|
The yawns being given off by my friend permeated the room
so heavily that they clearly placed an uncomfortable shadow over the enthusiasm
all the rest of us were feeling. We were on one of the most exciting
treasure hunting expeditions I have ever been engaged in, and I was thanking my
lucky stars just to be part of the expedition. All of the people involved were
very good at their jobs and were enthusiastically involved with this project
except my friend. He was bored. In fact, he was so caught up in his own
personal boredom, that he was certain everyone else, and the whole world, was
also seeing the world in the same mundane way. Talk about being on a different
wavelength!
After our planning meeting was over, I gently approached my friend about his
outlook. He agreed wholeheartedly with my observation. His viewpoint was because
of some unknown factor that he could not quite pin down; he just was not able to
take on the project (or life) with enthusiasm like the rest of us.
 I asked if someone was sick in his family, or if he had financial or other
personal problems that were holding him back. He said there was nothing like
that holding him back. To him, for as long as he could remember, he was not able
to experience real enthusiasm.
I don't think any of us can expect to get more out of life than what we
invest of ourselves into it. Wouldn't it be wrong to take more than we give? How
can we expect our passion to come from something outside of ourselves?
If we put passion in, perhaps we can get more passion and excitement out of
it, whatever the endeavor.
My friend was waiting for some influence outside of himself to give him
something to be passionate about. He was looking for some hidden reason why he
was not feeling enthusiasm. I suggest that all of this might be a "backwards"
approach.
 I suggest the impact of life upon us (how we end up being affected by it) is
exactly as we choose it to be. If we decide that the way we are going to feel
most of the time is due to some (or lack of) outside or hidden influence or the
way others have treated us (or not treated us) in the past, naturally, that's
the way it will be for us.
But it does not have to be that way. It can be any way we choose it to be.
There are any number of responses we can choose for every given situation.
You do not have to win every battle to be a winner. If you win every time,
you are not putting yourself to the real test. That's not really winning, is it?
You do not have to be "rich" to be successful. Money is not life's measuring
stick.
Life must have worthwhile challenges for life to be interesting. A good
challenge requires a fair chance (perhaps even likelihood) that you could fail
in the endeavor. Real challenges make you fear the consequences of failing. A
good challenge puts you to the real test. It forces you to reach down deep
inside and raise yourself to the occasion. It makes you improve yourself. It
makes you become more passionate, more brave, more tolerant of others and more
secure in yourself.
A real challenge forces you to live life more fully!
I suggested to my friend that perhaps if he took on something more
challenging he might discover his own personal enthusiasm. This thought
brightened him up considerably.
Some philosopher once said that if taking on something is really difficult
for you, try taking on twice as much. Then, the first limit you set for yourself
will not seem like too much, anymore. There is certainly some profound wisdom in
this philosophy. We do indeed set our own limits for ourselves by the decisions
we make or the decisions of others that we agree to.
Ironically, my consistent observation has been that those people who are most
challenged in their lives are happiest, most passionate and most enthusiastic
even if there is a great deal of pain and misery in their lives. This is true in
war-torn Cambodia. It is true
in the remote portions of
Madagascar where there
is no medicine to save a sick child and where people work their guts out just to
eat. In all their pain and suffering, those people really have passion in their
lives. They are truly thankful for the little they do have. They are happy to be
alive today. The few comfortable, good moments really have meaning to them.
"Perhaps we need the challenge of an occasional crocodile in
our lives!"
Please do not misunderstand the point I am trying to make. I am not saying
that pain and suffering are good. The point I am trying to make is that it is
perhaps difficult to experience real passion and enthusiasm in our lives if we
are so comfortable that the only adventure we experience is on the television.
Yes, we experience television with a passion. But what about life?
Perhaps, in the end, it is not about rich or poor -- or about winning or
losing. Just maybe, it is about experiencing everything out of life you can make
happen. My guess is that this comes from putting in as much as you have to give.
And that comes from being truly challenged in life, maybe even taking some
chances.
We each set our own limits for ourselves. If we are not passionately trying
to overcome those limits, then maybe we are cheating ourselves out of the best
that life has to offer.
We easily forget this lesson in the West, where day-to-day life is not as
dangerous as it might be. In many of the Third World countries I have visited,
people have to face actual physical dangers in their everyday lives such as
crocodiles. Let's face it; there is not a lot of time to worry ourselves about
petty concerns when we are concerned about getting eaten by a crocodile. Perhaps
we need the challenge of an occasional crocodile in our lives!
More About Gold Prospecting
More Gold Mining Adventures
Schedule of Events
Best-selling Books & DVD's on this Subject
|
