We need to work on overcoming our fears and insecurities. It helps us to become stronger people and find greater happiness. Life can be scary depending on what our past was like, and perhaps even more frightening when we worry about what our future holds. However, all we really have is the present. Living in the here and now is where we find our strength to make amends for our past, not worry about our future, and work on any other fears and insecurities we may have. It’s also where find greater happiness.
The whole time I was writing my book, I would dream of it becoming an instant success after it was published, and of going out and speaking at places and helping millions of people find greater happiness in life. Almost three years have passed since my book was published, and although I’ve done book signings, continued writing on my blog, and have helped quite a few people over that time, I obviously haven’t made near the progress I had dreamed about. I did, however, speak to alcoholics and addicts over that time, and I have had the fortune to talk to teenagers at detention homes on several occasions. It made me feel good to do this, and I like to believe that in some small way, I reached many of the people I talked to. I was just winging it though as the phrase goes, and I knew without a plan for what I wanted to say I wasn’t ready to speak at the level of some of the more prominent speakers I’ve seen. However, I still kept my dream alive, as well as another dream I will share with you now. One that I’m sure almost every author has had, which is being on the Oprah Winfrey show. Now I know this may seem like a childish dream to some, but this helped me to keep believing I was on the right path with what I wanted to do in life, and comforted me in times when I worried about my future plans. I mentioned in the last chapter of my book how I wanted to be a voice for the thousands of people I’ve talked since I began writing it who have told me that due to all the changes that have taken place in our world over the years, they feel more fearful and less hopeful in their lives, and for the millions of other people that I know feel the same way. However, had Oprah actually called me to be on her show back then, I wouldn’t have been ready. Much has happened in my life since my book was published in June of 2009, and although Oprah ended her show last year, the experiences I’ve gone through since my book came out have filled me with more confidence in myself. As far as what I want to say in life, you can read about it in my book and on my blog. Something I need to say here though, is that my experience over the years, especially the last three, shows me that true happiness comes from loving ourselves enough to be happy with who we are, and from helping others. I will add that it helps to try and believe in more than just this world too. If there is a god, and I personally believe there is a creator of some kind, then it must be possible to create greater happiness in both our own lives and other people’s too. When we focus less on ourselves and attempt to help other people, something magical happens. We worry less about what we don’t have, feel good about ourselves, and feel a greater sense of happiness. Maybe Oprah still hasn’t called, but I have achieved a lot in my life so far, including writing what has turned out to be a very good book. Because of this, as I continue pursuing my dream I have to keep believing the right people will come into my life at the right time, and that things will work out the way I dreamed they would. I began believing years ago that our thoughts and beliefs help create our lives, and although I show no great financial reward for this belief, I do show an emotional one, which is happiness. No matter how much money my book makes, or other ones I write, it will never replace the fulfillment I get from helping others. People like me at one time who need help believing everything will be all right even when it’s not, because we have the ability to be all right even when we’re not.
I’ve learned that I can’t be everything to everyone, and that not everyone is going to like me. I want people to like me of course, but I I’ve grown enough as a person and on a spiritual level where I no longer need everyone to like me. I will say, however, that I wish I could be everything to everyone in the sense of being able to help them. The love I feel inside for people has grown even stronger over the past year, and I honestly wish I could help everyone who needs it. The truth is though, that some people don’t feel they need help in life, or are too proud to ask for it. There are those who depend on drugs to help them feel better about themselves and life. And people who act out in different ways in an attempt to feel important in life. There are people living in poverty, people living in loneliness, and people who aren’t sure what to do in life, or what it’s about. I could go on, but you get my point. As I said, I’ve learned I can’t be everything to everybody, and I know I can’t save the world, but there is one thing I can do and do it well when I try. I can be an example of someone who tries to love others. I can show kindness toward people, even when I don’t want to. I can try to understand others, and at the very least, I can practice tolerance toward those I don’t like. I can also be an example of someone who has found a way to love themselves and is happy with who they are. Through my actions and behaviors, I can show people that there are those who still care about the important things in life, and who also cares about them. I know this to be true, because I have led my life like this for a long time. Not perfectly mind you. I still do things I don’t like myself for, and I have to fight some days to practice the things I speak of here, but I do my best to be a good person each day. No matter if I fail at times, or if I feel like it doesn’t matter, I never give up trying to love people, and if they want me to, help them find their way in life.
Sorry for not posting in a while. I have been busy with college and my internship, which is just about over. I’m still around though, and I have some new posts coming soon. In the mean time, here is my new amazon.com Author Page biography. I think my regular readers (if your still here) will like it. :) Take care.
Darryl Duke was born December 14, 1959 in York, Pennsylvania. After winning a novice Golden Gloves championship at the age of 16, he would begin a slow and steady pattern of drinking that led to a fearful and unfulfilled life. In 1996, Darryl decided enough was enough and stopped drinking for good. At first, he used Alcoholics Anonymous and The Twelve Steps to help him find happiness and peace of mind, but after several years of sobriety he began longing for an answer to what the meaning of life was. As he searched for an answer, the idea to write his book “Why I Pray in the Shower” A Journey from Fear to Belief in Myself would come to him. Stepping out on faith and a growing self-confidence, Darryl would complete his book and know in his heart that helping others was his calling in life. Not much has happened in the way of wealth and fame since his book was published, but Darryl has never stopped growing as a person or believing in something that created life and the universe for a reason. His belief in himself and the possibility of a creator, keeps Darryl moving forward on a path that he hopes will lead him to fulfilling his dream of helping the multitude of people today who are searching for something to believe in.
0