We all wish and hope for things to happen. It is the seed of all our ideas. We envision the desire in our minds and put it out into the world in the form of dreams. While this may be soothing and steady us during trying times to believe that someday our lives will improve, if we do nothing, most likely that is exactly what will happen. Our dreams will remain Pollyannish visions with minimal chance for success. Hope is only the first step. We must follow up with action and perseverance. Then and only then can our dreams become reality.
We want life to be simple and for things to be exactly as they appear, for our journey to be a series signs directing us to turn right and left, speed up and slow dow. Unfortunately this is rarely the case. The world communicates in a subtle whisper. If we interpret and react to everything literally, we are prone to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over. We need to look past the surface of the sounds and symbols around us. What happens to us does so for a reason, but it is usually not the reason we think.
Our ambition and desire to succeed propel us through difficult and trying situations. We don’t allow ourselves to get weighed down by adverse outcomes and stay focused on our long term goals. Unfortunately this same enthusiasm and passion often land and keep us in negative situations that we struggle to get out of even though we know we should. We end up competing and obsessing about winning rather than being committed to our own healthiness and helping those around us. Sometimes the best move is to let go and extricate ourselves from toxic environments and put ourselves in games worth winning.
We always want to know the right words to say. We search for the perfect sentiment to express our meaning and help the people around us. Unfortunately what comes out of our mouths in those moments too often is less than ideal. In our desire to communicate our true thoughts and feelings or from the tension and pressure of the moment, we utter some pretty stupid and sometimes hurtful things. But if our intentions are pure, our meaning will come through regardless of the words. Using the wrong ones is just the first step to knowing the right ones.
It’s difficult enough to do the “right” thing — to stay within the lines of what is expected. But to step over the lines and live with and learn from the consequences may be even tougher. When we make mistakes, our first reaction is to pull back within the lines, reverting to what is safe. By doing so we lose all the value of our wrong choices. We need to trust our curiosity and trust where it takes us. Growth and progress happen by doing more than pushing the boundaries. We actually have to step over them and experience life on the other side.
