Starving the Beast WIthin

On last evening, I was watching Super Bowl XLIX with my family all crowded into the living room.  Most of us thought the game was over when Seattle was up 10 points in the 4th quarter, only to have the golden boy himself, Tom Brady, bring the Patriots back and take the lead.  Let's fast forward to the apex of the entire game.  The Seahawks had driven down to inside of the 1 yd line with 20 seconds remaining and 3 potential chances to score the game-winning touchdown.  Everybody on the entire planet figured that the ball would go to Marshawn Lynch, who is one of the most rugged and physical running backs in history.  

Over the past few years he has birthed what is known as the phenomenon "Beast Mode," in part due to him being perhaps the hardest person to tackle to the ground.  It usually takes up to 2-3 defenders to bring him down because he is relentless and refuses to go down.  So instead of making the common sense decision of "feeding the beast," the Seahawks' genius coaching staff decided to inexplicably throw a pass, which ended up getting intercepted by a kid named Malcolm Butler (who overcame so many odds just to get on the field).  In the end, history and individual legacies were all decided with just ONE decision...

How many times have we made a decision and had to live with the consequential demons for the remainder of our lives?  The difference between us and the Seahawks' coaches is the fact the entire world was not privy to the absolute blunders we all have made.  Which brings us back to "Beast Mode" itself...

While so many of us were screaming at the television or on social media ripping apart the decision not to run the ball at the end, how many times do we make the mistake of feeding our innermost beast(s)? It is safe to say that there is no perfect individual alive and that we all have internal issues we are constantly dealing with that very few people will ever see.  If you don't, please stay away from me because I may infect you.  We all have those innermost demons who just seem to feed on our most unfortunate decisions and conditions.  Here are a few official definitions of a beast...

Beast 

a. the crude animal nature common to humans...

b. a cruel, coarse (harsh, vulgar, crude), filthy or otherwise beastlike person 

Whether we realize it, refuse to confront it, or just have absolutely no clue at all, we feed our inner beasts on a daily basis.  It's interesting how the term "beast" has become a term of endearment over the past few years to imply someone is very good at what they do, but that's not the original usage of the word.

The beast(s) within can include (but are not limited to) depression, low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, anger, unforgiveness, utter hatred, filthy obsessions, strong addictions, etc.  Not only do they affect us, but they can in turn take a toll on the way we treat the people who are closest to us.  I for one find myself trusting hardly anyone when those moments come.  It's akin to a dog who has just got hit by a car...once you reach down to help him, he will bite at you out of self-defense because he is injured.  

I know in my own life, there are so many issues I have had to battle...Those closest to me know that I have dealt with depression for about the past 15 years.  There's a painful memory that I allowed to change the scope of the remainder of my life to this point.  It led to terrible decisions such as losing my virginity at a young age, being quite promiscuous while others viewed me as the consummate "church boy", delving into alcohol addiction, a pornography addiction, always seeking to be affirmed and of course trying to uphold such a ridiculously high standard before everyone else vs addressing the issues within me all because of my surname and not wanting to bring embarrassment to my family...

I have come to the point in my own life where I refuse to feed my inner "Beast Mode" any further.  Feeding him has "won" me some victories, resulting in temporary physical/mental pleasure, only for me to return back to the state I was in (sometimes even worse).  When things are starting to go bad, it's easy to curl up in a little ball like a little (female dog).  It's easy for us to blame everyone else for the condition we are in, but now is the time for true introspection so we can finally be free. 

Many of us are missing out on the big breakthrough because we would rather play the role as a victim, versus taking control of our own lives.  We have millionaire potential but cannot seem to defeat the poverty mindset.  From this point forward, we have to learn how to truly affirm and speak well of ourselves.  There's royalty in all of us that's begging to come out, but it's more "comfortable" being miserable.  But the future pity parties just got canceled and it's time to slay the beast.  

Just like Pete Carroll refused to give Marshawn Lynch the ball to win the game, we need to do the same in our own personal lives. No more Beast Mode wreaking havoc in our lives...It's time to get in our Best Mode...You were created to be great...You were created to prosper and be a blessing to others...Don't ever settle for less again!