28 May Who Do You Want To Be?
“Who do you want to be?”
Most of us were asked this question at some point in our young lives. Before we knew it, life was off and running and we no longer asked ourselves this question. We became whatever we became and ended up wherever life led us.
The simplest answers are found in the simplest of forms. The problem is that as we grow we often leave simplicity behind and start to look for answers in complexity.
There is a foundational principle to success and that is: “There is no genius in complexity.” When we complicate processes, procedures or our lives we move farther away from designing something new. Stuff after stuff gets added in and after a while the pile becomes so high we cannot see through it to see any blue sky above.
To achieve the life we truly desire, we must first clear the clutter.
Two years ago I found myself standing in my closet looking up at all the clothes and other stuff inside. I had left my job in the corporate world four years ago yet I still had all those business suits. The past was hanging up in there everywhere.
“Who did I really want to be?” I asked myself. Taking out a blank sheet of paper and being liberated by seeing the crisp white sheet in front of me, I began to list what really lit me up. When I finished, nothing on the page before me had anything to do with being a Vice President of Marketing again for another multi-billion dollar global corporation. I spoke to my husband and declared that I wanted to be a writer. With his blessing, we cleared out the closet and emptied it. We then each chose what fit into the life we each are choosing to live now.
Clearing out space in our closet or in our lives is often difficult for many people. Our instincts tell us to stay with what we know – where we have already been, what we’ve always done. No matter what age or what circumstance you find yourself, each and every day is a gift to start anew.
We each have God-given talents and potential. As the “Chief Chooser” of our lives, it is up to us to discover these gifts and with free will choose the path that was made for us. Who will you choose to be?