When I talk to people, I am always left in a great mood when someone tells me that they do something that they love, and how it makes them feel doing it. The beautiful thing is that often people have searched and searched for something, and had even found it at one point, and denied themselves of it. After constant searching for some "Thing" that would give them pleasure, and satisfy them, they realized that they had loved something all along, and it was right there. But often times you really have to go through phases, setbacks, rough times, and confusion filled with darkness to finally get to something fulfilling. It is extremely hard work to search yourself, and figure these things out, as most people never reach that point. But if you can look deep inside yourself, and learn from mistakes, and go through a ton of things that knock you down, and push you backwards in life, you will realize that you are on a journey that has one big reward at the end of it..And that reward is you.
The only person that you ever have to prove anything to in life is yourself..You have to wake up with this person, look at this person in the mirror, and be satisfied with this person all day long. That person deserves the best treatment you have to offer, and the crux of that treatment is figuring out just what makes you happy. Happiness takes time and is often a journey filled with unhappy crappy diners, and messy gas station bathrooms. The hardest concept for anyone to grasp is reaching for happiness, and fulfillment. It is not a place, nor is it in a person. Someone can be a part of your happiness equation, but they can't make you happy. It is not in children because children grow up and leave the house, and sometimes there will be just you left. So the journey to get the reward should be an ongoing process that parallels events in your life that shape you. Whether it be marriage, divorce, death, career changes, children, or just plain uncertainty, the journey to yourself is an investment that pays off in the end if you let it. Even though there seems to be confusion in your life, the sheer joy of self discovery is worth it because the small epiphanies in life show you where you need to be, and sometimes where you shouldn't be.
It doesn't take a person to be intensely introspective, but at least asking the questions of "Why am I here?" and "What is my purpose?" Because everyone has a place to be and a purpose to fulfill. We are all pebbles being thrown in a pond, and we all create ripples. Those ripples fan out and effect everyone, and even people we don't see. When we can find our niche, or place to start the true journey, the ripples are positive in two fold because we are giving of ourselves and receiving what we send back in the course of making ourselves better. Making ourselves better is the reward..It is its own powerful addiction that is worth sharing. We can be the change catalyst in others, and we can be the inspiration, because how joyous is it for others to see the qualities of determination, pursuit of excellence, and sheer love of what another gets out of doing something that they love, or finding a facet of themselves that they didn't know existed. And when you can find that aspect of yourself that you didn't know existed it is like meeting someone new that can tell you something very important. We all have layers and layers of undiscovered territory within us, but more often than not those territories remain undiscovered. It is through mistakes, being somewhere at the right time, tragic circumstances, or just plain old trying to find ones self that these layers are peeled back and revealed to us, and we can chip away at the block of stone that is ourselves to create the beautiful piece of art underneath. It may take most of ones lifetime to emerge from this stone into the art of themselves, but isn't that the goal? Art is not often created in a short period of time. We have to be patient with ourselves, and make a conscious decision to seek out the inner us for no other reason than to retrieve a better us.
There will be major failures in life, and disappointments unforeseen, and unavoidable, and if there isn't then you just aren't living, you are existing. No mistakes means that you are not trying, and if you are not trying, then why bother? Go after the true reward which is yourself, and unwrap the gift that has been given to you. You owe yourself the pursuit of excellence, and demand it from yourself, and the people around you. If they pull you down, and if they create chaos, and havoc, and if they are negative in their approach, or nonsensical, then they will put a damper on your search for you, and you need to cut them loose. The true reward demands your attention, and it is worth every penny of emotional, and life experience investment that you put into it. It can happen to you, and will happen to you if you let it.
Undiscovered territory? No problem..Get your wagon and go inward young man. Keep your eyes on the prize..It exists in the mirror. And the mirror don't lie.
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