Do you realize what you are capable of? Can you wrap your mind around how limitless you are? We so regularly create stories in our minds about why we “can’t”, or “shouldn’t” do what our hearts desire, and many of us have completely lost the ability to dream. The stories we tell ourselves unequivocally shape our world. Show me a person’s life and I’ll show you their thoughts. It’s easy to blame where you are in life on your family, job, past offenses, injustice in the world, and so on, but here’s the hard truth; blaming is a cop out. Life is difficult, even crushing at times, but you have tremendous power to decide what runs your life and what won’t.
There will absolutely be debilitating moments and experiences you will face, and crawling into your bed for a day or two, or even a month is OKAY. Sitting with your emotions and fully feeling the intensity of your experiences is a vital part of moving through challenges. The key is that you move through. The word “move” is a verb which implies action, but ACTION is the hardest part for most people.
Everyone faces the same obstacle to action, albeit in different forms, every day; and that obstacle is YOURSELF. You are in your own way. Perpetually. Incessantly. Like it is your full-time job. An idea comes to mind and as sure as the sun rising in the morning, YOU show up, just in time to shut the idea down. Over and over again this process is repeated, and in time, we become so disconnected from who we are and what we want that even when prompted, it’s difficult to say what we’d do if there was nothing held us back. (SPOILER ALERT: there is nothing holding you back.)
"Transition isn't pretty, but stagnation is hideous." - Nikki Rowe
How would you shape the next year of your life if you could have things exactly how you dream? There may be some fantasizing about eating ice cream in bed, sitting on a beach with our toes in the sand, binge watching Netflix, or reading for hours on end, but these are just the burned-out, over-exhausted rat race version of you talking. Once you spend a week or so doing your chosen self-indulgent activity, you’ll realize you are meant to do more. Humans were created to work, and for centuries our work was focused on simply surviving. Today we live (contrary to popular belief) in a borderline Utopian society where nearly ANYTHING is possible and if it is not yet, it will be in the next 20 years. Who knows, maybe you will be the one to make it happen!
So I ask you, in this limitless world, what do you want to do? What thoughts and ideas are swirling around in your mind that you have smothered so intensely that they are barely a whisper now? Instead of shoving it away, will you water, feed, and love it? Like a small seed that’s carefully tended to, it will begin to sprout. You won’t know the ultimate shape that it will take, but that’s not your responsibility. Your responsibility is to nurture with wholehearted dedication and watch your seed of a thought transform into an idea, then a dream, then a plan, then a purpose, and finally a life of deep fulfillment. Only then you’ll realize that you’ve shaped your life into exactly what you want it to be, and odds are, you will positively impacted countless others along the way.
This sort of living has not always been possible and when you realize that, it feels wrong to squander the opportunities lying on a silver platter right in front of us. So many people have fought and died to get us where we are today, and while the world is not perfect, the conditions for achieving your dreams are pretty damn close to perfect.
"The future is limitless." - Peter Thiel
What are you doing with this golden ticket? If the answer is “nothing,” start today. If you have no idea where to begin, start by breaking up the monotony in your life. Try something new, volunteer your time, start experiencing things you normally don’t, and pay attention to what sparks within you. It will likely take time, but don’t settle for mediocrity. You were made for so much more. Your life and others depend on it.