Find What You Are Looking For

I have been writing a lot about dreams lately and here is another post for your reading pleasure. Next week, I will move on to more topics, but I think this is important. The biggest mistake we can make in life is to start chasing things that aren't our dreams. Instead of doing what we know we should be doing, we go after the money, the fame, the prestige, the American Dream. You can have all the money and toys in the world, but unless you are doing what you are supposed to be doing, you aren't going to find what you are looking for.

This is a hard lesson to learn, because it isn't what we are taught. When we are children and asked what we want to be when we grow up, no one ever says they want to be a struggling artist. No one says they want to struggle at all. There are a lot of answers of doctor, lawyer, princess, cowboy, etc. None of the answers are bad, if this is what you are supposed to be doing. We need doctors and lawyers and princesses and cowboys, but not everyone can be one or is driven to be one. We have to get better at teaching children to listen to that little voice, the one we have learned to silence for so long, and to do what is going to make them happy, not just wealthy. The struggle is what makes us great.

We tell the children they can do anything they put their mind to, but we then make them behave and sit in nice straight rows and speak softly and not daydream and conform and stop being so imaginative. We drill them with facts and numbers but continue to take away time and money from the arts. We get them on a schedule and convince them getting A's in every subject is more important than doing anything else because they have to get into a great college to be anything. Unless they are prodigious from an early age, we push them away from the arts, because there isn't any money in it anyway, and convince them to become doctors or lawyers or bankers because they can make money and live a nice life.

Why? Are you happy doing what you are doing? If so, is it because someone forced you to to conform and stop dreaming and buckle down to do the work you are doing? Or did you find your passion? If you are unhappy, is it because you let them force you to conform and stop dreaming and buckle down to do the work you are doing? The people who are doing great work today are usually doing it in spite of what others tried to force them to do. They dreamed their own dreams and blazed their own paths. They didn't believe the BS being force fed to them. Shouldn't we be training the children to do this? Shouldn't we want more for them? Shouldn't we be teaching them to think for themselves and to chase their dreams?

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! In Kansas City, 2012 has dawned with beautiful blue skies and chilly temperatures (though by chilly, I mean cooler than it has been, but much warmer than usual). This year is going to bring many changes to all of our lives and I am sure we will all have our share of happiness and sadness.

Sitting here, drinking coffee on the morning of January 1, I think about everything 2012 has to offer. This is a year of endless possibilities. We may not be able to control everything it will bring, but this morning, we have a choice of which path we are going to start down. Do you want 2012 to be a repeat of 2011? Or, do you want to do something else, something different, something new this year? Whatever you decide to do, start moving forward today and let nothing stop you. Let's all make 2012 a year to remember!

Choose Your Path

Many people are afraid to step out of their comfort zones and do something alien to them. This fear holds us back from becoming the person we see ourselves being and want to become (I have allowed this fear to hold me back throughout my life). We must learn to recognize this fear, acknowledge it and then ignore it. Our best opportunities for growth come when we are uncomfortable, when we aren't sure of the outcome, when we are doing things we wouldn't normally be doing.

Sounds easy, huh? We all know it is not. Throughout our lives, we have been trained to fit in, to be a part of the crowd, to do what we are good at, to know our limitations and to follow the rules. Our education systems never pushed us to be different. We have been taught everyone has a place in the world and if you take this career aptitude test, it will show you where you fit. After high school, most of you should go to college. Those of you who don't have the grades to go to college, don't worry, we always need people to pick up our trash and serve us food. From an early age, we are labeled as gifted or average or below average and these labels tend to stick. These labels become limiting...the below average and the average start to believe they have no chance at becoming gifted, so why should they try?

I say forget about the labels. They do nothing but hold people back. Take a look at your life and what you want to do and where you want your future to go. Once you see this, start to figure out how to get there, but don't spend too much time trying to figure this out before you start moving. Find your path and start down it. Many of us will change our paths throughout our lives. Right now, we might imagine where we will be in five years, but there will be many other paths branching off the one we choose. If you want to take the fork, do it. Don't worry about changing you mind or following a different path, go where you think you should. Don't let the fear conquer you here, either.

Look inside yourself and figure out where your greatest fulfillment will be and go. Don't worry about the labels or fitting in or what society will think. Some of the greatest minds were labeled as below average or average or troublemakers or outcasts. Do something different. Do what is going to make you happy. Do what you love. Do what you think you may love. The goal is to start moving forward, to constantly move forward and to never stop. Don't let fear of the unknown hold you back.