Monday, August 22, 2011
The Middle
The hardest thing is to be in the moment that you find yourself in. It is really hard to appreciate the moment that you are in. Most everyone alternates between looking ahead and looking back at where you have been. I have a habit (like a lot of people) of looking forward at all of the things that are in front of me. The list of the things in front of me are a combination of things I must do, want to do, need to do and hope to do. It is not a short list and certainly is not in a good sequential order.
Running a race will always be better than watching one. It is no secret that the thing that makes the finish line great is the middle of the race. Always have a deep appreciation of for the middle of the race.
I will be the designated spectator.
Love Dad
Monday, August 1, 2011
Doubts - Reprised
Another pearl from the treasure chest...timely again.
I still have those periods of tremendous doubt. They almost always come when I am on the brink of doing something I think I am not very good at or when I am unsure of myself. The strange thing is that if you live an exceptional life, you will experience those periods of tremendous doubt quite often. You get better at recognizing it, but that sinking feeling you get stays the same. You also get a lot better at understanding that that sinking feeling means you are standing at the threshold of another accomplishment. It is the price of being successful.
You will recognize it when you join a new group of people, a new club, get a new job, enter into a new relationship or start down a new path in almost any area of your life.
For me it is simple. When I do something scary, I never tell myself not to be scared. It is a normal, healthy thing to be scared when doing something scary. It took me a long time to realize that scary stuff did not have to be a noble undertaking to be worthwhile. Most of my scary stuff would not scare another person but it is so very important to me. A lot of times it is just being in a new place where none of your normal points of reference or support are.
Doubt and fear are kind of a checklist, a way for you to quickly assess what you are doing, why you are doing it and really if you should be doing it at all. I accept that they are part of the decision making process.
Never let doubts keep you away from a desired goal. When they threaten to turn you away from a goal you just need to recall the last time you felt like running away and did not and succeeded despite all the odds. At your relatively young ages you already have a lot of these experiences.
A successful life and one that is well lived is never a completely comfortable one.
Love Dad
I still have those periods of tremendous doubt. They almost always come when I am on the brink of doing something I think I am not very good at or when I am unsure of myself. The strange thing is that if you live an exceptional life, you will experience those periods of tremendous doubt quite often. You get better at recognizing it, but that sinking feeling you get stays the same. You also get a lot better at understanding that that sinking feeling means you are standing at the threshold of another accomplishment. It is the price of being successful.
You will recognize it when you join a new group of people, a new club, get a new job, enter into a new relationship or start down a new path in almost any area of your life.
For me it is simple. When I do something scary, I never tell myself not to be scared. It is a normal, healthy thing to be scared when doing something scary. It took me a long time to realize that scary stuff did not have to be a noble undertaking to be worthwhile. Most of my scary stuff would not scare another person but it is so very important to me. A lot of times it is just being in a new place where none of your normal points of reference or support are.
Doubt and fear are kind of a checklist, a way for you to quickly assess what you are doing, why you are doing it and really if you should be doing it at all. I accept that they are part of the decision making process.
Never let doubts keep you away from a desired goal. When they threaten to turn you away from a goal you just need to recall the last time you felt like running away and did not and succeeded despite all the odds. At your relatively young ages you already have a lot of these experiences.
A successful life and one that is well lived is never a completely comfortable one.
Love Dad
Reprise - Keep the Faith
Another pearl from the past posts.
Keep the faith.
The unshakable faith in yourself. Sincere belief really starts with you.
Have you ever heard one person berate another person in that hard, unforgiving way that makes your stomach turn? There is never a real good reason to talk that way to anyone. When it reaches that level, it is time to just walk away.
Being driven and having high expectations is a good thing. There are times when you are going to fall short of a desired or expected result for yourself. When you fall (and you will), how you talk to yourself is so very important. It is far to easy to berate yourself in that hard, unforgiving way that is so damaging. There is never a real good reason to talk to yourself that way. And there are times that you simply have to walk away because it has reached that level.
That golden rule thing about treating others like you want to be treated is right on the money. People forget that the golden rule applies to them first and foremost.
Forgive and you will be forgiven,
Trust and you will be trusted,
Believe and people will believe you.
So if you are running the race with someone and you fall and they pass you, that is not the end of the race unless you do not get back up again. The pain of the bruised ego and body eases a great deal when you are back in the race.
Keep the faith, that unshakable, sincere belief in yourself.
Run Forrest...
Love Dad
Keep the faith.
The unshakable faith in yourself. Sincere belief really starts with you.
Have you ever heard one person berate another person in that hard, unforgiving way that makes your stomach turn? There is never a real good reason to talk that way to anyone. When it reaches that level, it is time to just walk away.
Being driven and having high expectations is a good thing. There are times when you are going to fall short of a desired or expected result for yourself. When you fall (and you will), how you talk to yourself is so very important. It is far to easy to berate yourself in that hard, unforgiving way that is so damaging. There is never a real good reason to talk to yourself that way. And there are times that you simply have to walk away because it has reached that level.
That golden rule thing about treating others like you want to be treated is right on the money. People forget that the golden rule applies to them first and foremost.
Forgive and you will be forgiven,
Trust and you will be trusted,
Believe and people will believe you.
So if you are running the race with someone and you fall and they pass you, that is not the end of the race unless you do not get back up again. The pain of the bruised ego and body eases a great deal when you are back in the race.
Keep the faith, that unshakable, sincere belief in yourself.
Run Forrest...
Love Dad
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