Are you like me? I am a people watcher. I enjoy just sitting in a secluded or out-of-the-way spot in a busy crowded place and observing the interactions of the many different and varied people rushing into and out of my field of view. Some of them are extremely humorous to observe. Others are pathetic, ill-mannered, and very discourteous. Occasionally some surprise me with regularly displayed good social manners and behavior. Most are all rushing as fast as is possible as if trying to catch a train that is about to pull out of the station. What always amazes me is how they are all in such a big hurry everywhere they go. It is like they know there is a good “deal” to take advantage of somewhere in the huge shopping mall, but they aren’t sure what store or shop has or is selling the “deal.” Their battle cry is….“Hurry, hurry, hurry we must find it right now or else someone else will get it before we do.”
At the end of the day, everyone races home only to crash into a favorite chair, couch, or the like…completely exhausted and wrung-out,… complaining about their sore feet, legs, arms, and other body parts…not from an enjoyable and thrilling fun day of shopping (that they chose to do), but rather from a tiring and exhausting day of fighting the crowds, being abused by unruly people, and treated poorly by sales staff or security guards. Oh,…the big broad road to nowhere….it is always crowded with shoulder-to-shoulder humanity…all of whom have little, if any, real idea of where they are going or why they are making the trip.
So much of real life passes by most people today,…unnoticed, unused, not enjoyed, and never to be recaptured and reused. A minute, hour, or day gone by is a day that will never return. Don’t wantonly waste any of them. They are easy to miss or pass when you are young. They are sorely missed and regretted once you grow old.
Why can’t people simply slow down, take their time, enjoy the day and the people in it, and live…happily? When you live your life traversing a 360 degree circular path, you never get any further ahead than you were 359 degrees ago. Maybe that is the why so many people in our society today are not excited and enthusiastic about the future. If there is nothing new and exciting to look forward to, to associate with, or to live happily and productively with, then what is the real purpose to one’s existence? If nothing changes mentally, then nothing will change physically. I must ask you,…what’s new and exciting that is presently occurring in your own personal life right now…today? If you need a new and exciting change to come into your life, what are you doing to expedite the needed process to bring about the change?
Even a remedial level of the understanding of mathematics will conclude that if one stays continually on the same circular pathway he is presently traversing, and one does nothing to change the circumstances, context, or environment in which he is living,…then there is a fairly reasonable basis on which he may accurately predict,…that there will be no new “things,” “people,” or “events” happening in his life in the near or even distant future. In about a year’s time he will be at about the same place he was a year ago at this same time, and now finds himself once again today. As a professional courtesy for those who don’t read or listen well, please allow me to repeat myself…if nothing changes mentally, emotionally, or spiritually in your life,…then nothing will ever change physically in your life! Now for the $1 Million dollar question,…Who is the one person personally responsible for the instituting and making of changes inside of you? You guessed it, pal…it is none other then YOU!
No one can or will make those type of significant decisions or changes for you, because it is not possible for other people to make those choices and changes for you. They must be made only by you, because to effect them, you and you alone must do the necessary work….not someone else.
Now listen, when you make your own decisions, and you go to work and turn those decisions into achievements, there is something very beautiful that happens inside of you….you grow up! You mature and gain valuable experience and understanding. You begin closing in on what it truly means to be a real man or a real woman…to be a true leader of other people. This process can only be when you, yourself learn, decide, and then act on your own behalf!
I will admit to you that it is always easier, less painful, and more economical for you to learn from the mistakes and errors of others and from allowing someone else to do your work…BUT…the end results from employing this technique are never as profitable to you. The most valuable of all experience a person gains always comes from the development and expenditure of his own personal assets, abilities, and resources while gaining his own personal experience. Life’s lessons (particularly the most difficult and painful ones) are always best learned on the battlefield of “Hard Knocks.”
Once you have lived through and personally experienced the aspects of great accomplishments as well as great failures, only then will you be qualified to help and assist others travel up the same rock-strewn, narrow, and extremely steep road to success. Having personally made the trip, you are now able to guide and direct other people as to how and where the best and fastest route lies. Experience teaches the student the best and most effective manner and way to accomplish one’s mission. Experience, once gained and analyzed, can then be passed on to those who long for and thirst for it….And who are not lazy in nature.
If you really want to succeed in life….
(1) Have a great “why” clearly established in your own mind.
(2) Learn what to do to achieve your desired success only from someone who has already achieved what it is that you desire.
(3) Follow the explicit instructions from your mentor without variation.
(4) Do not stop, waver, detour, or get distracted from your efforts of accomplishment until the job is completed and you, in fact, have what it is that you are after.
(5) Don’t be afraid to take some risks and stretch yourself into “the fringe of fear.”
(6) Be patient…keep working even when nothing appears to be happening…because there are good things happening…you just can’t see them.
Peace and Love to All of You……………….Poppa Bear