What Are You Not?

Michaelangelo_DavidA discussion that I have repeated many times with various individuals – young, old, male, female – is the discussion around purpose and identity.  This is something that is very personal and many people could potentially disagree with me regarding the nature of a so called deterministic view that a discussion around purpose evokes.

What I can say for certain is that individuals tend to have a natural fit in certain environments, tasks and relationships which enables them to be the best for the world when they focus on a key area of passion.  I have been blessed to refine this area for myself over many years and it has therefore been the center of discussion at various parties, social engagements and client interactions.

A key question that I have been asked a few times is how do you find more purpose or refine your identity?  Now for some disappointing news – there is no answer!  You have to live it, experience, experiment and engage in relationships in order to get more clarity.  Even more importantly, you have to remove what is not you.

When Michelangelo was asked how did he create the David statue he replied that he removed everything that was not David until he was revealed.  This indicates a chiseling, hammering and sanding process – that’s right, it is painful, and challenging.  Only the tough receive a gift of identity and purpose.

Pain is a great teacher but few wants to be his student.
Go from just surviving to being alive.

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It’s Messy, Wild and Crazy! It’s Life!

chaos-627218_1280We try to stop it.  We try to control it.  We think we know.  We believe that we are infallible.

…And yet everyday we realise that it is not true.  The failure, beautiful failure, that guides true learning in life.  If we so desire.

The reality is that this world is a beautiful place that is filled with challenges.  We can choose to live life or just survive.  Sometimes a bit of surviving does breed the desire to live, but death lurks behind mediocrity.  In other words, you are either growing or you are slowly dying.

If you don’t value the season of survival you miss the opportunity to learn from it and live – your time of survival is empty.  If you decide to dig in and learn from your suffering you actually incorporate life into that moment.  This is why this blog, and its message, is not focused on thriving, prosperity or abundance, but life.  When you make a conscious decision to live, you build your existence on a solid base.

Life is messy, wild and crazy and part of it is to choose to grow and learn in the midst of challenges.  You always have the power to choose!

Choose to go from survive to alive!

It’s Messy, Wild and Crazy! It’s Life!

chaos-627218_1280We try to stop it.  We try to control it.  We think we know.  We believe that we are infallible.

…And yet everyday we realise that it is not true.  The failure, beautiful failure, that guides true learning in life.  If we so desire.

The reality is that this world is a beautiful place that is filled with challenges.  We can choose to live life or just survive.  Sometimes a bit of surviving does breed the desire to live, but death lurks behind mediocrity.  In other words, you are either growing or you are slowly dying.

If you don’t value the season of survival you miss the opportunity to learn from it and live – your time of survival is empty.  If you decide to dig in and learn from your suffering you actually incorporate life into that moment.  This is why this blog, and its message, is not focused on thriving, prosperity or abundance, but life.  When you make a conscious decision to live, you build your existence on a solid base.

Life is messy, wild and crazy and part of it is to choose to grow and learn in the midst of challenges.  You always have the power to choose!

Choose to go from survive to alive!

Regaining Wisdom

wisdomDon’t just sit there and do nothing!  The words ring loudly in our ears.  The world says we need to take action, do, do, do!  Things won’t happen by themselves.  In the office you must step up, take action and impress people.  Hey you the entrepreneur a minute spent in thought and reflection is a client lost!

And so the fear and anxiety creeps in on the back of shallow insights that destroys the depth of who we are.  Look around you – is the current condition of the world brought about by too much reflection and wise action or by meaningless, overhasty drive and ambition?

Who are you?  Perhaps today is the day to just do nothing and sit there.  Yes, as crazy as that might seem, we do enough and there is no shortage of doers in the world.  You can just look at what we have done over the last two millennia.   But who have we become?!

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Half-eaten Apples and the Meaning of Life

Red apple with missing bite, studio shot --- Image by © Tetra Images/CorbisWhen you pass the kitchen counter and accidentally bump an apple and then catch it just to realise that you are grabbing a half eaten apple you know that life has a different meaning. So before I lose you, what I am referring to is the surprises that we receive.

Surprise can be good – we normally call surprises we like a surprise – or they can be bad and we don’t like them.  The last mentioned is what we call problems.  It is like grabbing a half-eaten apple and not expecting it.

The specific half-eaten apple I am talking about it was something my 6 year old son did.  He ate half an apple and the rest was left on the kitchen counter.  In many ways his apple that he left me reminded me that raising kids are in some ways the greatest challenge one can ever face.

And, yet, they are also the challenge that shape us, enrich us and ultimately help define us.

It is in the messy mesh of life’s threads that real meaning is created and that half-eaten apple reminded me that the surprises that I don’t want – the problems in life – is an opportunity to stand back and choose to add meaning and define life.

It brought a smile to my face and I realised that without life’s half-eaten apples it’s probably going to get quite boring.

Half-eaten Apples and the Meaning of Life

Red apple with missing bite, studio shot --- Image by © Tetra Images/CorbisWhen you pass the kitchen counter and accidentally bump an apple and then catch it just to realise that you are grabbing a half eaten apple you know that life has a different meaning. So before I lose you, what I am referring to is the surprises that we receive.

Surprise can be good – we normally call surprises we like a surprise – or they can be bad and we don’t like them.  The last mentioned is what we call problems.  It is like grabbing a half-eaten apple and not expecting it.

The specific half-eaten apple I am talking about it was something my 6 year old son did.  He ate half an apple and the rest was left on the kitchen counter.  In many ways his apple that he left me reminded me that raising kids are in some ways the greatest challenge one can ever face.

And, yet, they are also the challenge that shape us, enrich us and ultimately help define us.

It is in the messy mesh of life’s threads that real meaning is created and that half-eaten apple reminded me that the surprises that I don’t want – the problems in life – is an opportunity to stand back and choose to add meaning and define life.

It brought a smile to my face and I realised that without life’s half-eaten apples it’s probably going to get quite boring.

Choose a Side

1_99Society is evolving into two disparate opposites.  On the one side you have the dividing 1% influence or trend and on the other you have the 99% transformation hungry.  Sure, the gap is growing but for how long.  It is as Nick Hannauer so succinctly describes – the pitchforks are coming.  And they are coming for the rich.

How long can a world remain so unbalanced and unfair?  If you look at history it is evident that it cannot remain.  Normal human beings simply can’t take it.  The problem will however remain as long as things are okay.  Once things are not okay, i.e. if the pain becomes to great people seek a way out.  Off-course there is so much more to the matter because we live in a complex society but I am making an emotive argument more than a cognitive one.  I would like to stir the hunger for transformation (- a dangerous thing, I know).

In effect I am asking you how do you feel about the state of the world?  On which side are you?  Are you on the side of society that pretends to care but in fact too easily remain comfortable with the way things are or are you on the side of challenge, transformation and deep reward?

Perhaps a bit of both?  Make a decision for life today!