"Never give up on a dream because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -Earl Nightingale
Oooooooh burn. Given the title of my blog. ;) But then there are the times that a quote gets to you in a bad way.
"Life asked death 'why do people love me but hate you'? Death replied 'because you are a beautiful lie and I am a painful truth'."
Well, no. Life and death are both realities. Life is what we are currently experiencing. Death is something we will all experience once at some point in the future. It's gonna happen. But the fact that it is going to happen does not, in any way, negate the reality of life. The question is: what are we meant to do between now and the end?
*tiny fit of exhaustion from overworking of brain*
There are times when I feel motivated by my imminent demise. I want to write this thing before I go! I'm gonna do it! Yeah! Then there are all the other times...the times when I'm playing with my children (who are still quite small), or the times when I'm involved with helping others. Add the times that I see other people spending all (ALL) their time helping others and I can feel my ambition deflate. What does it matter? It's not as though the world needs my vampire comedy. It's not as though I need success/fortune. I am already so incredibly blessed. Is it merely vanity?
But there is a very practical aspect to wanting to be successful. I really, really want to help people. Like...really. I spent my childhood being the family that needed help. We are doing better now, but 'better' to me just means that we can afford our own bills. But if anything major were to go wrong? It wouldn't be pretty. I'm tired of being the family that might need help. I want to be the family that helps.
I was in line at WalMart the other day and this woman was ahead of me checking out. She was obviously a mother (she didn't have kids with her, but she looked exhausted and she had a huge purse and untamed hair)- and she was paying with gift cards. She ran out of cards before she ran out of groceries, so she had to make decisions. So, while listening to the cashier disrespect her and the folks in line sighing, she removed all the produce from the conveyor. She only needed $29. She was tearing up when she walked away. I cried the whole drive home. $29. I want to be the person in line who is able to hand her the $29 so her kids have healthy food.
Maybe if I can remember the look of defeat on her face as she walked away I can manage to write mah book. Now this, of course, only works if I really believe that my book will one day equal money. Which I don't. Because confidence feels like egotism to me. But we'll talk about that later. ;) Now I have to go. Jack Jack just handed me a bubble wand and did his butt-wiggling "pweeeeeeeeese?"
Roll for initiative,
J. Wahl
Being able to give feels good. I am reading "The Psychology of Wealth" right now (fantastic book) and one of the parts that really sticks with me is how even people considered below the poverty line today can afford goods that several decades ago were considered luxuries - washer, dryer, vacuum cleaner, car. we travel by auto and air to most places we want, have insurance and retirement accounts. but even having those things is not considered "being wealthy" today. it really is giving me good perspective.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a fascinating read! I'll have to look that up. Wealth is so relative- it's all too easy to compare to the wrong folks and get discouraged. I'm blessed to see many legitimately wealthy people at my church that truly use it well. That is such a blessing. Thanks for the book tip!
ReplyDeleteRoll for initiative,
J. Wahl
I think your vampire comedy IS needed. I was listening to a segment on NPR this morning talking about people's favorite books of 2012. One woman commented that though normally she would read a lot of nonfiction about important issues or fascinating people etc., this year she was just so exhausted mentally that she found herself reading a lot of what she called "airport fiction," just really good entertaining stories. She needed that to recharge her mental batteries, so to speak. I'm the same way - I have my heady cerebral nonfiction books that I expend a lot of mental energy on, then I have my delightful fiction books that help me unwind, calm down, relax. Both are absolutely necessary.
ReplyDeleteYou have pointed out something I hadn't noticed. I think, since becoming a mother, I've stopped valuing free time and relaxation. Defense mechanism due to a lack of nearby relatives to provide me with free time/relaxation? Seems legit. Lol
ReplyDeleteI'll have to keep that in mind. Oofta.
Roll for initiative,
J. Wahl
Great post again. You are a very good writer, btw... you should probably do that more. :)
ReplyDelete