I heard somewhere years ago, someone ask the question...
"What do you listen to in the car?"
I thought... music, Howard Stern, a phone call...
"Why not make USE of that time to LEARN? Get books on tape!"
It took me a little while to adopt the idea, but a friend told me about the AUDIBLE app, and then another friend started introducing me to podcasts... and now, many of my mornings, and drives, if not most... I am listening to stories.
100% of the time they are stories that are real... because reality inspires me alot more than fiction.
I have been listening to "A People's History of America", biographies, some of which I have shared...
Here is the thing... I see people everyday carrying the weight of everyday... looking down at the work, at the STUFF that fills our lives, at the challenge of all of it... and they do a wonderful job of finding their smile through the struggle.
WE NEED TO LOOK UP!
Heck yes, the day to day stuff is NECESSARY, and SOME of it is important, but it's ONLY part of the experience of living, part of our reality, and it is NOT where inspiration comes from.
Imagine LIVING YOUR LIFE never looking up...
Imagine GOING ON AN AMAZING HIKE and only looking at the trail...
Taking a cruise and never taking your eyes off the ship...
You get the idea...
In life... LOOK UP!
So, as I drive, I listen to stories of people and it forces my mind to LOOK UP at life, at new ways of thinking, new ways of evaluating opportunity, of assessing risk...
LISTENING to biographies...
"How I built this..." Podcasts...
Listening to people that have broken through the noise INSPIRES me more than anything else...
It tells me in no uncertain terms, NOT that I will, but that I CAN...
And, it makes me look up at what I do and evaluate it from outside myself.
I consider all parts of my life as I look up...
INSPIRATION, in my own definition, is the belief, the feeling, the confidence that BETTER is possible.
When we are looking constantly at the trail under our feet, we aren't thinking better... we are thinking "HOW MUCH FARTHER"...
It makes us forget that our only inevitable destination is DEATH... and I am in no hurry to get there.
The beauty of this journey is not the trail... LOOK UP...
the beauty of the journey is all that is around us...
the beauty of the journey is the excitement and anticipation of the places we can aspire to reach in the distance...
the beauty of the journey is feeling ourselves get stronger...
the beauty of the journey is looking back and seeing how far we've come...
AND, the beauty of the journey is slowing down every so often, making a fire, pouring a glass of wine and enjoying some laughter with those we love... hiking along with us...
The beauty is simply in our breath... our deep breaths... and in feeling the gratitude for having the opportunity, the freedom, the possibility of simply being here... wherever you are... doing what you do... embracing the moment and then taking the next step forward...
Figure out how to LOOK UP....and make that a priority... EVERYDAY...
Whether its meditation, biographies, reading, praying...
Whatever it takes...
LOOK UP... better IS possible... and you are making progress..
BREATHE...
you are not alone,
we are in this together,
in harmony,
Nestor
DISCLAIMER: A harmony friend yesterday sent me an email, and said something along the lines of "I hate to share this with you because you seem to bust down all the obstacles in your way..." That is not an accurate perception of me. I don't bust down anything... I chip away at things, chip, chip, chip... everyday a little bit more and a little bit more... over weeks, months, years, decades... I struggle through many of my days... but I do keep LOOKING UP... and its looking UP that gives me the spirit to keep chipping away at it... I am with you in the struggle, and I can honestly say, that every so often I look back... and I am in awe and grateful of how far I've come... and you've been a big reason why! You keep me looking up! If we never give up, we never fail! ONWARD... FIRED UP!