What Do I Want to Do?

“Faith that it's not always in your hands or things don't always go the way you planned, but you have to have faith that there is a plan for you, and you must follow your heart and believe in yourself no matter what.”

Martina McBride

“Follow your heart and make it your decision.”

Mia Hamm

What do I want to do?  For over 700 blogs I’ve espoused the power and necessity of taking action.  I wrote about Purpose and how it can change our lives, specifically how it’s changed mine.  I’m still doing that.  I’m not stopping.  I’ve slowed down a little, but only a little.  For a while I felt uncertain and hesitant. I looked at other ways to write, ways that might make me more money.  I wondered if I needed to “branch out.” I wondered if what I was doing was relevant or useful.  I still wonder.  Here’s the answer:

I don’t care. 

I don’t care, at least at this point, if what I’m doing reaches anyone or even helps anyone.  I already know it does.  It helps me and it helps my Muse.  The gifts we are given are for the world, but they are for us first.

But shouldn’t Purpose be something that helps the world?  Yes, but before that it has to come from a place of passion.  Not only should we love what we do, when it comes to our Purpose, we should believe it’s the most important thing, or one of the most important things in the world.  Curiously, the more important it is, the more we have to remind ourselves.  Why is this?

The formula is simple:  Passion and Purpose lead to attacks of self-sabotage and of sabotage by circumstances or by others.  This leads to distractions and forgetfulness.  Then one day we find ourselves engulfed in a sea of urgency, emergencies, and other people’s priorities.  So reminders, daily reminders even, are necessary.  What do we want?  Why?

Here’s what I want:

·      A house on the beach with my Muse

·      To be able to read, write, and speak for a living

·      Enough money to put my kids and grandkids through college

·      To have a satisfying spiritual life

·      To see my children grow up happy, healthy, and with a love for God

In the short term (two years or fewer), I want to have done the following:

·      Read 200 books

·      Written up to 1,000 blogs

·      Publish two more books

·      Become debt free

Why do I want these things?  I want them because they will make me happy.  But beyond that, I think they will make God happy.  Why do I have these particular desires?  Why, for example, do I want a house on the beach instead of one in the suburbs or the desert or the mountains?   Why am I passionate about writing and not racecars or teaching kindergarten?  Why do I like the color orange or blueberries?  I believe God puts particular desires in our hearts, because it’s part of His plan.

Does this blog help anyone?  Is it “marketable?”  Maybe or maybe not, but writing it is part of God’s plan.  How do I know that?  Because while I’m doing it, I have peace.  This writing is the best thing I can do for God, the world, and myself.  This is the work that attracts my Muse.  It makes her happy and it makes me happy.  But does it help others?  It can because we all need to be in our Purpose and this is just one more reminder for the world or for anyone who wants to read this. 

But is it marketable?  Here’s a story.  In 1975, Gary Dahl put rocks in boxes and called them Pet Rocks.  The box and the accompanying “owner’s manual” said that the owner didn’t have to feed, train, or clean up after the rocks.  Dahl sold over 1.5 million Pet Rocks and became a millionaire in less than a year.  If rocks in a box are marketable, anything is.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pet_Rock&redirect=no) 

So I’m going to keep writing what my Muse and I like.  Will I take suggestions and try to expand my skills?  Of course.  Maybe.  Or maybe I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing now, writing for my Muse and myself.  I’ll Get Started and Keep Going because that’s what I want to do.