Worth Living Ambassador Linda Dias Menezes
I would like to start by introducing myself. My name is Linda Dias Menezes and I have epilepsy, however epilepsy does not define me. I am also a wife a mother, a mentor, an ambassador, a support group facilitator, a Psychology Honors Student at the University of South Africa and an advocate for mental health and epilepsy. I am a founding member and chairperson of Epilepsy Awareness SA an NPO aimed and spreading Epilepsy Awareness in South Africa.
Taking failures and turning them into gifts, preparing yourself for success.
Gifts that produce inspiring success.
The definition of failure is lack of success. However everyone sees success differently. What is your definition of success? Success is defined in the dictionary as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. Success could be any of the following; • Earning a promotion or starting a new job • Buying your own home or a new fancy car • Expanding your family • Having a happy family life • Getting distinctions and working towards a cum laude or simply passing a module • Finding your purpose in life and chasing your dream no matter what the cost • Giving back to those less fortunate • Realizing an opportunity and grabbing it with both hands.
I can tell you the last few months, I have learned from many “failures” of my own. I think the way I view them makes all the difference. I have learned if I didn’t “fail”, I wouldn’t be where I am now and in the direction I am going now. Each hurdle has taught me a valuable lesson, not only about myself but also the way I view different projects I am working on and how to tackle them. I think not trying is the biggest failure of all. With athletes, gold medals are awarded to the first person who crosses the finish line, yet in reality everyone works and lives at a different pace. Your pace may be slower or quicker than the rest, it doesn’t mean it is the wrong pace. Your gold medal is waiting for you, all you need to do is reach out and work to get there. Whether you get a degree at the age of 23 or 32, you still have a degree. You made it, your hard work has paid off. Whether you get married at 25, 35 or even 45, you are still married to a person that you couldn’t otherwise see yourself without and accomplished what you needed to in that time frame. Whether you a millionaire at 30 or 60, you are still a millionaire. I am sure you get where I am going with this analogy. The only difference is when you start your race and how you prepare to get there overcoming hurdles in your way and not letting them stop you in your tracks. Inspiration hits when you are in the right environment.
People are motivated in two ways; intrinsically, a person is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the actions required to achieve a goal, without relying on external rewards or pressures or extrinsically; this requires external rewards such as money or external consequences such as demotion. Surround yourself with people who inspire you. Your extrinsic motivation will push you to do more and be more when you see others succeeding and intrinsically you will want to do more when you have your goal and have that “feel good buzz”. Each “failure” comes with a life lesson, each with its own rewards that I didn’t notice this before. I changed my perception and now realize that I am actually better off. Even though it took a while for me to realize this and struggled with the idea of why it didn’t work out, I now know how to approach the problem should it arise again. I also realized I had forgotten to value myself. With each “failure”, I became less and less passionate about the cause I was pursuing. Your own survival instinct prefers the comfort zone as anything out of the comfort zone or “safe zone” leads to serious procrastination. Procrastination stops you from accomplishing amazing and great things out of fear of failure. Once you get out of the comfort zone and realize why you are procrastinating, your life will take a turn for the best and you have that “aha” moment. All it takes is one step in the right direction. Search for motivational videos on YouTube, the best example I can give you is Steve Jobs. He started Apple and was kicked out of his own company only to start Pixar and return to Apple years later. Here is a link to one of his most inspiring speeches https://youtu.be/3LbQG0gMFV8.
Listening to music also helps, go check out DJ Scratchley Q’s weekly Vlogs. Each week has its own theme and feel good music. Here is a link to the playlist that we worked on together : http://worthliving.co/2018/03/30/worth-living-top-10-countdown-spring/
I look forward to hearing from you, how did you turn your hurdles into gold medals?
Kindest Regards, Linda Dias Menezes Twitter: @diaslr Instagram: epilepsyawarenesssa Facebook: EpilepsyAwarenessSA Email: epilepsyawarenesssa@gmail.com Website: www.easa.org.za