We should know nothing short of being...but being the best
I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to
keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said
against me won't amount to anything.
keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said
against me won't amount to anything.
~ Abraham Lincoln
Too often we sell ourselves short. We fail to pursue the best of who we are, who we are meant to be in almost every aspect. Some of us follow our dreams but we don't follow it all the way through.
Why? Its simple, its because of fear. Its fear of pain & fear of shame,. Life has taught most of us that we are to stay in our self imposed mental confines melded together by experiences and what others have told you. Because it will hurt to try something very different, something above & beyond what's expected. And as a result, we settle for mediocrity. Its the "I think I have tried before and Im really not meant for it" mentality.
All these kind of thoughts stem from our feelings of inadequacy.
Because somewhere along life, lot of us lose our courage in this pursuit.... this pursuit that leads to excellence. We are afraid to say we deserve the absolute best in life because we are afraid given our track record, that will never happen. We see too many broken role models, we hear far too many people negate our intrinsic value over and over again. Life has handed out one too many sour grapes with no explanations either.
And because of that you choose to not respond to ideas of a higher nature, you choose to ignore the tuggings of your conscience, a part of your soul gets muffled & with that you become desensitized. Some even to the point of being indifferent. Make no mistake, many men and women have gone through their lives being but an observer in their own life until they die. And thats whats happening in our world, many of us are becoming indifferent people, settling for whatever life gives us without protest, and living in the shadow of our fears.
Solution: Act like a kid
When we were much younger, we used to believe in the best. The best in ourselves and in others. One can see this when children idolize athletes because they can see the true potential of what they too could become when they grow up.....the best at their game.
And so to become the best, we need a child's curiosity.
Curiosity starts from a deep sense of personal security, knowing that what you discover about yourself or the world can only help you. In fact, the word 'Curious' is the single definition by which Einstein used to describe himself. Its something that so simple but yet so powerful that we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the scores of people before us who chased down their curiosity everyday to the end.
You must believe that against all odds God loves you and has a purpose for you. And armed with that knowledge you have to go out into the world and dream, dream the impossible everyday.
Step 1. Kids learn to say thank you - Always start your day by being grateful. It's the greatest prayer you can give God. Every morning you wake up, thank God for 5 different things. Change up the 5 things everyday too.
Step 2. Kids actually love to read - Read this. Read that. Read everything! Reading forms the foundation for your brain to start exploring who you are and what you know about the world around you. Learn from the countless before you constantly.
Step 3. Kids love to draw - Create your vision poster. Put pictures, quotes and ideas of all your dreams, your hopes and characteristics of who you want to be on it. Even your most ludicrous dreams go on this. Make it as specific as you want. You can do this on a posterboard with cut out pictures and print outs or you can do it electronically like I do on Google Docs. Read your vision poster everyday and keep refining it. Its the Constitution to your life. (Mine will come up soon)
Step 4. Kids do it without thinking - Just do it! Set actual measurable goals and go achieve it. Say Im going to achieve this in 2 weeks, this in 2 months and this by the end of year. And then go do it. Courage is a muscle you can only develop by taking risks over and over again.....and over again.
Step 5. Kids don't let boo-boo's stop them...ever - Failure and pain are obvious. The only thing that matters is how we respond. Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up again. Thank you Batman!
Step 6. Kids go all out - The toughest part of trying to be the best is that you have to be willing to die doing what you love doing, day in and day out. Persistence and hard work define how realistic your dreams can get. We must aim to do every single action, regardless of its importance, with purpose, the purpose of doing it the best we can over and over again.
Life is too short, we are not sure what can happen to us or when it might happen. All we can do is squeeze each and every day out to its fullest and learn to love it!
