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Oscar Wilde once said, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
It’s a sad, perhaps cynical comment, but it’s also truer than we would like.
I’m not sure that I’m wise enough to be able to completely define the difference between living and existing, but let’s try:
Image via Wikipedia
There were once two leopards who would meet to chew over a couple of old bones every Friday.
They lived in a valley that had an abundance of gazelles, so they were well fed.
“I think that I’m going to learn how to catch warthogs.” Larry the leopard said one day.
“Why would you do that?” Lenny the leopard responded. “We have plenty of gazelles to eat and we know how to catch them.”
“Yes, I know, but you don’t know what the future holds, perhaps they’ll run out one day.” said Larry.
“What a waste of time,” said his mate Lenny.
Photo by Thomas Hawk via Flickr
Near my home at the moment, there are quite a few road works being completed.
Along with them come the obligatory traffic controllers.
That’s what they call the guys with the signs who stand by the side of the road.
The signs give you two options.
Stop or slow down.
Over the years, I’ve met a lot of people who seem to operate with these signs as well.
Goals are great, big goals are better.
Unfortunately, sometimes we stop short of dreaming too big.
We think that greatness is meant for others, but not us.
That doesn’t have to be the case.
There are two kinds of failure.
There is the failure that takes place when you try something new and don’t quite get it right. Or you take a risk to achieve great things and it doesn’t work out the first time.
And then there is the kind of Failure that takes place when you don’t try, don’t learn, don’t aspire, don’t work, don’t take risks and may I suggest, don’t live. When you reflect back on your life and have nothing to show for it.
A friend of mine was recently talked into going to her first fitness bootcamp.
Being a lady in her 50’s it was a daunting concept and the drills were a significant physical challenge. They included carrying tyres above her head and then dragging them behind her while running, not my idea of fun.
Despite her struggles, at the end of the drills, the fitness instructor gave her an award for being the best participant.
She wondered why, but to others it was obvious.
At the start of almost every week, I have a mild panic.
What am I going to write about this week?
Somehow as the week goes on, enough ideas come to me, or I am able to complete drafts that were first developed in previous weeks and I am able to publish my standard 5 posts in the week, one for each week-day.
When I first started this blog, I didn’t really know what to expect. It was an idea that I had been thinking about for a while and realised that I had to take action to see if I could do it.
At the very beginning, I thought that at best I would have maybe 50-60 ideas for posts and then I would move on to something else. 230+ posts later and I’m still writing, with many more titles written down somewhere to be worked on in the future.
In the process, I’ve learned something very important.
Some people seem to spend a lot of time on the stuff around the edges.
They spend hours on the PowerPoint presentation, making sure that the right font is used and that the background looks perfect.
They spend hours on the cosmetics of their website, carefully placing widgets and choosing the right template.
That’s all fine, but if the content isn’t right, then you’re just wasting time.
Man flu is the common ailment that many men have which has them thinking that the slight cold they have is the flu.
It refers to the tendency that guys have to exaggerate symptoms and the reality that we generally have a lower pain threshold than women.
Don’t argue guys, it’s true!
Whilst we joke about man flu, I often see the office equivalent that crosses gender lines and limits the effectiveness of far too many people and organisations.
Moving up seems to be a popular aim.
Lofty ambitions, climbing the ladder, flying high, reaching for the stars.
We all want to end up in a destination that’s over and above our current situation.
So where do you start?
