"When we hang in there and keep saying yes, keep surrendering to the largeness of the task, when we negate our ego and its search for ease and a pain-free life, we start to transform our roles into callings. We live with the painful joy of knowing we took on life with all we had."
This is a quote out of the book Answering Your Call by John Schuster. I was reading it last night and it really resonated with me. Maybe it as business owner myself and having just turned the calendar page to August to realize I'm 8 months in already. In 8 months I've done so much but yet still feel so far behind. And each day feels like you put the gloves on and figure out how to get out into the world to fight the good fight -- survival. For me, it's how do I let people know how I can help them without it feeling like help. How can I empower, inspire, motivate and ultimately watch someone see some real personal growth. But sometimes even with the best of intensions of wanting to help people better their lives, it's still hard to make a living when you're a start up in a world that's on a budget.
So this quote is a good reminder to go with everything else I subscribe to when I'm coaching clients who are up against a difficult challenge. It helps to say: how can we break it down into small steps? Each day, each week, each month, how can we make sure we're feeding the larger goal. And what might you have to consider doing that might not be what'd you'd like to do next but you know it's all for the sake of your broader goal so it makes it ok. It's that idea of the "painful joy of knowing we took on life with all we had."
So just when you might be feeling like giving up or blowing something off b/c you're not sure it will make a difference, or re-thinking your dream -- stop. Stop and consider the thought that it will happen, but how exactly can you keep showing up to make sure that's the case? What could you shift in your approach, your life, your schedule, your beliefs that could help get you closer to that dream? I'd love to hear, let me know!
Hi Jen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the pep talk!!! You're right. We coach people along this very path yet we so often fail to listen to our own words of advice. Your words help to dust off the passion that still resides within and allow it to do it's work. I appreciate the contribution today. Thank You!!!!