When you set out on a journey from there to here, you find yourself beset with obstacles. Those obstacles may be external – a terrible job or no job, for instance – but, more often than not, they are internal. They are found as you encounter various difficulties and find yourself discouraged, disconsolate, lost.
When that day or week or months happen, you can choose as some have chosen: you can give up. You can give up the dream you have. You can decide that the fight isn’t worth it (and it sometimes isn’t). You can choose to try to be content doing something else (and you may be able to find that contentment).
If, however, you make a different choice, if you choose to keep fighting for just one more day, you will not find the path any easier. You simply have a modicum of motivation that will help you grapple with discouragement and self-doubt. You may lose sight of even that for a time, but you continue onward because you trust that you are doing what you have been called to do.
When that happens – and it will – you have to remember to focus on the one thing. You have to do the one thing you can do. Your one thing doesn’t have to be business-related; in fact, perhaps it shouldn’t be. You choose one thing to do, and you do it, no matter how hard or easy it is.
Some days, that one thing will be getting out of bed. On others, it’s lacing the tennis shoes and going for a run or bicycling. It’s washing the dishes or cleaning the house. It’s choosing to have a meal despite not wanting to eat. It’s applying for a job or contacting one person about a service you offer. It’s writing a blog post. It’s updating your site. It’s choosing to be kind when someone says cruel things. It’s being happy for people’s successes and joys even as you wonder when your turn will come. It’s letting go of things so that you can find what truly matters. It’s being grateful for little things, such as your cat or dog that wants attention when you get home. It’s learning to be content in every situation even as you try to change that situation. It’s holding onto the bright moments, the ones that have encouraged you in the past. It’s choosing to move forward no matter how small or large the step. It’s doing the one thing.
Image: humbletree (CC BY NC 2.0)
Bravo.
thebrandbuilder Thank you.