If I am truly honest with myself, I can admit that I have played the victim for many years. To make matters worse, I wasn’t even aware that I had auditioned for and gotten the part. I would call it by another name – being realistic. Whether it was in regard to pursuing singing, getting a job, entering a fulfilling relationship, or saving up an emergency fund, I always had a reason as to why it couldn’t happen for me. The problem with rational reasoning is that one can find a reason in support of or against just about any topic in the world – and guess what? They would all have valid points.
In order to achieve your dreams, I believe that you have to look beyond what is immediately realistic. In a motivational YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaRqr7oQ2bo) about how to lead an extraordinary life, Will Smith states, “Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.” If you focus on what others have not been able to achieve or how many times that you have failed at something, you essentially limit your own future potential to the limitations of others and past failures. In order to obtain new results, you must forge new realities and use your imagination. History tells us that people used to believe that the world was flat. The belief was that if you sailed far enough you would just drop off of the face of the earth. Can you imagine what the world would be like if no one dared to think outside of that belief? Europeans would possibly not have discovered the Americas. Can you imagine if people only left flying to birds and other winged creatures? No spring breaks in Cancun. Everything that is now possible and taken for granted was once thought impossible at some point in time: the Internet, ATM machines, a Black man as a U.S. president, automobiles, sustainable fire, etc.
Life was very different for me during my role as the victim. I didn’t believe that I could effect any amount of change in my life, and therefore I did not. I let life happen to me and others make my decisions for me. The moment that I decided that I both could and would take the reins of my own life, mountains began to move. If someone asked me years ago if I thought that I would have a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and a CPA license before I turned age 25, I would’ve told them they were a ridiculous person. I’m glad that I pushed myself past immediate reality. Shoot for the stars, and if you land on the moon, you’ve still left the earth.
Peace and God bless.
No comments:
Post a Comment