In living life we can choose to follow the crowd and do what
others want and expect us to do OR we can forge our own way to find what lies
beyond the horizon. We can care about
others or we can care about ourselves.
We can acknowledge the efforts put forth by others or we can claim their
results as our own. We can choose to make
possible all things or we can accept all things as being possible but fail to
act thereby minimizing the probability that anything other than what is will
ever be. Unless we establish a
destination before beginning our journey, how can we hope to differentiate between
what is possible, impossible, or extremely tough to accomplish – for without
vision, planning and focused work, what dream can become reality?
Can we move beyond “safe” if we prefer to travel upon the easy
and tested path? When we choose to live within
our comfortable surroundings or our familiar environment, how can we ever move
from our present reality to our potential reward? Until we risk more than others think is safe,
how can we expect to accomplish more than others think possible? We tend to get from life no more than we expect
so those refusing to establish goals for fear of failure will ultimately fail
from a lack of hope or promise. We may
not be seen as failing if we choose not to set specific goals BUT how can we
realize success without first determining what we wish to accomplish? How will you know when you have arrived if
you have never thought about where you are going (though you will never be lost
if you do not know where you are going)?
How can you expect to succeed if you choose not to identify (or expect) success?
What wisdom is there in putting ourselves first – in trying
to advance ourselves at the expense of others when others have situations that
are much more in need of advancement? While
we should not seek to eliminate our shortcomings or address the shortfalls of
others without expecting some sort of personal investment, is it not wise to grow
from our own investments and teach others how to lift themselves up so we will
not have to care for them forever? What
greater gift can we give another than self-sufficiency and worth as it elevates
them while allowing us to be lifted as we improve the world around us?
How can we move beyond our present reality without first dreaming
about what could be possible as we move away from what we know towards what has
not yet been considered? Life is
practical – filled with actions that result in reactions and causes that necessarily
bring effects. Rather than simply living
life and accepting what comes as all that could ever be, allow yourself to live
out the promise of your dreams as you intentionally plan and act to bring them
to fruition. Replace the hollow
satisfaction derived when we chase after hopes of others with the fulfillment
that comes from forging our own path as we seek to realize our own potential.
Unless we recognize that what we have accomplished is not
all that we will ever do – that what we have realized is but the beginning of
what we might hope to achieve – we will never become more than what we already
are. Unless we identify what we want,
what we hope to do and where we want to be – then act intentionally to move
towards the fulfillment of these dreams and aspirations, how can we expect to
accomplish anything other than what another has envisioned or assigned? Knowing what to do and when to do it may meet
the minimum requirements of life or accomplish the assigned objectives of
others but what might YOU do differently (or be free to act and accomplish on
your own) if released from the chains of propriety or the boundaries created by
the expectations and direction of others?
What dream have you shut down – closed the door upon –
because you preferred to “live life safely” or chose NOT to “rock the boat” as
it might interfere with your defined (and comfortable) sense of reality? Rather than looking upon life as a continuum
of things done and accomplished, perhaps it might be more fulfilling if we were
to define our current (short-term) success by the things we have achieved while
determining our value by the number of opportunities that have yet to be
resolved and establishing our worth by transforming our possibilities into a reality
upon which we can continue to build.
