“Success is waking up in the morning, who ever you are, wherever you are, however old or young, and bounding out of bed because there is something out there that you love to do, that you believe in, that you are good at – something that is bigger than you are, and you can hardly wait to get at it again today” — Whit Hobbs
Truly, when was the last time you felt like that?
When you were a kid, maybe?
I’ll admit that I do, frequently, have these moments, but it has only been since I took the leap into doing what I want and stopped doing what society attempted to dictate to me.
For a time I took everything, including myself, far too seriously — because that’s what I’d been brainwashed into believing was right. However, the result was that I was miserable and what I was therefore motivated to contribute to this world, did not amount to very much, of any use.
We are conditioned, generally, to separate work and play. Like medicine that tastes awful must be doing us good, we accept work we hate because that’s what work is supposed to be. Hard: something you grit your teeth over getting done.
This stifles creativity and causes us to look in all the wrong parts of our minds to find ideas for our own success.
I was reminded of this again, when I went for an excursion back to my own childhood this morning, after Jason Anderson of http://www.achievenetprofits.com/ mentioned that he’s a member of a medieval reenactment group http://www.sca.org
(I had a friend back in England who used to reenact ancient battles … when he wasn’t breaking up modern ones as a night-club “bouncer”! 🙂
>From the SCA, I couldn’t help following links to the site for “The Mary Rose”, Henry VIII’s famous 16th-century warship. http://www.maryrose.org
Because I have seen it at Portsmouth (it’s only 25 miles or so from my mum) and, it left a permanent impression on me. It IS unlike any other historical find and has led us to discover many things about Tudor life that are startlingly different to much that had been previously assumed.
(The discovery of the ship is a story of “working with passion” in itself, because nobody believed that the wreck was even there, except one man who searched and found her.)
I’ve always maintained a very keen, even passionate, interest in history and, especially Tudor and Renaissance history. It was my favourite subject at school. I even made (and wore) a full-sized Tudor costume for a history project — since, for most of my childhood and formative years, we lived just two miles from Henry VIII’s Hampton Court Palace: http://www.hrp.org.uk
In those “good old” days, it was free to get into most of the grounds and even large parts of the Tudor buildings.
And I would frequently take the bus or even WALK those two miles, just to make another visit, warp back in time and discover something more about the past. Yeah, talk about passion, for a teenager to WALK two miles for anything (other than running where hormones mandate, that is! 🙂
I have always supposed that a study of history is really a voyage of self-discovery. When we learn why people in past times did certain things, or rulers made certain decisions — and, Henry VIII’s decisions, perhaps more than any other, have shaped countless laws and customs that still prevail today — we begin to understand where we came from and, why, in turn, we hold certain beliefs or behave in certain ways.
It also lead onto other things: it was probably what also prompted me to study psychology and to write. It sparked other interests such as in the Renaissance-revisited aspects of the Pre-Raphaelite period of art and, in design.
But, isn’t it amazing how a casual thing such as this passing comment will invoke memories and take your mind off to a different place? Now, the “trick” is to hold onto it and, at the same time, let it spark “impromptu” ideas.
Yep, I am certain that all of us have, somewhere within us, some thoughts and passions, hobbies or interests such as these. Things we would enjoy researching, pursuing and turning into a theme and means to make our living.
More importantly, we are freed to offer something of true VALUE if we enjoy what we are doing and therefore do it well. My advice: stop listening to what other people say. Start listening to your heart. Please yourself and, you will please others and deserve to be compensated for it.
Copyright 2003 Pamela Heywood
Get All Good Things for Your Personal and Business Success
My short, weekly, newsletter brings you help & resources you can use today … Subscribe mailto:allgoodthings@sendfree.com
Or visit: http://www.pamela-heywood.com
