There are two types of people in the world. Those who charge forward into whatever life has in store for them, eagerly awaiting today's exploits and already crafting the evening's exaggeration of their adventures. And those who crawl their way out of bed, grumble their way through a lukewarm shower, don't even remember what they eat for breakfast this morning, and trudge their way to the same job that they've learned to mastery thirty years ago only to trudge right back home in the evening and plop down in bed.
Now before you continue, take a look at your own life right now and ask yourself: "Am I existing or am I living?"
The temptation to do just enough to get by lingers in our minds every single day. The excuses even come in flavors.
"No one will care."
"Why even bother?"
"You're wasting your time."
"It won't make a difference."
The truth of the matter is, and you're going to see this phrase a lot on this blog, that we live in a world where simply DOING WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO is worthy of the highest praise and honor. People have become so complacent with their lives and higher-ups are so worried about hurting someone's feelings (and therefore risking complaints and/or lawsuits) that they pile on the praise for even the slightest bit of effort. But as a contrast, that just makes those who go the extra mile stand out even more than before.
Going the extra mile is a good first step in learning to awaken yourself. Because in doing so, you're making it clear that what might be enough to satisfy other people isn't enough for you. You aren't content with simply passing the test, you want to do so in STYLE! It's a personal acknowledgement that you're better than average and that average isn't good enough for you. And people will understand that. It shows that you are dependable, that you want to reach beyond the boundaries of mediocrity and see how much farther you can go. And once you get out of that mindset of just settling for survival, you'll be able to see that there's so much more out there that you can strive for. You don't do it for other people. You do it for yourself. Because you deserve better than a mediocre life.
MY CHALLENGE: Choose one aspect of your life: a chore, a homework assignment, a task at your job, or anything else work-related and take it farther than you'd normally go. Do about one-and-a-half times as much as usual. Write down how you normally feel at the end of the task and compare it to how you feel after the extra effort and completion. Also take note on how other people react to the extra work. If successful, then you'll be one step closer to Learning to Live Life.
Comments