The world today is constantly bombarding us with minute by minute news, communication, and social media accounts…much of which is negative or argumentative and at times pulling you in the opposite direction of who you want to become. We have become so unbelievably busy that we barely have time to stop and think about and plan on where we are going in our own lives, and then we lose even more time because it is easy to get sucked into what is happening around the world and to everyone else. It is similar to standing in the ocean and looking out at the horizon, we subtly get pulled away down the shoreline with the flow of the hidden current beneath the waves. We turn around and look back at the shore and we aren’t even close to where we entered the ocean…we never even noticed we were being moved! The only way you can stay in the same spot is if you are aware of the current, and then you must always be moving against it just to hold your ground…additionally you have to deal with trying to stand upright due to the waves relentlessly crashing against you and knocking you around. I remember this happening to my two boys when they were young and they were in the ocean up to their chest, I was constantly having to keep a hold of their arms or they would’ve been swept away. If a big wave knocked them over, they could barely get up on their own fast enough to get another breath without my help because the waves kept coming. This is similar to what happens to us in life, often it is a slow unnoticed pull, and sometimes we get pummeled by the waves as well. Where we end up in life depends on what we are focused on, if we are being intentional with what we do, and what/who we allow ourselves to be surrounded by on a regular basis. My question for you is:
Are you being changed by the world?
or
Are you being the change in the world?
Your answer to that question will help you understand why you are, or are not being successful reaching the dreams you have for your life. But even more importantly, it will help you see if you have a goal or idea of what you are pointing your life towards at all. Most of us don’t even know why we do what we do. We often wake up and go do whatever we do for a paycheck while hoping to make it through the day without too many fires to put out. The next thing we know, we are swept up and taken so far away from where we thought we would be. We are somewhere we never would’ve chosen if someone told us we were headed in that direction, but we ended up there because we weren’t intentional and didn't think through our steps. Unfortunately, when we finally notice where we are, we realize time has passed by so quickly that we missed the important moments and opportunities that each new day presents. If we have really been asleep at the wheel, it can be potentially years and thousands of opportunities that have passed us by.
It is easy to get swept up in following how other people act, and our emotions can be tremendously moved by reading a simple post, story, or song. We must be aware of our environment and what we are taking in, it can be positively captivating or negatively cancerous to you and the people around you. There is negativity surrounding us constantly, but we must fight against it. We must not only stop adding to the negativity ourselves, but we need to be the ones to infuse the world with positivity and encouragement. There are people struggling all around us, and you may be the only person who is kind to them today, the only person who gives them courage to press on. The little known secret is that when you take the time and effort to encourage and love others well, it raises your spirits and wellbeing also. Your day will be made great when you choose to make another person’s day great! We have more than enough people that want to point out everyone’s negatives so they can feel better about themselves...we need more people to be the ones that point out everyone’s positives so they can feel valuable, encouraged, and empowered to make it through today and hope for a better tomorrow. The odds are they will then do the same to someone else. You have a choice...Be the change in the world!
Thank you so much for reading, it is an honor to have your time! I hope something in this piece resonated with you and helped shift your mindset. If it did, please share it with friends that could benefit from it and would want to join our movement to change the world around you by focusing on YOU NOT ME.
-Chris
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