I really don’t know why I said “pile.” It’s way more like a mountain! Which reminds me of how people in the south say there are “mountains” in Alabama. “Oh, bless your heart honey child, that is just a hill!” (You must read this line in a strong southern drawl) Let’s parallel this with the mole hills in our life that we make in to mountains every day! Because it is totally a matter of perspective!
“When You Change the Way You Look at Things, the Things You Look at Change”
Can you relate? Life sure has a way of “piling” up on us! It is easy to get buried in the urgent responsibilities of life (btw, one should always say responsibility with your best English accent….like Wendy from Peter Pan). Let’s not allow the urgent to steal all of our valuable time and attention. When the urgent wins out over the important and successfully steals our time and energy, the passion is drained like an hour glass mocking you while you are trying desperately to come up with a solution: to buy more time, to use the time more efficiently, to somehow just cram it all in. Or….. give up. So many times choose the last. There is always a battle worth fighting my friend. Two quotes that are standing out so vividly to me right now are:
Most men (people) live lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them
~Henry David Thoreau
and
Many people die at the age of 25 and wait until 75 to be buried
~Benjamin Franklin
I don’t love these quotes. I mean I think they are thought provoking, insightful quotes, showing the brilliant thinking of great minds. It’s more like a love/hate relationship I have with these quotes. I hate them for the truth that they so blatantly state. I hate them for the fact that they represent the truthful state of the human race as a whole, that we have so succumbed to mediocrity and complacency. I hate that they hold a mirror up to reflect the fact that my daily to-do list doesn’t reflect my long-term goals and dreams the way it ought to if I am to accomplish them within this lifetime.
Why do we allow the small, insignificant little weeds of life, the leaning tower of responsibility, and the endless “shoulds” of our culture to rob us of joy, passion and purpose? Who told us that we couldn’t still dream big dreams and be whatever we wanted to be after the age of 25? And more profoundly…..why in the world do we believe them? Well, DON’T. Just don’t. In their slogan Nike has it all together….and gives us a good reminder that we should definitely “just do it” but sometimes life calls for the opposing strategy: “Just Don’t Do It!!” So, today and every day forward, choose: Just don’t let the little stuff steal your joy and don’t believe those lies that you can’t be anything you want to be. Because you can.
While I am typing this, my 5 year old adorable son walks in the room and I show him the laundry picture at the top of the post and tell him that’s me. He giggles and says “how did you get ‘tuck (we still have some issues with s’s) in there??” I say, “I don’t know sweetie but I am determined to find my way out”…..I’m bringing passion back!!! (to the beat of bringing sexy back of course….sing it with me now)
And you can too.
Let’s Do It
