These words of Thomas Edison have been gentle reminders to me during times of frustration when all I can see ahead of me is certain failure: Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
I remember the very first article I sold to a major newspaper. The first time I submitted it, his response was lukewarm. Yes it had merits but he pointed out all that was missing and made many suggestions for change. The second time, he made even more suggestions for change and I knew what was happening: he wanted to let me down easily and was trying to get rid of me. Taking the hint, I put my writing aside. Weeks later a friend asked me how the article was coming along and I explained that the editor wasn’t interested. She laughed and said that his comments meant that he had done half the work for me already. That was a shift in perception! I resubmitted the article with the recommended changes, the editor bought it, and I’ve been writing ever since.
Our challenge is to stay curious; keep an open mind on things we’ve put on the back burner, possibilities that we’ve dismissed. What can we now move up to the front burner? What are we willing to start now?
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Dawn Brown, M.Ed. (Counseling) is a psychotherapist, international speaker, and author (That Perception Thing! and Expert Women Who Speak…Speak Out!). Her new book Been There, Done That… Now What? is available at http://www.beentheredonethatnowwhat.com and http://www.amazon.com. For more information about her services visit http://www.perceptionshift.com
Do what you love to do and give it your very best. Whether it’s business or baseball, or the theater, or any field. If you don’t love what you’re doing and you can’t give it your best, get out of it. Life is too short. You’ll be an old man before you know it.~
Al Lopez
Since childhood we are coerced to follow the conventional path. Along the way, through happy accidents we discover small pockets of doing what we love. Unfortunately, due to the tremendous strength of our conditioning, we relegate our attention to doing what we must to survive.
Only twice have I met people who have done what they loved and both events shook me to the core. Inspiration is watching someone doing what they love.
The first time, I was introduced to a dentist. My mother had sent me to see him because I was about to graduate from high school and I wanted to choose a profession for college. She had been a patient of the dentist and had been highly impressed by him.
The dentist showed me around his office. It was evening, and the office had closed. He was so enthusiastic that I could barely follow along. He showed me a variety of instruments, he showed me textbook after textbook of the most horrific dental conditions and rhapsodized about how dentistry could fix them, andhe showed me what it is like to be happy.
The second time, I was introduced to a surgeon. Unfortunately, I was his patient. This man used to be a general practitioner, and then fell in love with surgery. He just loved helping people. Besides saving my life, he also showed me the power of doing what you love. He was always laughing, joking, and appeared to be having the time of his life.
Both these men enjoyed tremendous wealth and success. I met them socially, too, and learned more about them. Life and joy just emanated from them. They were the most charming and amazing people in any social setting. Their charisma emanated from doing what they loved all day long.
If you’re not doing what you love, then you’re at the wrong place, with the wrong people, and doing the wrong thing. Your life is heavy with repressed desire. And the weight of your unlived life will not let you have a moment of true spontaneity.
But–how do we just throw away the entire fabric of what we consider our safety and plunge into doing what we love? How do we probe past the layers of self-denial that have what we love to do?
There are three things to do to live your life on your own terms doing what you love.
The first is to spend some time in introspection and find what you love to do.
The second is to begin where you’re at to do it. Do it as recreation if you don’t have an outlet. The main thing to do is to let it happen.
The third thing is to let it expand by itself to fill your life. Your skills will improve, your hobby will attract opportunity, and one day, you’ll find the joy of living your life the way you want and be a blessing to all those around you.
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Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, Ca., 15 years ago and now resides in Denver, Colorado. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life
Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this
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