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Two sayings that keep me moving
There are two pieces of advice that have helped me tremendously whenever it came time to pick a new direction in my life.
The first one is this: Simply having the desire to do something means you have the ability to achieve that goal. All you have to do is “unfold the desire correctly.”
In order for this cryptic statement to be useful, a person first needs to know what they want. This is harder than it sounds.
Knowing that you crave the latest cell phone is much easier to determine than figuring out what will satisfy you on a deeper level. So, I try to listen to myself as much as possible.
Sometimes, I find that things that just sounded like fun ideas to me at first turn out to be more fulfilling than I expected and sometimes, I’m barking up the wrong tree.
I use the general flow of my life to figure out which is which. If I am encountering a lot of resistance and I’m unhappy, it’s time to make a new plan.
Once you know what your desires are, the next step is to nurture them. Singer Jim Morrison used to say that a certain amount of self-delusion is necessary for an artist’s survival. If I knew how bad my first poems actually were, I would have packed it in then and there.
Not only do you need protection from yourself when nursing a fledgling dream, you also need protection from others.
Psychologists say people buy into the concepts they hear most. It comes down to shear numbers. If I hear “Gene is a great singer” 90 times, but I hear “Gene is a terrible singer” 91 times, I will believe that I am a terrible singer. (Internal dialogue counts as much as other people’s opinions.) This is why it is very important to surround yourself with people who are positive.
Once you have picked a goal and supportive people around you, revel in it. Your new interest gives you a new section to browse in bookstores, new friends and new adventures to discover, new puzzles to decode.
The second nugget of wisdom that guides me is this: If there is something you’ve accomplished before-something you are proud of-you can always achieve it again in the future.
Here is how that applies practically. In the early stages of my poetry career, I always kept one poem, my best poem, to myself.
I wouldn’t submit it to magazines and I didn’t share it with others. In times of doubt, it was my confidence builder. It was my ace in the hole. I knew, no matter what, I could at least write a poem that good again.
As I kept practicing my craft, the quality level of the other poems rose and eventually surpassed my best poem. Then I would pick a new poem to be my ace in the hole and start the process over again.
Even though I’ve used poetry and music as examples from my life, these methods would work for any path you choose.
The first statement is meant to help you get started. The second is designed to keep you going-no matter where you are heading.
I forget who said these things but they have been invaluable in the past and they still ring true today.
For more of The Joy of Life, visit genemyers.com.
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