Towards Fulfillment 5

When I a feeling dissatisfied, anxious, troubled it is most often that I am comfortably in a rut. I view the world from the same perspective, doing the same things and somehow expect that things will change.  I don’t question, I don’t reflect, I do get angry and frustrated.

Yehuda Berg suggests these steps when our view or patterns are blocking us from moving forward.

ASK ” What am I doing? Is this really how I want to be acting/thinking?

Celebrate that you recognized there is a problem and that patterns and perspective need adjusting.

ASK ” what else can I do? say? How could I do this differently? What are my options?

Repair and correct your limitations and blind spots.

Recognize that you are part of a jigsaw puzzle and your piece contributes but doesn’t complete the picture.

Continue to observe and challenge your limited view and invite wisdom and perspective into your life.

I hope you try these steps for the next few days and watch how you are feeling.

 

B

 

Day 4 Towards Fulfillment

To reiterate; there isn’t a silver bullet but there is a silver lining. Earning fulfillment requires reflection, observation, commitment and action. All these can be difficult but in the difficulty lies the sense of accomplishment.

There is an old story about an accomplished bank robber who never got caught. He died and awoke to meet an angel. The robber said ” this is amazing, a beautiful place, great weather, good food, everything I want”. The angel said “Enjoy”. After a few months the robber became anxious because everything was just a request away. He met with the angel and said ” I want to rob a bank”. The angel said ” where, when, how much money and we can make it happen. You will just walk in and take the cash.” The robber said, “I want to take weeks planning, and tackling the alarms, and figuring out the timing and planning my escape. I want there to be risk and reward.” The angel said ” That’s not how it works here” The robber replied ” I expected more from heaven”. ” Who said this is heaven” replied the Angel.

Reward doesn’t feel like reward unless we put the effort into accomplishing it. The sense of fulfillment is temporary and turns quickly to entitlement.

What is your greatest accomplishment? Take a few minutes and reflect on what you are most proud of; work, relationships, childhood, sports …Observe how much effort and commitment you invested in achieving the goal.

You can take on a new challenge with the same zeal, effort and persistence if it aligns with your values. What is the one thing that you need to do (big or smaller) that is really important to YOU. Are you ready to make a commitment?

 

Make Today Remarkable, by commiting to the risk,

B

We all have desires; things that we feel would change everything and make our lives so much better. I contend that there are no silver bullets, no magic elixirs, no easy fixes. Fulfillment requires effort. Meaning needs to be made. Satisfaction must be tested.

But what if we could re-evaluate our priorities and slowly refocus them towards sharing rather than getting? The measure of our life as it ends is more about how we were rather than who we were.

As you get comfortable writing about this personal stuff, you may see a window open in your head that reveals the source of your desires. ” Why am I focused on getting more?, Is it because of some childhood experience of loss or growing up in a home where love was demonstrated with gifts?”  Take 5 minutes and list 10 things that you desire. Take a breath and begin writing  sentences that begin with ” I desire (something from the list) because …” and then ask “why is that important?” at least three times.

For example – I desire a new care because I want reliable transportation

This is important because I need to get to work on time.

This is important because being late will cause me stress and my boss might be angry

This is important because being late is bad

If your sentences delves deep enough you could discover a parent or guardian saying “no one likes someone who isn’t on time”

Take some time over the weekend to examine the source of the 10 deires you wrote down and delve deep into the why is that important.

Monday we will begin looking at how we can reorder and remeasure what is important.

Make This Weekend Remarkable,

 

B

I realize that conformity isn’t always the opposite of courage but in my week, it seems that the barrier to achieving as yet unimagined solutions is the unwillingness to break free from the ‘we have always done it this way’ modus operandi.

Our political leaders play silly games, posturing and placating for votes all the while supporting a system that doesn’t serve the vast majority of us very well. They know that their contribution to our well being is minimal and unbelievably expensive but don’t have the fortitude to step up and step out of the muck. They pile manure around themselves so we don’t recognize the real stink – our system is broken. We need leadership not polling to make a break. If I had one piece of advice for presidents, prime ministers, governors, premiers, legislators, mayors and other officials it would be ” stop worrying about getting re-elected and do the right thing.”

Lack of courage isn’t the sole domain of politicians. We are all complicit in willful blindness to the side effects of the status quo in our lives and our communities and most often don’t say something or take some action that will seed a change. Most times we  are concerned with convenience and popularity rather than being courageous.

Wherever you live, whoever you are you are part of today’s possibilities. In this time, in this place, with these people we should expect miracles and yet we accept mediocrity.

Break a Mold, Today,

B