For now, let’s circle back to the beginning. Or better yet, let’s go back to the point of this journal which is to say I found it!”
This is about the countless “Eureka!” moments we have on a daily basis. This is about our daily discoveries, let alone the great moments of realization, which we have throughout our life.
These moments can be as tiny as a grain of sand or large like boulders or even mountain-sized, depending on the discovery. Moments of awareness can either be insignificant or life-changing. Either way, our life is a stream of evolution. One day changes to the next. We age and we grow.
We learn and evolve and we’ll often look back at ourselves – we’ll look at our lives with a curious wonder about what would have happened “If I only did this.”
Or we’ll ask ourselves, “What the hell was I thinking?”
Most people find themselves in the could have, would have, should have moments and they rethink or re-detail the moments of their past. Or they consider their regrets with different stages of contempt.
In fairness, there is no crystal ball. No one ever walks into a position and expects to be fired which is not to say there is no anxiety. This is not to say there aren’t moments when a new position seems to be an odd fit or uncomfortable. Fear of the unknown is real and, sometimes, this is painfully real.
All this is saying is that awkwardness is natural which is odd to say because the feelings of being awkward seem anything but natural.
For years, I have admittedly lost myself in the separation of blue collar and white. I was lost in the ideas of wealthy or poor. I allowed myself to be lost in the cogs that spin the wheels of educational snobbery.
I was lost in the separations of popularity and beauty. I was distracted by the superficial confusions that kept me separated and uncomfortable.
At any point, I never took a look into the human side of life. I never thought that regardless of looks, regardless of race or decree, regardless of religion or a person’s standing in the community; whether we are a boss or a worker or neither; whether we are noticed as human beings or if we assume that we are only witnesses to this journey; there is always something behind the wall and a mind behind the eyes. There is always something which hits home. We all have moments of the heart and we’ll have ideas, hopes, fears and insecurities.
Perhaps some of my best Eureka moments were the times when I came to the simplest realizations. Come to think of it, maybe this is why there’s an ever-helpful suggestion to “keep it simple.”
I offer this because the construct of the mind itself is rarely simple. The gears start turning and the mind starts to over-work and over prepare.
We find our measures of assumption have both overestimated our challenges and underestimated our abilities to work through them.
The mind is always working and we find ourselves looking for answers. We want to find accountability for the countless concepts of situations and the understandings of life, which are beyond our control.
I have heard from people who curse themselves for not investing in something that was small at the time. Now, upon the date of this journal entry, the worth of one Bitcoin is $21,068.30.
“I should have got in when I had the chance!” is what I was told.
Or, we can look at this through another lens. We can look at the world of remote working and how this was unthinkable in pre-pandemic times. Consider the computer applications or the applications on our handheld devices. Think about the Zoom calls, which were never used as much as they are today.
But consider this, how did any of this begin? How did a company like Zoom grow?
Was this luck or was this an application where someone continued to update their brand? Rather than be distracted, could this be that the creator of this made a decision to be innovative? By any means necessary, be consistent and be persistent. No matter what.
Could this be the key ingredient for success?
We can certainly look at the social media moguls who started ideas out of a college dorm room. What makes them so different? What made them stand out above the rest? Is this luck? Does this mean they were born from a lucky gene pool? In which case, persistence means nothing and good things would have come to them anyway.
There are literally infinite ideas around us. The difference between people is some will have the gumption and dedication to build and create and others will give in as soon as the novelty wears off.
Some will continue and look to be innovative. They’ll be unafraid to update themselves or to adapt or try something new. They will constantly look to reinvent themselves. Meanwhile, others will be too afraid to dare or they’ll count the reasons why their life will never work. Or they’ll complain and talk about why the grass is always greener someplace else.
Maybe we should think about the mogul mindset or the sticktoitiveness of someone who learned to value the words “Never quit!”
Perhaps if we examine Malcolm Gladwell’s idea that says it takes 10,000 hours for a person to perfect their craft which is not an exact science and, of course, there are people who look to dismantle this theory. However, I see this as valid. This is not about 10,000 hours of perfecting our craft; but more, this is a lesson of resilience. This is the lesson of endurance. This is more about a constant practice to perfect one’s self on a daily basis.
Be innovative. Be assertive. Be brave enough to try and fail – or, be like one of my favorite sayings which goes, “Don’t be afraid to suck at something new.”
Don’t be afraid to feel or need or want. Don’t be distracted. Don’t be discouraged. Instead, be open to the idea that the best is yet to come.
Be on the lookout for beautiful things. We can make this part of our daily practice. For example, I used to sit for coffee with a friend who I consider to be one of the best personal coaches around. He was a mentor and friend yet, he was human too.
He has feelings and hopes. He’s had ideas as well as a stream of discouragements and challenges; yet, he was able to find something positive in his day. Or to be more precise, he was able to notice the five best things throughout his day. Hence, this became a part of his daily training.
His reasoning was that there’s a lot going on around us. He said it’s easy to be lost in the ugliness we find on the news. It’s easy to scroll through social media news feeds and see how life appears to be perfect for others and less-than for us.
It’s easy to find reasons why nothing works. People quit on themselves both consistently and persistently. This is easy to see because the mind has been tricked.
The value of our eureka moments are calculated by the depths of our searches. We have to be unrelenting. We have to be willing to do the dance and walk the miles.
There is no easier option. There’s no softer way.
“The only way to it is through it.”
As we go along or as we learn to advance ourselves and improve, we will find ourselves at the entryway of opportunity – that is, if we’re looking for it.
Otherwise, we will find ourselves heading in the direction we face and have to settle for “more of the same.”
I go back to the idea of talents and the ability to grow and nurture our skills to the point of personal perfection. Maybe 10,000 hours is a magic number for some people.
Maybe the art of life is perfected by our imperfections which means that we are intended to evolve and that experience cannot be taught or bought. This is something that has to be lived.
Life is meant to be enjoyed. However, in the case of unenjoyable times, life has to be endured in order to get through to the next phase.
The true art of life is us in perpetual motion; in which case, we are like a machine or a device that once we are set in motion, we continue in motion. We keep moving without the need for additional energy because we are the source. We are the provider and we are the hub that turns the wheel.
I say this is art and yes, art is subjective which means that to each is their own craft. To find this is the trick. Or more accurately, to find this is the moment when we say, “Eureka!”
I found (It!)
The Written Addiction 