A Matter of Perspective
“There is freedom waiting for you, on the breezes of the sky. And you ask, ‘what if I fall?’ Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?” ~Erin Hanson
I write a lot of (hopefully) inspirational articles. I feel that we can do a lot of things to improve our businesses, our websites and our blogs. But there is also a lot we can do to improve our mindsets and by improving the mind we also improve everything else in life.
If you don’t want to read my thoughts about improving our lives overall, I will not be offended. But if you do wish to read them, by all means, please do. Share them. Comment on them on social media. Tell me if I got it or if I am way off!
Where did I find motivation?
I found and still do find a lot of motivation in quotes. Not all of them obviously but many give me a chance to stretch my mind to believe that things are more possible than I may feel.
Like the quote above.
I had always been afraid of falling. Most of the time I did not even try anything new because I was positive I would fall and get hurt.
But then one day I fell while trying something new. And guess what? It hurt. It hurt like heck!
But guess what else?
It didn’t kill me. Those bruises and scabs that became scars made me realize that the quote, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” was absolutely true.
I started to take more chances. I would jump into the silo on our farm over 20 feet into the silage below.
I would climb back up and do it all over again. I got braver (or more stupid!?!) and would climb higher and higher still jumping down into the silage below.
And even if I got hurt, I still got back up and kept doing this over and over until I was giddy from giggling at the exhilaration it brought. That moment of free fall! That moment of not knowing if I would nail the landing or if the landing would “break” me!
I think back on that time and remember those feelings. They still fill me with excitement for that moment when I would step off into nothing knowing that 20-30 feet below was a hard landing into the sometimes frozen silage (silage is chopped corn, stalks, cobs and all—we fed this to our cows).
And I wrote about these feelings. I read quotes. I experienced this awakening.
Then sometime during college, I went back to sleep...
The unmotivated years
There were a lot of years when I was completely unmotivated. I could have cared less about helping other people. I was having a hard time helping myself.
I spent a long time feeling sorry for myself. I forgot how to fly. I forgot that feeling of exhilaration. I forgot how to live.
I won’t say a lot about this time in my life except that I tried a lot of things to help me get that feeling of being alive again. None of which worked, by the way.
Refreshed, alive again
When I hit age 40 I had an epiphany. It was a difficult time for me. I felt like I was having a mid-life crisis, except, how could I be having a mid-life crisis when I had no life!?!
So I decided to get one.
I started a lot of self-help stuff which helped a little but I needed something more. I needed to take chances again. I needed to jump into the silage!
I had many limiting beliefs that I needed to deal with. The biggest ones were:
• You’re not good enough
• You can’t do it
• You will never be anything more than what you already are
“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” ~Mary Kay Ash
I began to work on that mindset because I needed to believe that I could be and do and that I was good enough. I needed to know that I deserved more!
It wasn’t overnight that I began to feel more confident. In fact, there are still times now when I face fear and doubt and want to tuck my tail, run and hide behind the milk house door!
Where do I find motivation now?
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” ~Chinese Proverb
I have lived with regrets. But notice the keyword? Lived. I may have regrets but I have now also lived!
I find motivation all around me now. I find a lot of motivation by expressing gratitude for the things I have been given and also for the things I have NOT been given.
Now I plant trees (figuratively) almost every day. I know they will grow. They may not reach maturity in my lifetime but they will keep producing fruit for a long time if I tend to them now.
I plant a lot of trees in my business. I also plant a lot of trees with my granddaughter. Since I am one of her parental figures, I try to plant things that will grow and blossom for her. I tend to them and water them and talk to them because these things make them grow.
For something to grow, the old has to “die.” When you plant a seed, it dies but new life springs from it.
I see so much new life around me! I hope you do, as well.
So, let’s get started and add more life...plant a tree today!