The Faster You Run Away, the Quicker You'll Repeat the Mistake You're Trying to Avoid

Ogbe look back
All eyes on earth cannot replace ones own
All ones biological children cannot predict ones thoughts
Both men and women cannot be in love to the extent of knowing where their bodies itch
Cast divination for Stand Up and Do Not Take Too Long Before You Return Home
Maybe a visitor has come home
Quickly stand up and look back
If you send someone home in your place
Part of your message will be lost or exaggerated
Ogbe you better look back, maybe a visitor is at home
Ogbe quickly go and look back
Do not doubt the secrets of the mystery
Do not ever say: Is it not only Ifa at home?
Ogbe go back home
- Holy Odu OgbeIwori

I was taught that progress means never going back to ideas, places and people once I had "moved on." Not that anybody ever had to say it explicitly; fashion, music and computer technology all reinforce the idea that what happened yesterday is no longer useful. And so, we have become a disposable culture that seems to think that the only way to note forward is to throw something away. No wonder we make up only 5% of the world's population but consume more that half of the world's resources and generate more than half of the world's waste!

Our addiction to superficial change is killing us. We rearrange our furniture, change our wardrobe and our profile picture and call that change. But the journey is incomplete until you return home. That is, it's not until you are willing to face yourself - your beliefs, your mental habits, your weaknesses and your strengths - and truly evaluate the ways in which you have helped to create your reality, you will blame other people or circumstances for your problems. This only empowers external forces, while disempowering yourself. So, until you are willing to return "home" to the source of your beliefs and behaviors, you'll be doomed to repeating the same mistakes again and again. 

Here are four habits of self examination that will facilitate real change in your life.  They're pretty simple, but very powerful. I want you to try them all within 24 hours and let me know what you experienced:

1. Identify your limiting beliefs. Think of something in your life that you're unhappy with. It could be your relationship, your finances or your parenting skills. Whose fault is it that it's not working out? Start writing your beliefs about this problem like this; "I believe my parenting is so difficult because my child is just a hard head."
2. Define the source of your beliefs. Where did you learn to interpret the situation this way? Who did you hear use the kind of language you use to define your problems? To continue the previous example, who did you hear use the word "hard head"? Is it part of your culture? Did one of your parents use that language?
3. Assess the authority of your source.  Is your source really credible? Likewise, what was motivating your source to act or speak a certain way? Were you properly interpreting their motivation? Did they discourage being a "hard head" as a way to protect you from danger in the community? Were they considered a "hard head" as a youth and see themselves in you? It's important to try to understand the psychological context for the teachings that shape our negative beliefs.   
4. Evaluate the impact of your negative belief. Now, you need to examine the ways in which your negative belief has influenced your attitude, expectations and behaviors. This is sometimes called the Pygmalion effect, whereby higher expectations lead to an increase in performance. The effect is named after the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved and caused it to come to life. The same is true of your negative beliefs. As long as you feed them, they will continue to come to life. 

Your belief system plays a pivotal role in how you view and live your life. Ultimately, your sense of reality is largely the result of your beliefs because they act as the lens through which you interpret the world. So, when Ifa says "Ogbe look back/All eyes on earth cannot replace ones own," it is affirmation that your ability to grow, to change and ultimately be happy all depend upon your ability to look at yourself honestly. Learn more in the 16 Essential Traits of Personal Priesthood.

---

Thanks for signing up!