For an audio version of this story check out: http://grindpodcast.com/2019/01/choose-love/
Human beings are very good at making things up.
Our imagination is incredible one of our greatest allies along with one of our greatest enemies.
For example, someone years ago made up the 40 hour work week. At the time it seemed like a great idea as people were being over worked so it became a staple in the US.
We have these predetermined set things that once established, becomes the norm and then it’s hard for us as a society to break that mold.
What’s really interesting to me is that most of the things we create in our minds are not actually REAL. 40 hour work weeks was one guys idea, and it stuck.
Tim Ferris came along and slapped that idea in the face with the 4 Hour Work Week.
These things are just made up!
One of my favorite songs is titled We Were Meant to Live and it’s by Switchfoot. In the song he starts out:
Fumbling his confidence
And wondering why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he’s bent for more than arguments,
And failed attempts to fly,
Hoping that he is bent for more!
We all have failed attempts to fly. At some moment in our life, we attempted to fly. Maybe it worked, maybe not.
With globalization among us, the world is smaller than it has ever been. Back in the day, you were only comparing yourself to your neighbors. That is where the term keeping up with the Jones’s came from.
The only difference now is that there are 7 billions Jones’s we are comparing ourselves with.
At any moment in time, you can go on social media and see about 10–15 of your friends on vacation and think, I should be on vacation right now. And if you can’t go on vacation, you might feel like a failure. You have attempted to fly and have not succeeded and that makes us sad.
Switchfoot goes on to say:
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We have lost a bit of ourselves haven’t we. We are losing a battle but I don’t think we have lost the war.
We can adapt to this. There is a way around the lack of connection, the increasing loneliness, a society that has so much doubt.
The solution is love.
Our hearts crave it.
When faced with your daily conundrums, processes, and wonders you should ask yourself, is my response, my reaction, or my decision based on love or based on fear?
You could also add excitement in there. Are your decisions based on exciting things or fearful things?
Someone in the last week reminded me of an interesting philosophy.
They said that the people you interact with or hire, or the decisions you make should either be a HELL YES or a HELL NO.
I would agree with that way of life to a certain extent. The only issue I have with it is that a lot of times the HELL YES’s are disguised as a HELL NO because of fear and doubt.
An example would be running into an extremely talented person that you would love to have on your team or you would love to partner with. Those types of people have a tendency to scare off other people because of their reputation or clout. They can come off as intimidating!
Remember, they put their pants on just like you do!
See, that should be a HELL YES I’m going to go talk to that person but instead a lot of times, it’s a HELL NO because of fear.
We can flip it around and come from love, and the decision will become easier.
I imagine a famous person. That’s made up.
They are still flesh and bone, just like you and me.
Coming from love is only one side of the story. It’s important to also be confident and honest with yourself.
If we can all release the shackles of these made up things that weigh us down, then we will be free to pursue all the things this wonderful life has to offer.
It doesn’t mean you have travel the world to exotic places to feel extreme joy! What we miss out on many times and days is that extreme joy is right in front of us. If we stop comparing ourselves to what others think, do our best, stop making assumptions, and live a life true to ourselves, we can truly live.
We were meant to live and love!
Meant to live in a state of joy and love and not one of fear and doubt.
Laugh at your failures. Don’t be a victim.
You need to remind yourself every single day two things:
1) Challenge yourself
Amazing things rarely happen in your comfort zone but yet, we love staying in our comfort zone. Not sure why, it kind of sucks when we look back at when we were comfortable. Crazy cool stories almost never come to fruition from a time in your pajamas by the fire unless the pajamas started on fire and you have to jump in the pool to put them out. Now that’s a great story!
2.) Have as much fun as possible
You WILL regret not having fun! Trust me! You will look back on your life and say, I wish I would have had more fun and worked less.
Granted, these both can get a little confusing since challenging yourself can sometimes have elements of NOT having fun like rocking out an Ironman or giving a speech for the first time.
Having fun throughout the misery of practicing or training for something challenging is the hack. A challenge shouldn’t be a chore. It should be a choice!
Misery can be only a small fraction of life if we choose to allow that to be the case.
Choose love, challenge yourself, and have as much fun along the way as possible!
Stay frosty and grind on!
JT
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