The End Is Near!

Have you ever felt like you have reached a point in your life where there seems to be no way forward?   It seems that many people are on a path in life that takes us no place or carries them in any real direction.  We often feel like we have reached a dead end and cannot seem to find a way around the barriers.  But what if the real barriers were us?  What if we were the only barrier that kept us from experiencing the life that we would love to have? 

In my experience, and with the experience of the clients I have had, it appears that we are our own problem.  Very rarely is there a real barrier that keeps us from moving forward, even when we perceive trying to bust through this imaginary barrier.  Our minds are designed to keep us alive, and our mind rarely cares to stray into areas that seem dangerous with chances of harm or death.  This survival mechanism is not a bad thing in many ways, but it does not allow you to physically take the chances that can yield great rewards.  I don’t know about others, but I do love being alive, and I do appreciate the attitude of my mind; however, is life simply living?  Maybe we don’t need purpose in our lives to experience life, but I do think that we need the struggles of our lives to help hone us into a grand human being.  Can you imagine having a perfect life?  I think that would be quite boring after a while.  We are designed to move forward from infancy to adulthood to become well-rounded human beings, but we cannot accomplish this task without going through some trials. 

When I look back at my life, especially at all the times when life seems so difficult, I truly realize that these hard times are what have made me who I am.  I think the reason we are born as a blank slate, without experience, is to have the opportunity to have experiences, some chosen for us, other experiences that we choose, that will create a human being that is effective and tolerant of this reality we live in.  If you take the life of a professional sportsman, they are never good at what they are now at the beginning of the journey.  To become a stunning professional at a sport, you must practice, practice, and practice some more to program your mind and body to become the best at your sport.  Unlike a sportsman, most of us do not pick a hard-earned pathway or practice at all, and we rarely enjoy where we find ourselves in life.  I am not suggesting that we must have our entire lives figured out at a younger age and spend our whole life on a pathway to become the best at something, but I do think we should have some type of direction.  Unfortunately, many of us are at the mercy of what life throws at us, and we simply react to what we are “given”.

I am not speaking from a place of perfection, but I am speaking from a place of experience.  It seems that many of the wonderful and bad experiences simply showed up in my life, while other parts of my life have been choosing a pathway and putting dedicated time into that pathway.  Perhaps life is a bit of a mix in this respect.  Maybe we are born into this world with a specific beginning and end, and major milestones built into our plan.  If that is true, then what about all the space that lies between all those major life markers?  I think this is where magic happens or is supposed to happen. You have probably heard the saying that the dash between birth and death is what matters -- I believe this is true.  Unfortunately, we tend to fill up this “space” with activities that do not affect our lives positively.  How many of us find ourselves at the “mercy” of scrolling through social media or binge-watching television shows?  If you to truly track what you do every day, and are completely honest about it, you would be shocked at how much time we waste on frivolous activities.  We are all guilty of wasting time in our lives – we are addicted to the comfort zone.  There is the protection mentality of the mind again – stay out of the uncomfortable areas of our lives and playing it safe.  Let me tell you a secret – life is short and, in the end, we will die; so why wouldn’t we try new things, become something different, take some chances?  I am not suggesting that you quit your job and go off on some crazy adventure that is irresponsible – I am suggesting changes that you can make that do not take away the ability to maintain your place in this world.

We all know that we live in a world that revolves around money, and without money, we will not survive.  Life is truly a balancing act between living in the world and thinking outside the lines of this world.  What if we simply too all that time that we normally waste, and insert activities that will enhance a dream or goal that we have?  The excuse of “I don’t have enough time” is absolutely false!  If something is important to you in this life, you will find time to accomplish it, or at least the time to chase down that desire, goal, or dream.  We all have the same amount of time; the bum and the billionaire have 24 hours each day, but what separates outcomes in each of these lives – choices!  We must make choices in our lives that fundamentally improve who we are and that contribute to humanity.  Even if you choose not to make a choice, that is still a choice.  Choosing to do nothing about your life, taking chances, or changing how you approach life is ultimately a choice. 

I personally struggle with long-term goals and dreams, but what I have been able to master is the ability to choose a challenge, climb that hill with great intensity, conquer that hill, then look around for a new hill to conquer.  I know that we are all different in how we approach where we want to go in life, but we must take a stand, make a choice, and go after something relevant for you, before life takes hold and buries you in chaos.  The biggest problem with us humans is that we don’t necessarily know what we want, and end up just letting life happen to us, and finding out that we don’t like where we end up in life.  I pose a question to all my clients – if you could have anything in life, without the fear of failure, or the lack of resources, what would your life look like?  Most people simply don’t have an answer to that question; even if they do, why aren't they doing anything about that dream?  Welcome to being human -- life is surely like riding on the struggle bus!

If you really want to change your life for the better, you must make new choices and spend the time chasing after your new life.  There is no other way around this – to become someone different, you must change things and stop doing those same things repeatedly while expecting a different result.  Isn’t that the definition of madness?  To try making changes in your life with the same thinking that got you to where you are now?  You must change our minds!  Changing your mind takes work, consistency, and persistence!  One of the other problems that we have as humans is that we cannot seem to stay on track with what we want.  In other words, we change our minds, our direction, and our thinking all the time.  Pick something to chase, stay on target, never waver, use your time wisely, and you can get anything you want!  Be just like a professional sportsman and show up for the practice of your life every day in every way, and watch the magic happen!