Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. – Golda Meir
What can you start doing today that will lead you to happiness, for the rest of your life?
A longer version of the quote:
“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”
What does that mean?
Well, in the end, you’re all you’ve got. You’ll spend more time with yourself than with anyone else (unless you happen to be conjoined). Might as well be someone you like, right? To me, the longer version of the quote asks you to trust yourself, to believe in your abilities.
The quote then implores you to change the things you don’t like about yourself and become someone you would be happy to be – for the rest of your life. It goes on to seek within yourself those seemingly small ideas and inspirations, and to grow them into the things that will define you as you move forward.
Why is personal growth important?
In my opinion, you are either growing or waiting to die. Like a fish in a stream, you can’t just stay still. The river moves, you either drift until you die or pick a direction and go (and change directions, as dictated by circumstances).
Would you be happy to spend the rest of your life exactly the way you are right now? Ignore the fact that you won’t be exactly the same tomorrow as you are today, just do to unconscious decisions/observations and subtle changes within you (as well as outside of you). While there are probably a handful of people who would answer the question in the affirmative, most of us want to change things, at least a little.
Sometimes we get fixated on the negative – I don’t like my weight, I don’t like my job, I don’t like being single. Let’s try to follow the quote and find a few “inner sparks of possibility” to fan into “flames of achievement,” shall we?
Where can I apply this in my life?
How happy are you with your current state of existence? Do you have habits you wish you didn’t have? Do you want more energy, less weight, better sleep, less stress? First, you have to ask the question. Write a few of them down. Now, let’s see what we can do to draw you towards a better you, rather than push away from your present you.
For each of the things you wrote down (the things you’d like to see improve about yourself), what would you like to have instead of what you presently have. Dream big, if it helps, just understand it might take a little longer to get that far along (be patient with yourself and set realistic milestones along the way). Now, what things can you do to help move yourself in that direction?
Back when I was abusing caffeine (Jolt & Mt Dew in 2 liter bottles, two or three a day), I found I was fatigued, grouchy, stressed and gaining weight. I did an analysis and realized that my caffeine habit was contributing to all of these conditions. One change helped me walk away from Mr PlumpyGrumpy and become a much nicer person to be around (for myself as well as others).
Let’s look at something big, something that will make a major change in your life. Are any of the changes you worked on a really big one, or are you just nibbling around the edges? Let’s try to find something really big to change. I’ll wait.
OK, now that there is something rather substantial on the table, let’s look at it. How would you life be better if the change were already made? How does this new you and new habit (or attitude, or action, or state of mind/body) impact the rest of your life?
How does it impact the other candidate changes in your life? What other things will change that aren’t on your list, but will be improved anyway? What dreams and aspirations do you have that are now closer to reality, with this change in place?
Fan the sparks, draw yourself towards your dreams. Even if you end up with scrapes on your knees because crawling was all you could manage, keep moving towards your dreams. Find other things you like that are near the dream. If you want to do Broadway, start with a local theater group. If you can’t find one, perhaps you can start your own (or help in starting it).
You only get one life, so make it a good one. On second thought, make it the BEST!
From: Twitter, @Inspire_Us
confirmed at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/goldameir162893.html (excerpt of)
Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography / D Sharon Pruitt
