Every day a million dreams are dispersed around the world. I like to think of them as seeds awaiting their potential, having faith in nothing, but the wind to carry them far and love to embed them deep.
Think of a dandelion with all of its individual seeds. If it sits safe, it will never grow. Taking that risk and flying in the wind it could be eaten, it could disintegrate. But if it never left, it would perish anyway.
This weekend I went to a Buddhist Retreat where I remembered the price we pay when we forget to breathe.
In an attempt to make something of your life, you work against time, you fight your competition, you struggle with any obstacle that confronts your path. But at what cost?
How many times have I made that mistake? How many times have I forgotten and had to be reminded that the price I pay for overworking myself isn’t worth the sacrifice?
It’s one thing to work hard towards your goal. It is quite another to work hard regardless of your health, your relationships, your livelihood. I must continually remind myself that I am only responsible for myself, that the only goal in my life is to be happy, that my life will not be more meaningful based on the job I have, the house I don’t own, the book I didn’t finish yet. But how much I’ve given to others and most importantly myself.
Right now you may be throwing yourself in your latest endeavor. And you are proud of what you’ve accomplished and excited about the prospect of finishing it. And that’s good. We all need dreams. But remember that the risk of not doing, the risk of having faith that the wind will carry you through is also necessary.
It’s not just all that you do, but it’s giving yourself time to not do that is important.
You will never finish that book or complete that daunting task unless you put away that computer, turn off that phone and sit and be for awhile. So do it. Do it and be comforted in knowing that your life will be waiting for you when you return.
