Aloha All,
I am writing this as a Blog, so, I am working out a few bugs here. Amongst friends. I find myself in an awkward part of my life right now. Not really believing in the Capitalist System, yet, needing it to fund my own future! LOL I wonder how much I am capable of listening to anymore. I have never been a fan of the naysayers…but deciding how to live my later years – shows me how deep rooted limiting beliefs are; and how insidious. You can’t seem to escape them, you have to block them out on purpose.
Life isn’t over at any particular age. It is over when you die; and that may not even be a true statement. More accurately, your existence on this plane of existence is over- at least for you. So when I think about my future…I have things I want to do; just not the way I have been told to do them. I don’t want to work…I do want to grow. Is one possible without the other? Don’t know. Yet.
A lot of paradoxes seem to crop up: He who hesitates is lost. Look before you leap. Depending on the situation, either is applicable; or you could simply not get lost, nor jump! We are filled with “either – or” messages. You can do this, or that. Well, we all know that is not true….we can do this, or this, or that, or that too, or even this; or, maybe that. There are as many possibilities as we care to think up, and try. Hmm…try. There is another hidden gem…keep trying. How do you know if you are good at anything, if you didn’t at least try? And how many times do you try until you quit?
Old Edison didn’t give up on the light bulb for 10,000 tries! When asked how he kept on when failing so often; Edison interrupted the guy and said: ” I never failed. I discovered 10,000 ways NOT to make a light bulb. ” Interesting way to look at it. How many folks would go into business with a guy who failed at 10,000 businesses? Yet the average Millionaire in this country, has been bankrupt at least two and half. According to the business gurus; this happens for three reasons:
1) When they make their first million ; they get big heads and lose it all. (What we call New Money People; who want you to know they are wealthy…so, they have a five thousand square feet home in a prestigious neighborhood, and a Lexus and Mercedes; and they live paycheck to paycheck. Living in one room of their giant house, keeping up appearances)
2) Then they make a million again…and lose it. This time, because they tried to get bigger, faster.
3) The third time, they make and keep their million – and realize that the same skills to make a million, are the same you need to make ten million- or more. At this time, they remove the limiting belief on the amount they can earn- and they tend to keep their money!
In the Ultimate Irony, you have to fail to succeed. You can also fail after you are successful, and you can do either as long as you have the energy and drive. Psychologically , it appears that being comfortable is the time you are least likely to change, to grow, to succeed, or to fail. You just sit there, enjoying the NOW. Great place to be- for some. Until you get reminded of another saying: “If you aren’t moving forward , you are falling back. ” Or, as we used to say in the Army: “Lead , follow, or get out of the way.” What if you don’t want to lead, follow, or get out of the way? What if you don’t want any of that stuff?
Then you have to let go of lots and lots of limiting beliefs, the people who espouse them, and the situations that generate them. I don’t want to be a hermit, living alone on a mountain top. I like good food, with good people to talk with around me, in safe, comfortable surroundings. That takes money in my society. Money isn’t everything, but in a Capitalistic Society, it sure gives you options. It also gives you the ability to say : “No.”
The famous : “F*ck you money.” Where you don’t need any money, you have enough. Enough, is determined by the individual. If I had not taken care of my children for so long – I would have had more than enough for me. But, I wouldn’t have done the things I wanted to do for my family. Or even Kathy. So, as an Individual, I need more; as a family I did enough. Again, a paradox. Can you make yourself truly happy, while making everyone around you happy too? Depends.
In the long run, we all lead our own lives. Yet we are all connected. There is no simple answer to any of life’s questions, and the biggies have managed to escape some of the smartest minds ever to live. Biggies like: “Why are we here?” “What is the purpose of life?” “What does it al mean?” These questions have boggled the minds of many over the centuries, and when you make them first person personal : “Why am I here?” They can become overwhelming. At that point you have to go NIKE…and: just do it. Just live, and struggle through like the rest of us.
At the moment of your death, the only one there dying – will be you. As much as someone loves you, they are not going with you. It is extremely personal- and restricted to just you. Others might be dying around you, but they are not you. You are the only one that fully experiences your own death. Remarkably, we can’t seem to realize that we are the only ones who experience our own lives too!
Much more for me to ponder. I wonder if i have limiting beliefs; or if I am just limited. Not playing with words here – I truly mean that. I think I can reach contentment – I have certainly reached comfortable a few times – but can I let go of me? That is the big question.
Smiles Kevin just thinking out loud.
