"Man is only truly great when he acts from the passions." Benjamin Disraeli
A million years ago when I began my career I did so from a place of passion. Money, prestige, fame, or even pats on the back were not motivators. Joy, seeing people be moved to tears or laughter, a feeling of satisfaction that only comes from doing what you love was what got my juices flowing. I was energized by putting work clothes on my youthful dreams of teaching and writing.
Somewhere along the line passion declined, profit proliferated, energy waned, joy subsided, and in the end, not only were the juices not flowing, but obviously neither was the life blood to my heart. I had clogged arteries, clogged priorities, and a partly cloudy brain with constant thunderstorms that would rain down on my soul and drown out the still small voice that said, "Stop, rest, retreat, re-group and reconnect with your heart's desires to help people again and forget about how much or how little they can pay.
Today is the only day I have for sure (and not even the rest of the day is a given) so I will re-vision and renew my commitment to doing what I truly love.
Question: What were you once passionate about that is still calling you in your dreams?
Showing posts with label passion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label passion. Show all posts
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Not-Doing
“It is not healthy to be thinking all the time. Thinking is intended for acquiring knowledge or applying it. It is not essential living.” —Ernest Wood
As young a young man I loved to “push the river,”trying out my mental and physical muscles, swimming against the current. As an "older" man pushing is not my passion. Early on I learned that my life was up to me, that I should strive hard, persevere, even punish my body to keep my head above water. It took me a long time to remember that I could be held up by that water, made alive by its grace, supported by its buoyant energy.
Few of us learned one of the secrets of freedom: that “not-doing” carries us further than we could ever have gone under our own efforts. Even better, when I stop pushing my life along, the ego stays in check, because it can’t take credit for what I accomplish by simply letting go.
Nature teaches “not-doing” to all with eyes to see. The chick does not construct the egg it’s born from. The grass is planted by the wind, the lake is filled by the rain, and no one has to wake up the sun in the morning! Life has its perfect plan. When I surrender to its current, I free to give a much needed rest to my mental machinery.
Question: Are you still "pushing" or are you "letting go" as the decades roll along?
As young a young man I loved to “push the river,”trying out my mental and physical muscles, swimming against the current. As an "older" man pushing is not my passion. Early on I learned that my life was up to me, that I should strive hard, persevere, even punish my body to keep my head above water. It took me a long time to remember that I could be held up by that water, made alive by its grace, supported by its buoyant energy.
Few of us learned one of the secrets of freedom: that “not-doing” carries us further than we could ever have gone under our own efforts. Even better, when I stop pushing my life along, the ego stays in check, because it can’t take credit for what I accomplish by simply letting go.
Nature teaches “not-doing” to all with eyes to see. The chick does not construct the egg it’s born from. The grass is planted by the wind, the lake is filled by the rain, and no one has to wake up the sun in the morning! Life has its perfect plan. When I surrender to its current, I free to give a much needed rest to my mental machinery.
Question: Are you still "pushing" or are you "letting go" as the decades roll along?
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