…reach for the stars and I hope you actually reach high enough to put one of them into your pocket…
Should I dream? Should I aspire? Should I want for more? To be more? Should I lift myself up after falling? Should I try again and again?
We have heroes, they inspire us, they motivate us and yet, only a fraction, a measly percentage of people will accomplish even a fraction of what their heroes have achieved and accomplished. The dream then, it would seem, is too big and unforgiving. The challenge perhaps then is to have a dream at all, for we know not how far we will go and along the way there will be many who tell us we are trying too hard, we want it too much, that we will only hurt ourselves, after all, we are setting ourselves up for failure. Remember, and read this well, only a very small fraction actually reach the heights of our heroes.
I have always wanted to write. I have not always known what I wanted to write about, but writing is something I have always enjoyed, it is soothing to my soul. I enjoy writing from my heart and my soul, I love pouring my emotions into the words I bring fourth. If you can feel what I have written then I am truly writing. And yet, I have no hero in the writing world that I am seeking to match. I have writers I admire and a favorite writer or two, but their type of writing is not my type of writing.
I do not always write for any specific person, place or thing. I rarely, if ever, ask myself any of the ‘W’s’–who, what, when, where, why, or even how. I do not consider myself to be an expert, I am certainly not a journalist and I am not a reporter. I am me and it is from my experiences I write, my lessons learned, it is from my heart I write, it is from my emotions I write and it is for everyone and anyone who wants to read it – those who find benefit and even those who do not.
I say reach for the stars and I hope you actually reach high enough to put one of them into your pocket and it lights up your day each and every day. When we travel the journey of our sweet destiny, it will not be free of worry, fear or pain, but there will be moments of greatness, feelings of joy and at special times, there will be what I can only describe as rapture.
If I never hear don’t try so hard, don’t put so much energy into it, or you will only hurt yourself, let yourself down, or you want it too much… it will be too soon.
We are all different, we all have different goals, it is not about being better than anyone else. It isn’t about achieving what others have achieved or getting one’s hopes too high, it isn’t about trying in vain, it is not about vanity or futility – it is about doing what is felt inside, what feels right, what one needs to do even if there is no explanation or compensation. It is about the person deep within who is hungry, dying of thirst, with a need so strong it cannot and will not be withheld.
When a person feels like that, it no longer matters what anyone says or believes, it becomes an obsession of the heart, a passion that runs so hot and bright that no person can look directly on it, much less reach out to stop it. It feels good, very, very good to write. It’s like playing the piano, or strumming a guitar with a beautiful melody. It’s like the waves crashing rhythmically on the shore, it is like the moon rising while the sun settles and for a moment or two, you can watch them both in the sky together.
When you are doing something that feels that way, so good and real, you are living your destiny, it is the gift of gifts. Nothing else, no person, no food, water or drug, or sport or recreation alone can give us that, only when we are in our destiny.
That’s what I believe.
A hero can help us aspire, but we can only get to where we want to go from within; and within that it becomes the journey which is treasured most, because then, each step is a joy, no matter the pain or the frustration, it is sweet and delicious when in the rapture of destiny – it is miserable sorrow when not.
Achievement is nice, but it is not what I think of as sweet destiny. It is not an external obligation, it has no rules or conditions or measurements, it does not require of you.
Destiny is not a destination, it is not a place with a name, it is the journey on the tracks of our passions, inspirations, wants, needs and desires. When we feel good doing what we are doing, when we feel frustrated and want to improve, when we make mistakes and want to correct them and when we give up, but our heart, our inner need, leads us back to the same path over and over again… that is sweet destiny, it hurts so painfully at times and ultimately feels so right, because, whether we win or not, whether we achieve, accomplish, attain or not, we live within it.
In today’s world everything seems to be about what we earn, what we win and what we reach… not always, those are means to ends, sweet destiny is on the inside, for self and it brings with it rewards aplenty when recognized.
Let’s enjoy our sweet destiny without the need to rush it, push it and jeopardize it. I believe when we do that, without criticism, without complaint and without over thought and considered expectations, it takes care of itself and brings with it rewards that nothing else can ever hope to compare to.
Only when we love ourselves, can we truly love someone else. Only when we are non critical of ourselves, can we be non critical of others. Only when we appreciate our own sweet destiny, can we appreciate someone else’s sweet destiny.
What is your sweet destiny?
~Bryan
