< Previousf you are a rebel, chances are, you’re angry about something. IThere’s something that irks you to the core. Perhaps you have felt the ill effects of the poisons that manufacturers sneak into our food for profitable or salient reasons? Maybe you’ve seen too much domestic violence? As a child, I was bullied, kicked and punched. I experienced my first violentattack at four-years-old. A boy who I thought was my best friend whipped me across my back with a long steel spring. I was too shocked to do anything but cry. I couldn’t believe someone would do that to another person. Violence chased me for most of my life until I learned Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and discovered my cause. While some of the world is saying “NO” to violence, inhumane mistreatment is still raging in darkened corners of our societies. I believe that everyone has the right to live and experience a peaceful life. My personal pain led me to my cause; to bring “kind” back to “humankind. I teach, coach, write and speak to awaken those who still zag blindly, those who believe it's okay to physically and verbally abuse another person. t the risk of sounding naive, I believe we must learn to love. AFew people have a strategy to do that. We still flock to see violence on the big screen, metaphorically shouting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” We are so far from love we no longer recognise its language. We are only just beginning to realise that violence is not only physical, but fiercely verbal and can hurt as much as a blow to the head. Our words have power. Yet many boardrooms and sports cultures misuse that power. Where competition thrives, our words sound like we’re waging war – fighting to survive; building our war chests; killing the competition; taking aim; and counter-attacking the enemy simply justifies a warring mindset. Sometimes, as I listen to my non-war words, I hear myself sounding alien to the masses. It saddens me. I turn on my heart-light to go home, where I can share a kind word with ET. Still today, kindness is mistaken for weakness or a cue to take advantage. ow do we find our cause?HMy father was an orphan and as he grew into a man, he met my mother, fell in love and voila! I was born. Because he didn’t have a family of his own, he valued ‘family’ more than anything else. He was also forced to front up to World War II and the atrocities that he witnessed made ‘peace’ his quest. So, a peaceful family became my father’s most important value. He was a great dad. Whenever our family argued, he rose to become the ‘peacemaker.’ While some other families in our neighbourhood got married and went their separate ways, my father (and mother) kept our family together. We had the traditional family roast every Sunday and everyone came from far and wide. Christmas, Easter, New Year and any other excuse for a family gathering was a big affair. We went on holidays together and today, we have many funny photos, capturing moments that still stir my emotions. It was drummed into us that ‘family’ was ‘special.’ To me, family is important, but another value would rise above it. We were very poor. While my friends had money to buy their school lunches and snacks and would go away on school camps, for the most part, I didn’t. So I quickly learned how to make money. My pain became my cause. Today, as an adult, I make money easily just as my dad made a family easily. WJust as a person who lacks freedom can come to value it, a person who is given complete liberty may desire rules and regiment. Sometimes our purpose is found in the place we least wish to visit. All we need to do, is look to our pain points; the areas of our greatest challenge or our deepest fear and our purpose may reveal itself. What is your pain point? Who or what will you no longer tolerate? What is wrong with the world today? Whatever your answer, within it, you may find your next or newest purpose. Just be sure to live your life beyond the pain. Live your life beyond limits. hat we don’t have, what we hunger for, holds the power to become our cause. Humanity has advanced,when it has advanced, notbecause it has been sober,responsible and cautious,but because it has beenplayful, rebellious, andimmature.”Humanity has advanced,when it has advanced, notbecause it has been sober,responsible and cautious,but because it has beenplayful, rebellious, andimmature.”―WHAT'S BEST FOR YOU?By Sue Lester Unless you are 100% satisfied with following The Rules laid down by The Powers That Be Be i.e. any one you allow to decide what’s best for you, at some point your Inner Rebel will, well, rebel. This can be a hindrance or a blessing, depending how and when she chooses to show up and speak up. ome people will repress their rebel most of their lives, until it becomes too much, and a very messy eruption occurs. SOthers allow her to run the show, being bad-mouthed, difficult and often just rude. Yet others direct her rebellious energy into a good cause, thereby changing the world for the better. Let’s start by looking at some of the extreme ways your inner rebel can show up and hinder. PShe doesn’t want to do it, perhaps through boredom, insecurity or lack of experience, so doesn’t. She’ll be dragging the chain, procrastinating, producing excuse after excuse, even when she knows it just has to be done. Think housework, tax returns or a dull but essential work project. There will be passive resistance, or verbal outbursts, door slamming and other theatrics, all designed to distract from the issue at hand, an unfinished task. She’ll gossip, blame others, fight like a child with her children, and can’t be trusted to do her share. “You can’t tell me what to do!” is overtly or covertly expressed. etulant teenager. This inner rebel parties hard, dressing and behaving in ways to shock. She chooses ‘bad boys’, telling you ‘nice men’ and security are boring. When the excitement wears off, she leaves you feeling used, abused, lonely, unloved and unlovable. She refuses to ‘settle down’ into a steady job or business, leaving you feeling insecure and exposed financially at times. She will leap into opportunities without doing ‘boring’ due diligence, trusting the bad boys and hoping to charm her way through. When it all goes pear-shaped it’s their fault, never hers. No responsibility taken. Bad girl.The BitchShe hides her vulnerability and insecurity behind a shield of sarcasm, biting wit and scathing gossip so wicked it makes others gasp as they laugh nervously. Nothing satisfies her, she rarely agrees, sympathises or shows compassion. A flow of criticism flays those around her. She easily speaks up, but in an aggressive and confrontational way. Any followers are there from fear, unwilling to turn their backs in case she stabs them. She labels herself as strong, but is desperately lonely behind her spiked protective shield. All of the above cases are examples of the havoc a negative unconscious blueprint™ can have on your life. Your unconscious blueprint is your internal image programming your behaviour. Some people have images considerably younger than their chronological age, such as 14 instead of 40. As you can imagine, a 14-year- old makes very different decisions to an experienced 40-year-old. Fortunately you can reprogram yours into a more empowering image. 1PThe energy and drive of rebellion focussed for, and not against a cause generates change for the better. You know what rules to break, and how, with minimal damage and greatest benefit. You speak up easily, for truth and justice, engaging others in your message, your cause and standing firm against opposition. (Think Hetty Johnston of Bravehearts Inc.) In business you create success on your own terms, going against the norm, tapping into your intuitive creativity, and it becomes your point of difference, your gold. A positive inner rebel may choose to live on the edge of society, but in a way that nurtures her creativity. She knows what she needs to feel loved and nurtured, and connects with others whounderstand, creating a rich and rewarding life for herself outside the norm. She gives herself loving permission to be herself, not squeeze uncomfortably into someone else’s box for her. Best of all, the positive inner rebel can have so much fun, igniting a zest for life’s challenges and adventures. Believing in herself, not fettered by needing to be accepted and approved of by others, she’s free to spread and share her joy. ositive Inner Rebel. Next >