Words of Wisdom

Reading a post from an old friend, I was impressed by the following: "...my goal in life. To experience life, not just survive. To sample and choose, not just take what is given to me. To learn and lead, not just follow the crowd."

Experience life, not just survive. I think many of us fall into that trap. Get through another day, get through another week. On Monday you hear people saying, "I can't wait for Friday" or "If only the weekend would hurry up and get here". Why survive 5 days to live for 2? So much of life will pass you by. There is so much to do, to learn, and to experience every day.

To sample and choose, not just take what is given to me. Sometimes what you are being presented with is not the best but is the easiest. It is easier to buy a pre-made microwave dinner instead of preparing something healthy at home. It is easier to take a job you don't really want than to work hard to do what you are passionate about. If you don't feel something was done well and you feel you can raise the bar, don't settle for what is given to you! But how do you know if something is good? You need to get out there and experiance life so that you can choose what you want to accept. If you are surviving life, you won't know if you are accepting mediocrity. It is so easy to passively accept what is out there instead of striving for excellence every day.

To learn and lead, not just follow the crowd. Again, passivity is killing us (I'm sounding just like my father-in-law!). Learning and leading both require active engagement in life. Following is passive; it is surving life. I'm not saying that you should go against the crowd just to go against the crowd. That is following since there is already a whole group that feels the need to do that! I'm saying formulate your own decisions and know why you are doing what you are doing. Take upon yourself the learning process. Own what you do and why you do it. When you believe why you are doing something you are more apt to do it with excellence.

Wise words my friend. Something we should all take to heart.