Waiting for things to get better? Sure that could happen. But that 55-minute commute isn’t getting shorter and once someone has labeled you as a trouble-maker, it will be hard to shake.
The alternative then…
Making things better. Taking action and the necessary steps towards a better future.
Too often, we just hope that our position will just improve over time without taking the necessary steps required to see an investment pay off.
No one’s path is straight. In fact, it goes all over the place. And the reason is this:
“Knowing what I know now, I can act differently.”
Because humans are plastic. We can change our minds when we learn something new.
You first need to have the ability to see. To see a need in the world.
Often, that can take a lot of years of experience perfecting your craft, noticing the nuances, and being able to assert/understand what it is people want.
Next, you need to have the guts to go for it.
It won’t always work but the ones who dream big and are able to take action are the ones who move the needle towards a more just world.
The phrase made famous by the one and only Brene Brown, the gift of imperfections is not something humans internalize very well.
Instead of polishing over and over again the parts of ourselves, we are so afraid of sharing, we could instead put them out there for everyone to see.
Not everyone will embrace these parts of themselves. But someone will. And when we do, we will find when we can be brave enough to share our true selves, and someone can gently embrace that part–you have a lasting connection.
(And it isn’t just relationships but also the work we produce.)
There is so much pressure from our culture today to perform at your highest level every moment of every day. (Give 110%, right?)
At the same time, each of us knows our faults better than anyone. We all misbehave.
Sometimes we just need to be reminded that it isn’t your fault that you haven’t reached your fullest potential. Because in reality, no one ever can. When you can forgive yourself you can now start where you are and go forward.
If you break from conformity and obedience there will be cost associated with this decision.
The cost might be disapproval, you could be thrown out of the tribe.
But the trade-off is freedom.
Which terrifies most people.
Those who have stood up to injustice, questioned the powerful, spoke up about the crimes against humanity are usually not treated fairly.
We need the torchbearer to lead us out of the dark and to get us to think for ourselves.
Lessons learned are the ones taken into our daily actions.
We all know we are not supposed to eat the metaphoric marshmallow but we do anyway.
Humans constantly misbehave. Just based on the clock, we will compromise our values.
The ones we eternalize are the ones we truly have conquered.
Your thoughts will eventually become preoccupied with memories of the past and dreams of the future.
The challenge then is to not be dissatisfied with the life you have lived when it doesn’t match your dreams.
Dreams change. That is why it is part of your imagination. Dreams also have the tendency to be more appealing than real life since nothing is real about it.
Made famous at the Pirate of the Carribean ride/movie, it is actually a phrase from Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Hope is an enigma. We need hope to get us out of bed or to invest in a better future. But it is something we can become addicted to. Ignoring things as they are and hoping things get better without having to take the necessary steps of action.
I think our culture confuses copium with hope. Copium feeds the energy of denial while hope is the fuel of a better tomorrow.
The caution with hope needs to be to live here now while taking actions that leave everyone better off down the road.
When you win at the highest levels, you want to do it again.
Because humans are never naturally satisfied with success.
We want that high again, and some are willing to pay a price to chase that feeling.
So how does one become satisfied?
There is no easy answer here but it helps to:
Focus on the present.
Stop comparing yourself to others.
Ignore the loon noises.
And don’t take yourself too seriously.
Josh Allred's Blog 