And, I begin where I am . . .
I’m standing here at the face of a new day,
waiting for the sun to prevail
and looking to make a move or two,
just to keep my hopes alive.
I am north of where I was yet
there’s a piece of me, southbound,
where the waters are pure and emerald bays
are prevalent in the landscapes around me.
And hope, you say?
Sure, I have hope.
I am standing here at the face of a new day
and, again, I begin where I am,
standing here with all of my hopes and dreams,
wrapped up in a bag and tied like a young runaway
like a kid in his hobo dreams
exiting from the strategies
and all the jumbled nonsense –
content to run away
with a sack on a stick
that hangs over my shoulder
and I’m off
I’ve gone to make my way . . .
I know there are times when we question everything.
We question the world
and wonder to ourselves,
“Hey, maybe it’s me?”
And maybe it is
Or, maybe it isn’t.
Maybe the lessons we need to learn
have yet to unravel enough,
or unfold in a way that we can understand
and so, we’re still learning
(hopefully)
I can say there are times
when it would make sense to quit.
I can say that there are times
when it makes sense to give in or give up
and we can just “forget about it!”
We can give away all of our work
and give up the research.
And, I can say there are times
when the pain hits and the back aches.
The spirit is tired . . .
There are times when the eyes are tired
especially from reading through all the bullshit.
There are times when it is absolutely tiresome
to be “ON” all the time – always trying,
always selling,
always moving in accordance with the tides around us
and yes, there are times when it would be easy
to just give in and walk away –
The only problem with this is deep down,
we know we can’t quit. Deep down,
we can’t walk away;
we know we can’t leave a stone unturned or a door unopened
because if we do,
we’ll always wonder what would’ve happened
if we just tried one more time.
Hope, you say?
Sure, I hope too
But show me something
Show me the depth of your commitment
Show me the willingness in your heart
to reach the next level.
Show me this and I will show you the secrets to your castle
because in the case of personal transformation
and in the case of us vs the world of self-doubt,
and consecutively,
in the case of achieving success
we have to understand that the depth of your commitment
is directly related to the level of your success.
I know this
(and so do you).
I heard you say a word the other day –
Doggedness.
Yes, doggedness.
As in persistence; as in determination,
as in unwilling to let go, or to give up,
and, as in unyielding, or put simply,
to struggle beyond measure,
even beyond the boundaries of struggle itself
and each day, somehow,
you still show up and put both feet on the floor.
Doggedness.
There are times when I have approached the door,
hoping to be let in and slam,
the door shut not only quickly
but hard and abruptly too
Slam . . .
Sound familiar?
And there it is, one door down and
there’s an infinite measure
of more doors to go.
The choice here is this –
Do you keep going?
Do you keep trying?
Do you keep adjusting your trick
and updating your props to pull this off?
Life is this way –
and it’s not just sales or business or about acceptance.
This is the only way to find your true place in the circle.
And no, it won’t be easy. And no,
nobody is going to “give it all away”
and no, life is not here to meet us halfway
or even part of the way.
No, life is ours,
which means we have to take it.
We have to take every moment
for its value and live up to its worth –
otherwise, the hands that tick will be meaningless
and if you ask me, I think we’ve had enough of that –
meaninglessness, I mean
There are going to be times when the sun is perfect.
There will be moments when success finds us
and when it does, we can smile and enjoy this.
We can embrace our moment in the winner’s circle.
But rest assured, there are going to be days
when all we have left is our doggedness.
All we’ll have is the ingredients,
which make up our endurance
and keep us going until we make our way.
Doggedness.
It’s an artform.
Or, maybe this is the result?
Maybe this comes from a series of actions,
which have become our training and thus,
we have trained ourselves to continue, no matter what,
because come rain or shine, either way,
I begin each day where I am . . .
Standing at the face of a new moment, here,
and looking for a way to pull off my trick
and, of course, too, I am hoping that somewhere along the way,
I can find a little warmth
for my hand
and a space in the sun to eat my lunch
or have a sandwich but, no, not too much,
(Remember?)
It’s like Bastian said when he was reading
The Never Ending Story about Atreyu and his efforts
to stop The Nothing –
Like him, or like either of them,
I know that there are no boundaries.
There is no ceiling to our dreams and
no limitations to our wishes or hopes
and neither our desires nor the depths of our our will can be broken,
because, in fairness,
we are the only entity that can decide
whether we dream or concede
I know that dreams are not won by hope –
but yet, I do hope.
I hope that my strength holds out
and that my will and my intent overcome the doubts which,
just like The Nothing,
they both look to consume and devour
dreams and ruin the world
from our vivid imaginations.
I have my dreams packed up.
My strength and my endurance
are my weapons and shields
This is all I have
Doggedness . . .
I don’t know if this is me or not.
dogged, I mean
All I know is that I begin where I am . . .
Standing here at the face of a new day
Getting ready to make a go of it
And hoping I have what it takes
to keep me going around
one more time
The Written Addiction 