking too much of myself and was bound to be found wanting. Once I agreed to speak at a conference in America, and later found that there would be 1500 people in the audience, and tens of thousands of others watching on live stream. As a university lecturer, I was used to speaking to a few dozen students at the most. I felt anxious, wondering how I would cope with the pressure. I saw myself nervously stumbling over my words and losing my thread, together with the audience鈥檚 interest.

But when the event arrived, it was as if a higher self took me over. I lost all self-consciousness and self-doubt, and spoke fluently and confidently. Something inside me seemed to rise to the occasion, making me wonder why I had been so anxious.

In fact, this is a common phenomenon. It鈥檚 normal for us to doubt ourselves, to think that we are less capable than we really are. It鈥檚 a quirk of our minds to over-estimate the danger of situations and to under-estimate our own abilities. But when we face challenges, we usually find that we are equal to them.

So if you鈥檙e facing any challenges and obstacles today, remember that are deep reserves of resilience inside you, that will rise to the surface when you need them. Or as I have expressed it poetically:

Why look ahead and worry
that you won鈥檛 be able to cope
with the challenges life offers you?

You should have learned by now
that there鈥檚 a spontaneous self inside you
that鈥檚 as agile as a wild animal
always ready to leap up
and respond with perfect reflexes
to any new situation.

Blessings