Allow yourself to think...

     I know I was made to accomplish great things. Everyone was. The difference is whether one knows it or not. In the past week I’ve come to realize that what you consider to be great one day can change into something different in an instant. The process that led me this realization is worth an entire different post, but I digress.

     

     Whether you are aware of it or not, your perception of the world is constantly changing based on your experiences and it’s what you take from those experiences that will ultimately affect your life. Albert Einstein said it like this, “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” I’ve had this quote hanging in my room for almost two years and I’m just now developing a true understanding for it. I bought it originally because I liked Einstein and it was a cool quote. I read it every day and would ponder what he meant by it. I never will know Einstein’s reasoning; I will only know my own interpretation of it. How I see it is this: you can go through life each day and not think anything is grand about it and not really think about it as anything deeper than what it is. Alternatively, you can live each day as a student of life. Every person and experience you encounter you can learn a lesson from. This way of life allows you to assess all good and bad situations that occur in your life and really analyze them. What seems bad at first often gives light to an invaluable lesson about yourself, the world, and life. Rather than dwelling on the seemingly bad side of the situation, you direct your focus to the good that came of it. So when Einstein calls “everything a miracle” I don’t take that to mean that everything just miraculously happens as if magic, moreover, I take it to mean to place high value on every experience and treat it as if it were a miracle. Be thankful that this experience will allow you to grow as a person and act as a stepping stone or guide to wherever it is you are going.

     

     Where you are going today may be different than where you are going tomorrow. Your direction should be determined by your own desires, not by anybody else's. Once you determine what you want in life, all you have to do now is believe you can, and will, get it. Personally, I’ve found that determining what I truly want in life is simple but difficult at the same time. I know that ultimately I want to be happy, I want to be motivated by love and I want to be loved, and I want to have genuine relationships with others. It’s when I start thinking about more concrete things that it gets more challenging. Sure, I have goals to do an Ironman and travel the world. Those are easy. What I am searching for right now is what I want to do to make an impact on society. I have some ideas but I still need time to really think about them. However, since I have established the three core desires mentioned above and I have full confidence I can get them, I trust that experiences will present themselves in my life that will give me these things and in turn lead me to the realization of new goals.

     

     I encourage you to sit down with yourself and ask what you want in your life. Don’t limit yourself to only what you can conceive you can get based on your current condition because you can have, be, or do ANYTHING you desire.  All it takes is a dream and an undying belief in that dream. You only live once so make the most of it.

     

     Next to the Einstein quote on my wall is a quote by Gandhi, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” Your mind is the most precious and powerful tool you own. You just have to make the choice to utilize it to meet its full capability. Once you make that choice, your life will be forever changed and you will realize that what you thought was full capability is actually infinite possibility.