Don't Be Afraid.....

Love

“I used to desire many, many things,
but now I have just one desire,
and that's to get rid of all my other desires.”

- John Cleese.

“Being deeply loved by someone
gives you strength,
while loving someone deeply
gives you courage.”

- Lao Tzu

“At least three times every day
take a moment and ask yourself
what is really important.
Have the wisdom and the courage
to build your life around your answer.”

- Lee Jampolsky

How many times in your life have you wanted to just give up?  The task seemed too big or too technically/physically overwhelming.  Sometimes turning the page and starting a new chapter in life is the best thing you could do for yourself.  So when should I persevere and when should I quit.  This question really boils down to a matter of personal priorities, the answer will therefore be different for everyone.  When I am faced with a challenge or situation that I am not handling well and I want to quit I ask myself a few simple questions.

• Am I thinking of quitting because I am inexperienced and still learning?  Can I get help or guidance ?
• Do I have the support to continue, is the endeavour in accordance with my personal credo?
• Am I enjoying what I am doing, do my actions impact others?
• Am I doing this for selfish reasons ?
• Am I achieving my goals or just treading water?

For our family, most of our goals are joint ones and ones that we collectively tasked through and ratified as important for us to achieve.  If you jointly decide on a goal many of the usual obstacles won't ever be an issue.  With a joint decision comes joint effort, enthusiasm, and knowledge.  Many hands make light work and two heads are better than one.  Choose your endeavours and see how they fit your families life template, if they are honourable and worth collectively pursuing then it's full steam ahead.  Draw from each others strengths, support each other and chase your dreams with passion and gusto.  The point I am trying to make here is if you choose your goals sensibly then you are less likely to face the situation where you feel you have to quit.  Don't set yourself up to fail, keep your goals modest, there is no point thinking you can build a space shuttle alone, it just ain't going to happen.  A little ambition and boundary pushing is great but biting off way more than you can chew will just cause you stress and rob you of your time, it's all about priorities.

As usual I have included a couple of pertinent quotes, they encapsulate my thoughts on this subject perfectly.  Basically I interpret them in this way, if you limit your personal desires and keep your goals sensible, if you do everything based on love, and if you constantly remind yourself of what's important in your life - then the goals you choose will be enjoyable, jointly important, and for the most part achievable.  Sure life may toss you a curve ball from time to time but with collective focus comes collective strength.

~~~ Brett Tulk ~~~