Life's dream:  to become the greatness that is within you

I'm reminded of a story that is one of my favorites.  This story makes the point of today's quote superbly.

There was a young man who aspired to live his destiny... to be all he could be.  Success was his goal, and he roamed the countryside seeking "The Secret to Success."  Each person he asked about this secret told him the same thing - the wise old sage down by the river was the only one with the so-called secret.  The young man set out on his journey to the river to find the wise old sage.  He journeyed day and night, over hills and through the fields.  He climbed rocks until he came to the river.

There in the water at river's edge stood the wise old sage.  The young man approached.  "Hello, wise old sage," he hollered.  "I've come to find The Secret to Success.  Can you help me?"  The old man motioned to him to join him in the river and the young man rushed to join him.  The old sage placed his hand on the back of the young man's head and forced his head under water.  Shocked and concerned, the young man held his breath tightly but reasoned that this was a test and he made the determination to pass the test.

Under water for entirely too long and running out of breath, the young man considered the possibility that the old sage was senile and didn't really know what he was doing.  Desperate for air, he began to fight the old sage's hand and fought desperately to pull his head out of the water.  As he did, however, the old sage applied more pressure.  The young man was in a panic state and he struggled several more times to break the old sage's grip on his head and get it above water so he could breathe.

Each time the young man struggled harder to free himself, the old sage applied more pressure.  Finally, in a state of absolute panic and fearing for his life, the young man mustered every bit of energy he had in him and with what he suspected may be his last effort, freed himself from the sage's grip and lifted his head out of the water, gasping for breath.

"Are you crazy?" hollered the young man.  "You could have killed me."  The old sage calmly replied, "When you want success as much as you wanted that breath of air, you will then have the success you seek."

"Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind."

-Leonardo da Vinci                      

While certainly not the most glamorous of metaphors, rust, stagnation, impurity and frozen certainly do describe the results of inaction.  Just as our planet is in constant motion, we also should be.  We need to keep our minds, bodies and spirits active and functioning on our behalf.

Once in motion it's important to begin to move in the direction of our desired goals... to actively pursue the life we've always dreamed.  What's your dream and what are you doing to bring that dream to fruition?

Nothing comes from nothing.  In addition to the dream and desire, we must also take action.  Many years ago, still in school, I worked for a man whose motto was "plan your work and work your plan."  It seemed to work well for him.  He was a millionaire back when a million dollars was a lot of money.

Dream big, make a plan, and then, by all means, work your plan.

"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson                       

This time is certainly a good time… it's OUR time.  It's the only time we have, and we need to make the most of it.  This isn't a dress rehearsal, so we need to show up on the stage of life ready to go into action as soon as the curtain goes up.  What are we waiting for?  When do we begin to live the lives of our dreams and when do we start to really live?

Many people are always preparing for later and giving too little consideration to the here and now... and that's a shame.  Begin to live the life of your dreams.  What better time than now?  It’s the only one we have. 

"True love gives and asks nothing in return."

Surely when we love, we have the right to expect that love to be returned, don't we?  Actually, the giving of anything should be given without any expectation of getting.  Whether it's love, time, energy, money or anything else, a sure way to be disappointed is to expect something in return.

Since Today's Thought specifically addresses the subject of love, let's stay with that and explore the topic.  I get into arguments on this all the time, mainly because we tend to think of ourselves first, as is appropriate in many situations.  The fact remains, however, that we must give to get and if both parties in the relationship understand that love is about giving and not getting, both parties are giving and getting all the benefits of that love relationship.

The songs of yesteryear, and many of our current romantic songs, promote themes of "I can't live without you;" "You went away and my heart went with you;" "I'll never smile again without you;" "I gave you my heart and the very next day you threw it away"... and the list goes on.  All the love songs presuppose that it's necessary to have this one certain individual in your life in order to be complete... to be happy.

Actually, if you're not complete as an individual, it's a huge mistake to depend on another individual to complete you.  Those who make that mistake run the risk of losing everything that is important to them when and if the “completer” moves on.

Until you know deep inside that you are a healthy, happy, complete person, you probably don't want to seek a commitment relationship.  When you finally become a complete person, and you find your partner, the relationship tends to always survive.

Be Well,