Sometimes I wonder how engaged people are with their own lives. Do they fully buy-in or are they simply part-timers, passengers almost? Not that there’s anything wrong with being a passenger of course, but we’re not really talking about riding on a bus or in a car are we. It’s life and the only one we’re likely to get depending on one's beliefs. I just wonder how many people sit back and let other’s do the driving when in reality being the creator of their own destinations, and indeed, of the journey to reach those destinations (goals) could make for a more fulfilled and engaged life.
Being ”asleep” throughout the journey of life is probably not the best way to engage with it and so I always suggest to the people I train and mentor to wake up. It doesn’t take much either, to wake up I mean; Just a small trigger. Something valuable or compelling or maybe even a prompt from someone else; A peer partner or influencer for instance. You know, like a prick from a needle on the back of your hand that hurts enough to remind you that you’re alive but not so much as to cause permanent damage.
I think people fall asleep through complacency, fear and doubt. I’ve done it. That’s right, none of us are above it. Take a relationship for instance…Both parties may feel comfortable after several years together and so the romance may die; The smouldering looks, intimate gestures and touching, date night and all the other things a relationship typically has within it in the formative years. But is that how it should be and could it be more than that? Yes of course it could be more…Could those two people engage more, keep the romance alive…Essentially become creators of their lives together rather than the passengers they have become?
That’s just a basic example of course and there could be many more. You see, life is precious. It’s short, despite how long it may seem, especially to younger people. It’s limited meaning it will come to an end. Abruptly. So why then do some people take a passive role in their lives allowing it to float by?
I suppose comfort is the answer but it's not something I buy into. I don't feel that being a passenger in my life is the best way to get the best out of it.
I am not one who advocates instant gratification either. I mean I plan ahead, for my future and things that may arise in it. I don't just live for the exact moment I'm in. I guess I balance it out by doing a little of both; Enjoying life now, designing and creating it, and also planning ahead so that I can also enjoy it later in life. It’s a balancing act weighted, well, probably weighted a little towards the now than the future. One thing I am not though is ASLEEP.
I have seen bad times in life, my own and others’ like most of us have: Financial and health strife, relationship breakdown, job loss, death and the like and, common to us all, is the march of time which is relentless. It’s all really just life.
One thing I learned reasonably early, around my early thirties, is that we need to be the creator of our own destiny. Sure, sometimes things are out of our control, but not everything is generally. We typically have the ability to design our lives and so I promote the ”control the controllable” ethos. That's why I don't waste time and effort on things that are beyond my ability to impact or control. It helps me focus on the things I can and to move forward more confidently in pursuit of my goals.
The best time to start is now. It’s never too late to begin your journey or to design and create your ideal life instead of living it by default. If you think you’re asleep do yourself a favour and find that small prick it may take to wake you up! Put down the newspaper, turn the television off and stop buying into the propaganda forced down our throats. It isn't real. What is real though is your life and your ability to design and create it.
