Have you given yourself permission to do what you love?
I believe that every person has unique gifts to offer the world – their personality, their passions, and their perspective.The challenge is knowing yourself and discovering what you really want to do.For years I did not give myself permission to do things I love, because I always had to get my chores done first: the laundry, dishes, meals, and dusting the mop boards. Well, you know the end of that story – life chores are never done. What’s that saying? “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
In our modern world of techno gadgets, automatic dishwashers, and washing machines, we have plenty of free time. Really. We do. We have ample time to explore our passions and do what we love.
So what makes us feel so busy?
Ignorance and fear.
When we are ignorant or fearful of our passion, then we fill our time with distractions and busy-ness that keep us from doing our true life’s work. Educating our true desires is our most important life’s work. In other words, learning who we are and what our life passion is.
Fear comes into play when we know what we passionately want to do, but are afraid that we won’t be successful at it.
Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books said that he didn’t know how to write when he began writing. He learned as he went.
We often focus on the end result and what we want our finished work to look like, but we don’t know how to get to that finish line, so we never start.
My favorite quotation is: “It is not our achievements, but our efforts that perfect us.”
Move the focus away from the result and concentrate on the effort.
The finish line won’t come into view until you have already started and ran a good distance of the race.
In setting goals, make sure to determine goals that focus on effort and not result. Usually the results are out of our control, but the effort is in our own hands.
Give yourself permission to start today at whatever level you are at. Do what you knownow, and your knowledge and ability will naturally increase in the process. Once you have decided what you want to do, the universe (God) will put teachers in your path. I promise. It works every time.
Don’t worry if you will be good, if you will become famous, or if you will end up doing your work on a professional level. Don’t worry if you can make money doing it. Don’t stop yourself because you think you need to spend money to get started.
Just start.
Do what is in you power to do now, and naturally your opportunities will increase.
Doors will fly open to you, once you give yourself permission.
mw