Go ahead, take a risk!

“The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.”
― Theodore Roosevelt 

Not doing anything is a great way to play it safe.  But taking a risk brings more satisfaction.  There is the satisfaction of accomplishment; the satisfaction of having done a good job; and most importantly, the satisfaction of having the courage to take that risk.  Sure, it can be scary at times, intimidating, unpleasant.  But the rewards are oh, so delicious.  Think of the time when you had your eye on a person of the opposite sex and were afraid to approach him or her? When you finally conquered your fear, did you not feel lighter? That person's response is almost inconsequential.  What matters is that you dared to step out on the skinny branches! 

Dare to be great!

Thinking Outside the Box

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
― Albert Einstein 

 Like playing, thinking outside the box is done more by children than by adults.  By the time they grow up, children have learned social "rules," required protocols, the so-called social grease of relationships, and gradually begin conforming to a logical step-by-step hierarchy for things.  As in a prior blog entry, the key to not getting old is to never stop playing.  Here, the key to inventiveness, creativity, and energy is to avoid the tried-and-true, A to B linear thinking, and dare to step outside.  This is not confined merely to logical material, dry calculations of profit and loss, pros and cons, but to everything in life, including new careers, relocations, new friends. 

Have you ever wondered how it was possible for a little girl to understand rhythm and cadence to the point of being such a celebrated dancer as Shirley Temple? If you look at her videos, you would be amazed at the level of sophistication in the syncopation of her dance steps.  She didn't achieve that level of proficiency by studying countless hours or earning an advanced degree.  Her dance was instinctive, spontaneous childlike innocence that does not analyze everything.  When I try to dance, I slow the music (or shut it off entirely), then slowly count every step, every right-left-hop, frequently painfully and to no avail.  I, as an adult, require many, many repetitions, and I still cannot dream of reaching Shirley's level of proficiency.  Why? Because I'm dancing to someone else's tune. 

Dare to imagine.  Dare to design your life.  Think outside the box.

Don't Stop!

“We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
― George Bernard Shaw 

This is not only about playing, but about living.  There is ample evidence to suggest that retirement is not good for the soul - or for life, itself.  Do not delude yourself into believing that retirement will set you free - from your boss, from the commute, from the stress.  It won't.  Rather, retirement will have the opposite effect, that of withdrawing you from a community, from social interaction, from deadlines, from the need to get up at a set time and go about doing something that someone is relying upon.  You may fantasize that that is exactly what you need, peace and quiet, and yet, upon further reflection, you would probably admit to yourself that when you had unlimited time off, you became bored.  And boredom leads to laziness, which leads to lack of interest, which leads to eventual death.  Lack of interest is the worst.  After all, how much golf can you play? You believe that you would never tire of sitting in your sailboat and bobbing on the waves? It's wonderful when you do it in small segments - just like eating chocolate cake: it's delicious at first bite; it's satisfying at the end of the piece of cake; it's beckoning to you to have another piece, then another; and yet, once you realize that there is no one watching you, no one with whom you must share that cake, do you really want to finish it? What about tomorrow, will you want yet another chocolate cake? Perhaps.  Retirement is not quite like a chocolate cake.  Worse - it lasts much longer.  Much longer with nothing to do.  Yes, yes, I know, you've got your hobbies, your grandchildren, your voluminous library.  But have you goals and aspirations?

What is Excellence?

“If you want to achieve excellence, you can get there today. As of this second, quit doing less-than-excellent work.”

― Thomas Jefferson 

Do you accept "good enough" from others, as well as yourself? Do you believe that no one's going to know better; or no one even has any idea of what you're talking about? Stop it. Strive for excellence in all you do.  Here's why. 

Excellence is akin to honor.  If you give your word that you will appear at 5 pm, don't show up at 5:03 and shrug your shoulders as if it really didn't matter.  If you promised to keep a secret, don't then tell your spouse about it, thinking that it doesn't really count.  If you made a commitment to meet your friend each morning at 6 a.m. for a 2-mile walk, don't cancel because you just don't feel like going, or want to get more sleep. 

Excellence is a commitment.  A commitment to your best.  Not your almost-best, but your best.  Your best effort.  Your utmost; your all.  It means giving 100% to the task.  What such commitment says about you is that you can be counted on.  Your best - your own excellence - is unimpeachable.  It is true and strong and reliable. 

Give your word.  Be excellent.

The Pursuit of Happiness

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Anger - that state of being of antagonism, indignant rage, desire for vengeance, jealousy, resentment - has become a popular means of expression in this day and age of liberation, of self-determination, of assertiveness.  Have we crossed too far to the other side?  Negative emotions that lead to negative actions are not the mark of the strong, but rather the refuge of the weak.  It is the weak who rely on their "right" to self-expression as an excuse to vent their anger.  But consider: any form of negative emotion is, by definition, negative - it is harmful, deleterious to health, both physical and emotional.  And anything that does not support resonant, brilliant health of body and mind necessarily is the robber of such states.  Do not permit your house to be robbed.  Do not become vulnerable to the seducer that is anger.  Do not allow yourself to succumb to the lie that anger is useful.  It is not.  It is a mark of weakness, a road to perdition.

A Test of Courage

“The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.”
― George S. Patton 

As the quote above states, the mark of character is not what you find when you are on top; it is what you do when you falter.  The "test" of success - or, for that matter, the test of courage or of faith or of loyalty, occurs when things are not going our way.  If we can rise above adversity; above discouragement; ignore others' malicious or deprecating opinions of our efforts - then we shall have passed the test. 

It is true for faith, whether you believe in an unseen greater power, or if you choose to have faith in an outcome: the test comes when the chips are down.  That's what makes it a test.  Otherwise, how would you know that you have been tested? How would you know that your faith was challenged, questioned even? When everything around you is purring along, with no problems, no issues, nothing to resolve, there is no conflict.  You are at peace.  The forces do not battle each other.  Everything is harmonious.  And that is not a test.  The test comes when conflict begins.  How you resolve it is the mark of your character.

Facing One's Problems

“Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them.”
― Henry Ford

There is no question that problems are not fun.  We tend to avoid them.  We want to sidestep them.  In a sense, we want to pretend they don't exist.  But in truth, problems do exist, and exist in everyone's lives.  No one is immune.  The mark of character is what one does with one's problems, whether one eschews them or faces them head on.  Why should we strive to face our problems rather than bury our head in the sand? because facing them - soon - means that we are acknowledging their existence; are unafraid of their influence or consequences; and are ready to deal with their reality.  It is a reality check.  Surprisingly, facing our problems makes them less imposing.