02: Look a Fool
I watched P.S. I Love You with my wife the other week. Great tearjerker. This quote stood out:
“Just create something new, and there it is, and it's you, out in the world, outside of you, and you can look at it, or hear it, or read it, or feel it... and you know a little more about... you.”
This thought followed:
"There will be something in your life that you are so passionate about, that you will be prepared to look a fool in pursuit of that thing."
I say "that thing" because it could be anything. It could be a cause, product, service, relationship, or religion. Whatever it is, if you’re not prepared to look a fool for it, then you know it’s not important to you. You then know it’s not going to help you uncover fulfilment.
Personal and professional fulfilment comes to light when we express our true authentic self. Most, if not all, people are initially reluctant to understand or express their true selves for many reasons, including fear of rejection, vulnerability, and acceptance. While these feelings are difficult, they are extremely helpful. They challenge us to seriously consider who we are and what we want to be.
Theodore Roosevelt wisely taught:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
Take time to discover your arena. Have the courage to step in or out as you discover where you belong. Remember, it’s not your arena if you’re not prepared to die in it.
