We live in a
land premised on the idea that "hard work always pays off" and
"sweat and determination are the ingredients to reaching goals." We
live in a land that says our circumstances directly reflect our choices. Where
we are - how much money we make, how much power we have or how celebrated we
are by the world - is a direct result of poor life choices, good life choices
or great life choices. We do the work, we succeed. We do not do the work
we fail. Period!
Most of us
probably buy into this way of thinking sometimes. Even when we may outwardly
reject the "isms" and all of the other categories that we use to
place people in "slots," we can still find ourselves questioning why
our lives, our journeys don't look a particular way. We question why things are
not turning out the way that we thought and hoped that they would.
But is it
possible that we are making a very huge mistake. That we have allowed those
with the most power and influence to lead us to believe that those who they
present to us as successful, worthy, happy, and powerful, set the standard for
what life should be like and how it should be lived?
Yes, we do
have choices. But all of us often make ones that could potentially hold us
back. While hard work can increase the odds of reaching any goals that we have,
some of us, because of who we are connected to, simply do not have to suffer
the consequences of our choices. Some of us have family friends, aunts, and
uncles, whose success protects and propels us.
If ever there
was a time to flush these "privileged" ways of thinking down the
toilet, it is NOW! If ever there was an opportunity to examine and re-examine
who we are, why we were created and what we would seek to change if the choice is
merely based on what brings us joy; it is now.
Our current
situation is only a punishment if we chose to see it that way. We can choose to
see it as a chance to slow down and examine our lives so that we alone can
choose what we believe, what sustains us, what makes us want to work hard,
what empowers us, and what is the "one thing" that we were created to
do. It is an opportunity to let go of what you can't truly control, and begin
to dig as deep as you need to in order to find your unique value to family,
friends and even a blind world that possibly can't see it.
Then we can
step out and focus on fertilizing, growing, and offering to the world in confidence;
just that.
