The rat ran across the road in front of the vehicle. Pat, the woman sitting next to me, covered her face and shrieked. I was fascinated at how different the rat looked from the rats I had seen running around my cabin in Vancouver a few years ago. This one looked more like the Hunchback of Notre Dame and no, he wasn’t wearing a Mexican sombrero!
There was a time when I would have had a similar reaction to Pat’s, but things have changed. This time there was no fear or revulsion, just a calm intrigue that surprised even me. I used to be terrified of rodents but after dealing with them for almost a year in the cabin, I learned to co-exist and tolerate them. We all tolerate lots of things - much of it unconsciously. That can be good as it helps us to deal with uncomfortable situations - like a rat infestation - or events that we have no control over like the weather, but there is also a downside to our tolerance. People have become complacent, apathetic, and resigned to a standard of living, a way of being and a ho-hum existence believing that “it’s just the way it is”. Not true! If you are doing that, please take this as a wake-up call. You deserve so much more!Friends, clients along with people I meet every day here in Mexico are fascinated that I now live here. Living in a foreign country seems so exotic, so special and so, well…foreign. And to the typical North American working a 9 - 5 job, driving in rush hour every day, living through severe weather conditions, life on the beach in Mexico would seem exotic.
What’s interesting is that hundreds of thousands of people are doing it. I am truly not alone.
The more I live the lifestyle that I have created here in Mexico, the more I realize how much we tolerate what we think is “all we can have.” False! We put up with people, situations, living conditions, bank accounts and our health like they were fore-ordained, unchangeable, written in stone. None of it is! I mean that. None of our life is written in stone. You can change absolutely anything and everything in your life. You just need to stop tolerating it, putting up with it and accepting it as good enough for you, and then take a different course of action.
For example, people get rid of disease all the time. We’ve just been convinced that cancer, MS, arthritis and every other ailment is incurable but I know people who have beat every one of those diseases and no longer tolerated them in their life. People who were absolutely broke with nothing, homeless and destitute have gone on to create empires. Everything is possible.
Here in Mazatlan, much of the city is owned by the El Cid corporation. I learned that the man behind the real estate empire was originally an orphan from the Spanish Civil War. The Mexican government took in many of the orphans and this one proved to be a tremendous entrepreneur. Don Julio Berdegue literally revolutionized the development of Mazatlan and a year after his death, his mark is clearly evident. I am fascinated how an orphan could so magnificently affect an entire city. He was apparently an outspoken, driven pioneer i n the arena of real estate development who has his share of enemies in the city but is also admired for his foresight and contribution to Mazatlan.
How many of us would have been so bold, so creative and so determined under very difficult circumstances? I think of people like Senor Berdegue often as I make choices in my life. I think, “if he could do it, so can I.” That can seem like a very trite statement but if you really got clear on what that means, it’s incredibly powerful. So what do you want to do that you’re not doing? Start thinking.
Mexicans are lovely people and their country is remarkably rich, diverse and abundance in its resources. Mexico could truly accomplish whatever it wanted to, but you know the same is true of every country. And more importantly, the same is true of every person.
When I lived in Ecuador, the Otavalan Indians were exceptional. While the majority of the indigenous tribes lived in squalor and poverty, the Otavalan tribe created beautiful arts and crafts and traveled the world selling their goods. They didn’t tolerate poverty and squalor but did something with their artistic gifts and many today are very, very wealthy.
Why do we tolerate what we don’t like in our life? I think it’s because we’re afraid to make changes. We know “this”, we don’t know “that”. We believe we’re not capable of making the changes - the “I’m not good enough, smart enough, rich enough” program. We don’t think we deserve anything better than what we’ve had - the “this is how everybody lives so why should I think I am any different” mentality.
I’ve had clients work with me who after a few sessions are angry because they can’t stand the mess they’re living in or they are now really unhappy with their weight issues or disgusted with their bank account. None of that worsened since we started working together, but what shifted was their attitude and perception towards it. As we worked on building their self-esteem, they realized that they deserved better and were no longer satisfied with what they had once tolerated.
I refuse to tolerate negativity, poverty and stress in my life. People who are whiny, complaining and negative, don’t last long in my company. I refuse to scrimp, worry about money or not have “more than enough” to look after myself. And the minute I feel stress that is higher than my tolerance level, I am all over who, what or why there is more stress. Is it arrogant to feel that way? No, but you may be thinking that it is. Believe me - it has required a massive shift in thinking on my part to get here. Today I would NOT tolerate rats running up and down my bathroom walls as I once did but I know that I am still t olerating mediocrity in some areas of my life and constantly am working at raising the bar.
Are you being too demanding in your life? Or are you being too arrogant to ask for abundance, calmness, great people, joy, peace, love and prosperity in your life? Hardly! I bet you are not being nearly demanding enough!
It’s time to step up to the plate and get in the game. Start living life fully. There are so many exciting things to do that you really want to do, isn’t there? Start today. Make a list of what you are tolerating and start changing your attitude from helplessness and powerlessness to one of creativity, manifestation and action.
If an orphan from Spain can literally change a city’s landscape, you can change the landscape in your life. Go for it. You have everything to gain!
To Your Outrageous Success!
Jan
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