Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.
Author | Photographer | CG Artist | Filmmaker
Excerpt from: What stress is caused by and why you should give a damn
Stress is caused by trying to have power over things that are beyond your control.
Related:
The world appears to be increasingly populated by people who only look out for their own needs — and often at the expense of others.
“I don’t have time.”, “I forgot.”, “It’s not my thing.”, “I had no idea you wanted help.”, “I didn’t think there was anything I could do.”
All entirely reasonable. And yet, the people who want to support others somehow find a way.
You may have very little to give, but the power of a kind word and encouragement shouldn’t be underestimated.
The time it takes to provide sincere appreciation and authentic encouragement is far eclipsed by the amount of time it lingers in the mind of the recipient.
Being a supportive person means more than simply offering help because it’s convenient or with the hope of receiving something in return. It means helping others even when it isn’t always easy — although it often is.
If you’re lucky enough to be surrounded by genuinely supportive people who would do anything to help you, cherish them.
They’re a rarity.
And if you want to be that kind of person for someone, don’t hesitate.
Related:
When one learns to let go of the non-essentials that contribute very little value to their life, they create more space for things of higher value.
And sometimes what one values most from the removal of something from their life is the time & space that’s created by its absence.
Many people surround themselves with things that may, at one time, have been useful, but no longer serve the purpose for which they were acquired. They hold onto this “stuff” with the hope that it may one day once again be useful, but for most things, that day rarely comes. Think of fitness equipment gathering dust. Bottles. Old clothes.
Others remain habitually obligated to ongoing activities or functions that they’d no longer commit their time, energy, or resources to if they were to start over.
In both cases, people’s lives are adversely affected by a commitment to things they no longer value.
As one only has one life to live, it’s important to not waste it caught up in things that no longer matter — or in the acquisition and subsequent storage of items that add little to no value to their life.
Isn’t it time you take inventory of the things you value in your life and to let go of those things that are simply taking up your time or space and no longer serve you?
Use it or lose it.
Dramatic life changes can occur when one makes a conscious & deliberate effort to surround themselves with only those things that they truly value in life instead of being weighed down and exhausted by things that they don’t.
It’s not about how much the things that one has are worth, it’s about how much one values the things that they have.
Related:
Excerpt from: Today is day one.
The more that you incorporate things that you truly value into your life — from knowledge to skills to people to activities — the more value you not only bring to your own life, the more value you bring to the people and places you encounter on a daily basis.
Related:
Every so often someone likes to challenge “Follow your passion” by suggesting that people shouldn’t (Huffington Post | Wojtek Skalski). And that’s fine.
But it’s important to realize that there is rarely a single approach to life that works best for all people.
“Do not follow your passion.” suggests that countless wise and successful people who have advised it are wrong. And that isn’t necessarily the case.
Because for at least some, follow your passion is the answer.
But whether it involves pursuing one’s passions or not, folks who dispense life advice would likely be far wiser offering open-minded suggestions than absolutes.
Neither is necessarily bad advice. It simply depends on what one’s source of motivation and values are in life.
Success can be defined and measured in many ways.
Not everyone measures wealth with money. Not everyone wants to lead a conventional life. And not everyone has the courage to go after what they truly want.
Whether a person ultimately succeeds at turning their passion into a sustainable career or not, one thing is for certain, they will no longer live with the regret of never having tried.
What is one of the primary purposes of life if not to continually reaching out for newer, richer, deeper, life-changing experiences?
People who don’t think that involves pursuing one’s passions may be successful at what they do, but at the expense of being truly fulfilled by it.
Video: Why you will fail to have a great career | Larry Smith |TED
Related:
This post is a follow-up to: What are you weaknesses?
Consider for a moment that you are a boat.
I know it sounds silly, but do it.
You are a boat. And your life is an ocean.
With the proper skills, attitude, and approach you can navigate to wherever you wish to go.
But how quickly & easily you get to your desired destination depends not only on how efficiently you operate — and how resilient you are to challenges you encounter along the way — but on the overall integrity of your vessel.
In other words, how well you do in life depends a lot on how well you can handle and navigate less than desirable circumstances.
Now consider that your weaknesses are like leaks in the hull of this boat.
Under normal circumstances — and if the leaks are small — one can often bail out water quickly enough to keep their boat afloat.
Now, because a boat with leaks takes more energy to manage than one without, the ideal approach is to locate and plug as many leaks as possible.
The more leaks that one can plug, the more efficiently the boat will float and the less one feels the negative effects of the leaks that remain.
In short, identifying one’s weakness and then working on ways to overcome them makes one’s life more manageable.
On the flip side, if the leaks in one’s boat become too prevalent — perhaps while navigating a stormy sea — one’s vessel will take in water faster than one can bail it out.
And whether we’re talking about leaks or personal weaknesses here, not being able to manage them effectively can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed, helpless, and depressed.
So you can see why identifying and actively working on one’s weaknesses can be beneficial and empowering.
How to overcome weaknesses is beyond the scope of this post, but it should help to point out that the more that one can identify their weaknesses, triggers, and bad habits, the more that they can make a conscious effort to reduce them.
The more a person makes a conscious effort to reduce the impact of their weaknesses, the more they’re able to direct their life where they want it go.
The more control a person gains over their self, the more control they gain over their life. The more control a person has over their life, the happier they tend to be.
One of the biggest steps toward gaining control over one’s life is gaining control over one’s self.
Plug your leaks.
(And if you can’t plug them, at least learn ways to minimize them).
“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” — Carlos Castaneda
Related:
Conventional thinking doesn’t change the world, crazy ideas do.
“The most beautiful things are those that madness prompts and reason writes.” — Andre Gide
Related:
Excerpt from: The strength in tolerance and kindness
Self-discipline is a key to many doors. Not least of which is one that leads to a better, stronger, and healthier version of yourself.
Related:
Bored?
Think about a problem in the world and imagine ways to solve it.
That should keep you busy.
Don’t feel qualified?
Remember, conventional thinking doesn’t change the world, crazy ideas do.
Don’t waste your time telling the world that you’re bored. The world doesn’t care.
But if you tell the world the of the problems you’re trying to solve, you may just pique the interest of others who not only care enough about the problems to accept the invitation to help you, they might have crazy enough ideas to do it.
Related:
Life is hard. And it isn’t fair. And it really hurts like hell sometimes. But if you focus on what is within your power to change for the better, you can. And you will.
Related:
