Peace or Passion

“Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.”

James Allen

“There is joy in work. There is no happiness except in the realization that we have accomplished something.”

Henry Ford

“Authentic empowerment is the knowing that you are on purpose, doing God's work, peacefully and harmoniously.”

Wayne Dyer

Okay.  Time to get started.  I have one more blog to write today and the day is almost over.   This feels a lot better than playing word games on the Internet.  I may only get a little bit done, but it’s more than I would have done if I hadn’t gotten started.  While listening to The Ten X Rule, by Grant Cardone, I also realized that another way to put forth more effort is to do some You Tube videos.  I did one a couple of years ago.  It was okay for a first try, but if I did them more often, I could improve and have a lot of fun with it. 

The title of my You Tube videos would be the same as my blog and my radio show, “Why Don’t I Just Get Started?”  This could be a great way and a different to get more exposure and to get my message out to more people. 

What is my message?  It’s simple.  It’s two sentences. 

Get Started.

Keep Going.

That’s it.  That’s all there is.  That’s my message.  Is there anything else?  Wherever we are lacking, whether it’s in our relationships, finances, spiritual life, or career, all we need to do is take action and keep taking action.  Of course, it helps if it’s the right action, but even the wrong actions can teach us and lead us towards the right actions.   What I have found to be less than helpful is seeking constant advice or affirmation.  When I got started in my purposes, I found greater joy and meaning in life.  I began to understand why I am here.  I created more structure.  I began having more fun.  I contributed more to the world.  I made some difficult, but much needed, decisions.   And, yes, I added some stress and difficulty, but nowhere near the stress and difficulty I had before I began writing.  Honestly, when I look back on the last ten months, they have, in some ways felt like the most interesting months of my life. 

There are other times I compare this to:

·      When I was saving money to go to my first comic convention

·      When I decided to get straight A’s in the 10^th grade

·      When I decided to see the United States by Greyhound

·      When I did my 60-mile walk for breast cancer

·      When I went to Turkey.

What all of those had in common was that they were all adventures and they all kept me a sense of focus.  They also had beginning and ending points.  Committing to writing two blogs a day is also an adventure, but one with no visible ending point.  I’m just going to write until I feel like I have nothing more to say.  And I don’t see that day ever coming.  Creativity is infinite.

So I’m in this for the long haul.  I may not even reach this goal.  I didn’t make it yesterday, but I did have a wonderful day.  And I’m reaching my goal today.  So I have no regrets. 

There is a necessary tension between inner peace and ambition.  Perhaps there shouldn’t be, because they can be complementary.  To understand this tension, listen to or read something like The Ten X Rule, by Grant Cardone or Crush It, by Gary Vaynerchuk or Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill.  Then listen to The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle or Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu. 

Can I strive towards all my goals and still be at peace?

Is it my ethical duty to be financially successful or peaceful?

Can I love what is and still fight for what isn’t?

Can I be in the present with a constant eye towards the future?

If I stay peaceful and let go of the need for money, will it come to me?  

Or do I have to fight for financial success?

Who am I and what do I want?

Can these concepts really go together or do I need to choose between them?

The answer is, “I don’t know.”  This is the problem with reading as much as I do.  I’m bound to encounter competing philosophies.  I like the idea of being peaceful and present at all times.  But I also know that I want to put my girls through college and buy a house on the beach.  I want to write full-time and be a traveling public speaker. 

What I do know is that I need to keep writing and take advantage of any opportunities that arise. I think I can be peaceful and ambitious as long as my peacefulness doesn’t become apathy and my ambition doesn’t become a lack of contentment. 

Perhaps I can take Robert Schoenfeld’s advice in Busting Loose from the Money Game, and realize that I’m creating everything in my life, good and bad, and like a movie director, I can choose whatever story I want to direct as my life.

Perhaps I can choose different paths at different moments.

Perhaps I can trust God with all of this and keep moving forward.

I know this much:

I love writing and I want to do it as much as and as often as possible.

I feel the urge to do more than I’m doing now and I’m going to trust that.

So this is my conclusion for now:

I’m going to work hard at peacefully reaching my goals.  I’m going to work hard at being peaceful and passionate.  I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive.  Often peace and presence comes from hard work.  Right now I feel peaceful because I finished this blog.  I worked and I got it done and I feel good.  So I’m going to write more tomorrow.  I’m going to Get Started and Keep Going.

I think in this way, I will find some of my answers.   We’ll see.