The moment you consecrate yourself to a higher purpose you establish a pole in the earth through which your influence can be felt and known. That pole allows for polarization, wherein all that is agreement with your purpose aligns with you while all that is opposed to that which you stand for allies against you. As a very successful marketer once told me, “if others aren’t forming opinions about you or that which you are presenting, you probably aren’t doing much of any significance.”
Many people, upon feeling the initial backlash that comes when they raise the bar through their living, simply give up. They say to themselves, “I didn’t expect it would be this challenging” or “I thought I would be better received,” and they let the faintest expression of resistance overcome their resolve.To those thus afflicted, consider the admonition of Abraham Lincoln: “Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life.”
Others turn away from fulfilling their purpose once they learn the odds. They rationalize their quitting based on the notion that their present resources will not be sufficient to move beyond likely future obstacles. They fail to trust sufficiently in the flow of life and refuse to handle the little details that prepare them for the larger challenges and then never leave the starting gate because they confuse a self-fulfilled prophecy for fate. To those thus paralyzed, heed the sage counsel of President Lincoln: “The probability that we may fall in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
When you align yourself with true purpose – not just the superficial kind, but purpose consistent with the core of your being – you tap into the power of life. Your body, mind and heart align and the natural forces of inspiration, creativity, ingenuity, passion and resolve regain their natural flow. You no longer suffer slough through life’s difficulties in human strength, you become unified with and capable of translating into life expression, the fulness of your inner strength. Further, you no longer fear the apparent strength of those who have diverted the power of life from its original purpose. As President Lincoln noted: “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.“
Gregory Hake 
You recently suggested reading an archived post along with the current post. Your posts featuring quotes by Abraham Lincoln are among my favorites so may I suggest fellow readers do a search and enjoy!
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Amazing. Thanks!
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This is such a great post. If you want to live your life in accordance with your highest ideals, and with a purpose that is really worth something, you have to give up being afraid. You can’t be afraid of backlash, you can’t be afraid of failure, and you can’t be afraid of success. What you need to know is that if you travel this path it won’t be easy, and people will do terrible things if they think you are trying to raise the bar, but to know that you are doing the right thing is all the reward required. When you feel the backlash and the jealousy, you can feel confident that you are on the right path. Don’t let the naysayers stop you, and don’t lose faith in your fellow man, either. There are those who will go with you when you take the hard path.
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Powerful quotes!
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The only times when the things you do seem really hard is when you don’t believe in what you are doing. Our core beliefs – about ourselves, life, others and the world we live in – are our most powerful allies in the quest to do something meaningful with our lives. Sorting out a coherent paradigm that unifies the multiple details of life has been the holy grail for many, in particular in the fields of science, philosophy and religion where we have striven for a theory or cosmology that ties together all known consistent observations, careful logic and our sense of the sublime.
I’d say that we can each contribute to this when we let our own lives revolve around purpose. To let the awareness of that continually grow in ourselves as we live day by day. The funny thing about it is that it seems really that everyone has one and it’s about the only thing that truly matters. You find it out through the various opportunities you have, we all have, to act in good faith and good will with your fellows. That opens a door to begin to see what’s really behind that impulse. Acting in bad faith and with ill will clouds the mind, repelling you from approaching your purpose and thus there is no knowing of unity and of course the sense of isolation kicks in and you are further inclined to act out on your fears. this is where I feel all the horrible acts of humanity come from.
Purpose is our saving grace.
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At first it may take courage to live your life dedicated to purpose but as you get older there is a resolve that becomes grounded in the experience of peace. Great post, thank you.
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