When will you begin writing that first book you keep talking about? Make a firm offer on the dream home you have wanted? Take that dream vacation? Move your career in a bold new direction? Start the exercise program you have been putting off? If not now … When?
Is today your ‘When’ day … the day your life really takes off?
Stop dreaming and take action. Let’s face it, we are all procrastinators to some degree. It is part of our nature, a part of our DNA. However, if we are going to live the life we’ve always dreamed about, then at some point in time we have to put a stake in the ground and take responsibility for making it happen.
As a child, I was a BIG dreamer and had a long wish list of things I didn’t have. My dear sweet mother had a great way of bringing me down to earth. When my ‘Wish List’ got to be too much for her she would say, “Wish in one hand and poop in the other, and see which one fills up the fastest.”
The translation: our goals, dreams and aspirations are only as good as the actions behind them. If you want something badly enough, you will find a way. Otherwise, it’s just noise and a waste of energy.
“Don’t ask God to guide your footsteps if you’re not willing to move your feet.”
Stay open to the possibilities. Mendhi Audlin, my friend, spiritual leader and author of What If It All Goes Right sums it up the best … “Do not focus on what you want in order to get what you want. When you’re focusing on what you want in order to make it happen, you’re activating the feeling that you don’t have it. From a quantum perspective, your attachment to the outcome becomes counter-productive.”
Our attachment to outcomes blocks the flow that opens the door to a world of possibility. As a consequence, we can miss a lot of amazing opportunities by focusing on the ‘one thing’ that we think will change the course of our lives.
What if that one thing we are laser focused on doesn’t work out … what’s next? What is your Plan B?
“The trouble is, you think you have time.” — Buddha
Strive for progress, not perfection. We set ourselves up for disappointment and failure when we focus too much of our energy on the destination, and not enough on the journey. Life is not perfect and neither are we, so move past this notion of perfection. As George Leonard states in his book Mastery, “It should come as no great surprise that many of us have the idea that our lives by all rights should consist of one climax after another.”
So, what do we do when our day-to-day existence doesn’t measure up, or we miss those life experiences and run out of time before ever reaching our intended destination?
Stop waiting for good things to happen. “Kadima” is a Hebrew word meaning forward. Don’t be a “one of these days” person, and end up living a life of regret. Just keep moving forward, make daily progress, and turn your ‘When’ day into today and every day.
Enjoy the journey!
John
COPYRIGHT © 2015-21 John Carroll
(Repost of my OffBeat Magazine article published on December 1, 2015).