Attain Graceful Success & Prosperity in a Competitive World
Posted on Oct 15th, 2007
by 
Cynthia
Cynthia
"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself."
-- Leonardo da Vinci
Many spiritually focused people I know suffer from an internal conflict between wishing to succeed competitively and suspecting that competition is somehow at odds with living true to one's highest nature. These people are concerned that in order to achieve success doing what they love to do, they might be forced to abandon their high ethical standards. Keenly aware that life has winners, they presume it must logically follow that there will also be losers, and subconsciously fret that their financial or material successes might somehow inadvertantly contribute to harming others. Left to their own devices, these deeply seated internal fears can undermine the best of positive affirmations and intentions. While this problem may seem insurmountable, there is a graceful resolution: self-mastery.
When participating in a martial arts tournament this past weekend, I entered the competition with the mindset of doing my personal best, focusing on what I can do, rather than what my various health issues (an injured knee and the beginning of a cold) would indicate I can't do. On the morning of the Kuk Sool Won tournament, I felt an enormous palpable sense of excitement as I woke up and realized this buzz of electric energy was coming from the hundreds of participants I would meet that day. I set my intention to do my very best as part of the overall success and prosperity of my martial arts school and the community of Kuk Sool Won. At the tournament, I met and made friends with wonderful Kuk Sool Won students from all over California, and was delighted to feel a sense of shared commitment to excellence. My intention turned out to match my experience of the day, as I competed in and won medals for three of the four events I signed up for, doing the best I could and being rewarded by sharing special moments with old and new friends, instructors, and the Kuk Sool Won grand master, In Hyuk Suh.
What we can learn from practicing competitive sports that require us to remain focused on doing our personal best is that we can simultaneously compete with others while being part of a larger community, and that essentially, the only one we ever truly compete with is ourself. Since financial prosperity is often viewed as a form of competitive success, it presents us with an opportunity to view financial success as serving the world while being part of the overall success and prosperity of mankind. We are fortunate to live in times when online organizations are helping people attain financial success one person at a time with person-to-person lending websites that allow people to borrow money from those who wish to help. I have joined and am happy to recommend both Prosper and Kiva for providing loans to those in need that are funded by those seeking a more rewarding way to earn interest on their savings. We are very fortunate to live in a world where we can feel community support for our individual efforts, and where we can each help one another as we work toward our own unique goals of personal mastery.
Wishing you all the best that life and love have to offer,
Cynthia Sue Larson
-- Leonardo da Vinci
Many spiritually focused people I know suffer from an internal conflict between wishing to succeed competitively and suspecting that competition is somehow at odds with living true to one's highest nature. These people are concerned that in order to achieve success doing what they love to do, they might be forced to abandon their high ethical standards. Keenly aware that life has winners, they presume it must logically follow that there will also be losers, and subconsciously fret that their financial or material successes might somehow inadvertantly contribute to harming others. Left to their own devices, these deeply seated internal fears can undermine the best of positive affirmations and intentions. While this problem may seem insurmountable, there is a graceful resolution: self-mastery.
 Cynthia Sue Larson competing in staff spinning at Kuk Sool Won tournament |
What we can learn from practicing competitive sports that require us to remain focused on doing our personal best is that we can simultaneously compete with others while being part of a larger community, and that essentially, the only one we ever truly compete with is ourself. Since financial prosperity is often viewed as a form of competitive success, it presents us with an opportunity to view financial success as serving the world while being part of the overall success and prosperity of mankind. We are fortunate to live in times when online organizations are helping people attain financial success one person at a time with person-to-person lending websites that allow people to borrow money from those who wish to help. I have joined and am happy to recommend both Prosper and Kiva for providing loans to those in need that are funded by those seeking a more rewarding way to earn interest on their savings. We are very fortunate to live in a world where we can feel community support for our individual efforts, and where we can each help one another as we work toward our own unique goals of personal mastery.
Wishing you all the best that life and love have to offer,
Cynthia Sue Larson
Access: PublicTagged with: Prosper, Kiva, personal mastery, money, Kuk Sool Won, winners, affirmations, self-mastery, martial arts, In Hyuk Suh
affirmations
August 2008 