I just sent a friend a birthday greeting via Facebook. Wanting to keep it short but meaningful, I wrote, “Happy Birthday, Brent! Make is a great one and enjoy!” Being pleasantly busy, I immediately hit the “Post” button and then almost as immediately wished there was an “undo” feature. Let me explain.
When I get in my own little world of writing and preparing speeches, I forget that not everyone knows what I know or understands what I understand. And while, yes, I am preparing material for people who usually know less than I do about the subject, there is a general tendency to believe that our friends, family, and immediate associates “get” what we teach. In reality, they don’t.
Now, Brent might actually get what I mean by my birthday wish to him, but do you? I thought it would make a good article today. “Blog fodder” as I frequently call it, so here goes.
I am often amazed at how many people work so hard to create every detail and aspect of their lives, get it that way, and then don’t enjoy it. An easy example is the wealthy person who has enough money to buy the world, but is miserable, or someone who works hard their entire life to amass a fortune, and then dies 2 days after retirement. We have a tendency to look at those lives and very quickly dismiss them with the comment, “what a shame.” But are you doing exactly the same thing?
For example, I can tell that the life I’m living right now is the direct result of the beliefs I’ve held, the specifics I’ve wanted, the thoughts I’ve visualized, and desires I’ve written down over the past several years, months, days, and even minutes. Little by little, day by day, I’ve created exactly what I have in this moment. If I don’t like it, (I do, but if I didn’t), all I have to do is choose something else. I can think thoughts, perform actions, and take initiatives to change anything and everything about my life. Isn’t that exciting? I think so!
The key to living a great life is to create the life experience you think you’ll enjoy. Isn’t joy the ultimate goal? The reason you want all the money is because you think you will enjoy it. You want that promotion because you think it will stimulate you and you would really enjoy that. You want to start a family because you think nurturing another human life will add value to yours, and so on and so forth.
So what if you create it, and then you don’t like it as much as you thought you would? Choose again. A lot of people create circumstances for the wrong reasons, and then feel too guilty to change them. Remember that the most important characteristic you have to offer anyone and everyone is your own happiness. Create that first, and everything else will fall into place.
Until next time,
I Invite YOU to Live Joyfully!
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Posted under Motivation
This post was written by Debra Moorhead, Motivation, Education, Inspiration on December 30, 2008
Debra,
Amazing. Yes this is so true.
Sometimes I feel that people (and sometimes this is me… I shamefully admit) are slaves to their own lives.
A few years ago, I was offered a promotion. I would have got it too, I deserved it. I worked hard and also fulfilled all the requirements. But as the day got close to accept or deny- I realized if I took it, I would have to be on-call more often, be pushed and pulled from those ‘above’ and ‘below’, more politics, more hours, and less relative pay. I realized it wasn’t worth it- plus the fact the person to get the better financial promo was not as experienced as me. Others said I was crazy, but I had the freedom to reject that. I did not need the extra money. I did not need that stress. I did not need that lifestyle.
We all have choices and should not be a slave to our lives… Thanks for the reminder!
You’re welcome, Jen, and thanks for sharing your experience!