No Easy Answer
Two simple choices:
They both have pros and cons.
Welcome to life – the real world.
Two Simple Choices. Pick One.
Simplicity is Complicated
Simplicity is an elusive goal sometimes.
Ok, simplicity is elusive most of the time.
But so are a lot of things that are important. Should that stop us from our pursuit?
There is only one, resounding answer to this question.
And maybe by tomorrow I’ll have my movie soundtrack song(s) to share with the world. This was a fun, and frustrating, exercise.
And anything but simple.
Should have seen it coming.
Pick One
What song did you pick?
Two days ago, I asked, “If your life were made into a movie, what would be the featured song?”
Okay, so I have a confession. This question is too difficult to answer without considerable thought.
I mean, it will be the song featured on your movie’s soundtrack, right?
My other challenge? I’m sort of a music connoisseur and have way too much to choose from. Most of us are like that – the love of music.
Think about it and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Nothing Under Mid Life
Are you getting this? Mid Life Crisis versus Mid Life Celebration.
These are simply mid life words, but the difference between the two sets of words is as profound as the difference here:
Have I told you lately how much joy it brings to know there are others out there who benefit as much from Mid Life Celebration as I do?
Three days away from New Year’s Eve. Got big plans for 2010?
Pushing Daisies?
“Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.” — Unknown
That would be a life full of Joy, don’t you think?
Have a joy – filled day. Carpe diem.
It is a mid life goal to learn how to live simply, so that others may simply live.
This is one of the toughest life lessons to reverse. Everything we see or hear in the media, tells us more is better.
I’m teaching our son that less is more, not more is better.
Assets become liabilities. Seriously.
You get a nice car and then you worry about it being damaged or stolen. We live where most people drive upscale vehicles.
I drive a 20-year old car and love that it starts every time the key turns. Over a year ago, it was damaged when I was a victim of road rage. I’m thankful to be alive.
Never fixed that front fender, a daily reminder of what’s important.
The joy of doing without is something I need help on everyday anyway.
Joy is a choice I get to make every moment of every day. Same with you, even if it doesn’t seem so.
Did I mention that I have a pile of emotional baggage as big as many of you?
Did I mention that my wife and I are disabled?
Did I mention we spent our life savings to become parents?
Did I mention our son has an incurable disease?
Did I mention that I’ve overcome addiction?
The list goes on and on. So please, please don’t say, “But you’ve got it made. You are living the dream. You are so fortunate.”
This would generally be considered an insult, and completely disrespectful. And maybe the beginning of an excuse.
But forgiveness rushes in and all that’s left is joy. Almost unspeakable joy.
It is extraordinarily uncommon to be fully conscious and in the moment all day, every day.
Why? No seriously, why?
If being thankful is such a blessing, why do we spend so little time doing it? Perhaps the same can be said for being healthy.
If being healthy is such a blessing, why do we spend so little time getting and staying healthy?
I think it’s because we over commit, over schedule, and, under plan. There’s a saying, “Failure to plan is planning to fail.”
I’m addicted to thankfulness. Grateful for the ability to think about issues like this. Excited to have daily challenges. Encouraged by slow and steady progress toward reconciliation.
Yes indeed, thankfulness is a drug. Don’t forget to take your medicine.
“This is true joy in life. … To be a force of nature, not a feverish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.” – George Bernard Shaw
If I focused on my ailments and grievances, that’s all you’d hear me talk about.
Instead, I’m thankful that my feet hurt after a long day of standing and teaching others.
There are people who wish they had sore feet. Well actually, they simply wish they had feet. Not everyone does.
This reminds me to be thankful for everything. Everything. Ya with me?
“Be not afraid of going slowly; be only afraid of standing still”. – Chinese Proverb
I just wrote a blog post at jeff noel.com about this very subject. About wondering if now is the right time, if the current approach is the right approach.
This type of potential self-doubt and potential fear, can sabatoge us from breaking through to something we can be great at. And something we should be great at. It’s just that we are late bloomers and are playing catch up.
This time delay – from creating a compelling vision - to it actually materializing, takes way longer than most people can comprehend. This is why people give up and stop,
So, be not afraid of going slow. Be afraid of stopping.
“Tomorrow is always the busiest day of the year”. — Jonathon Lazear
Ain’t it the truth? At least that’s the way it feels. Why?
You may feel differently. But for me, it seems like tomorrow is “the day” that, “I’ll finally be able to catch up with things“. So I race hard to get so much done.
Time marches on and there is simply more to take the place of that which has been done. Ever heard the phrase, “busy beaver“? Beavers work hard every day, repairing their dam, fixing their den, looking for food, etc. Seems there is always lots of work to do.
What’s the solution? If I knew that, tomorrow would be looking like a vacation day, eh?
“Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings”. — Ed Gardner
Workaholics rarely have courage for self-confrontation. We’re too busy trying to control things and control life. If we pause long enough to notice the bleeding, we might have to change who we are.
Panic attack, right? When will we take time to:
Probably never. Am I wrong?
Or maybe when the phone rings, “Honey, it’s for you, it’s your wake up call”.
“Whose life is it anyway”. — Brian Clark
You know what? I’m not sure where to begin on this one. Seriously. The quote is so intriguing, yet so open for interpretation.
If you’ve been in the workplace all your life and now into mid life, you are well aware of how “work” can own you.
Others may understand this, “You either run your business or it runs you”.
Or, no one ever said on their deathbed, “I wish I had spent more time at the office”.
No matter how you think about today’s quote, it certainly does make you think, doesn’t it?
But does it call you to any action?
“We should all do what in the long run gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry”. — E. B. White
Or being a High School Basketball Team Manager:
If you had your life to live over, what would you change?
Well, you can’t live it over so it’s time to make a choice. If you had a “second chance” starting today, what would you change?
Carpe diem!
“There is only one success – to be able to spend life in your own way”. — Christopher Morley
Agree to disagree? Good. Because I’m going to do both here.
Sure, it’d be great to do whatever it is you want to do, when you want to do it. And yet, it sounds a bit self-centered to my ear.
What abut sacrifice and service to others less fortunate? Ask Mother Teresa her opinion on Christopher Morley’s quote. Ask Jesus, or Abe Lincoln, or Martin Luther King.
Ask a mother, a father, a school teacher, a doctor or a nurse. Ask a street sweeper, or a cook.
We all should consider where we stand on this issue. And if we like our answer, awesome. If we don’t…..