Be Yourself
No One Else Can Be
The World Needs You Now!
The world has never been in a more challenging state. Every place you look you can see a need to be filled in just a few seconds. The problem is that few step forward and fill the need. Is the problem that most of us are too self-centered and couldn't give a damn about the other guy? I don't think so. So, then, what IS the problem?
That IS the $64 dollar question. When I look around and talk with people it seems there is a mindset that you have to be at a professional level to contribute. Especially in America we have been beaten down and made to believe only people that have three letters after their name are worthy. Worthy for what? Well, that would be worthy and accomplished at what they do. We tend to believe that only experts can contribute. There are thousands of people that write books and music everyday and produce a product better than anything presently on the market. Yet, they languish in obscurity. In most cases, we will never get to read or hear their product. A product that they believe is somehow inferior to others.
I can tell you now, that no matter what you do or participate in, if you love doing it then you are already good at it. That is the greatest measure that you have something to contribute. This is the best test of whether one should pursue that love for the activity, or pass time or talent. In fact, the best definition I have ever found about talent is that thing that someone loves so much they do it until they have learned all the ways not to do it. At that point, they can participate in that activity and generate a product that is unique easily. This applies to art, sports, science, anything you can name. When one has learned a thousand ways not to do something, they are an expert.
Many of you reading this are experts in what you love to do. Yet, you have not risen to a level that makes you stand out. For some, they never want to stand out and they will never rise to a level that will allow them to support themselves from that activity. Mostly, however, this falling short of the mark is self imposed. Make excuses about why you cannot achieve your goal of being the best and those become your limitations. I'm not the first one to write that or speak that. What you should understand is simply this: “A person that refuses to be beat, cannot be beaten, and will not be beaten.” There are examples of this in nearly every famous person you can name or find. There are a few humans that have risen to stardom, let's say by virtue of birth in to the best family. That doesn't matter for those of us that have found what we love to do. That love for that activity is what allows us to excel. It causes us to excel, even exceed our own expectations.
What we may not know is how to get ourselves in the limelight of our chosen activity. At that point, we must go forth and believe we have a slant on what we do that no one can copy. It is a way of seeing the world through our talent that no one else possesses.That uniqueness will carry us to the top, we just need that one shot at getting our results out there in front of the person that will help us to the top of the ladder.
Believe it or not, there are people that are good at lifting others to the top of the ladder. Just like you are the best at what you love, they love making others successful through their promotion of other's chosen careers. Finding such a person usually happens by accident some would say. When the student is ready the master will appear sorta thing. However, envisioning ones success is actually what facilitates such a meeting. It means standing on your faith in your unique ability and vision for your pursuit even as you begin at the bottom. You have to find your way to the top on your own. However, it only takes too things to make this happen for you regardless of how it happens. That is, knowing that you love something makes you different and allows you to be better at it in a different way than anyone else. It is that seeing yourself in your mind as being where you desire to be. Visualize that moment that you get the recognition for your talent until you do. Then pick a new horizon and begin climbing to it. We never arrive, there are always new paths and destinations for what we love to pursue.
It is the journey that makes us the happiest. The rewards are why we work for something, yet it is the learning and striving that is the real pay off for what we love to do. There is an attitude in the cockpit of every airliner in the air at this very moment. It is often voiced but especially among the youngest pilots still sitting in the right seat. They often say, “I'd do this for free! But, they are paying me. I can't believe we are getting paid to do this.”
My advice is find something you love to do and would do it if there is no money attached to your results. That is what I and the rest of the world are waiting to see you accomplish. The ones that would tear you down, hold you back, beat you up for having a stupid dream, are the ones that gave up too soon on their own dreams. There is no one that has the same way of seeing the world your way.
Success is never the end as we might envision it. Success and happiness never dwell together for too long. The crazy thing about your pursuits is there are plateaus. Each plateau is your latest level of success. As you stand on that plateau, the next path to the next highest plateau can only be seen from where you presently stand. Never be discouraged and that means encourage yourself to quit. Sit down, next to the trail and take a break and get a second wind, finish the race. Few people have ever done what you do like you do it, in fact there are NONE. There will be encouragement enough for what you do. I can honestly say we are waiting to see what you will do with this chance called life.
We, of the world, need you to keep on keeping on, pursue only what makes you happy. Forget money, just do it for the doing of it. We need you now. We need others to know WHY you do what you do so that we can learn how to pursue what makes us happy like you. That is your gift to us. Your success can be contagious and you may never realize it. Be the impact you can be.
CapnGriff is a published author of 14 books, artist, musician, C.Ht. and retired airline pilot and can be located under J. Griff Griffin.
