“Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.”—Andrew Carnegie
The above quote captures the notion of “be your best today; be better tomorrow.” Our lives improve incrementally. We can never stagnate. We need to grow; to adapt; to change.
The basics of life are easy—breath, eat, sleep, etc. Living life to its fullest is more challenging. Living live with Purpose takes effort and focus. Recognizing our Purpose is difficult. Most never fully realize the Purpose to which they have been given. Our challenge is to live each day intently. We need to live beyond ourselves. We live beyond ourselves by realizing that we are not the center of our worlds and that the world is a better place when we give—when we add value—rather than simply take. (NOTE: I did not write “rather than take”. There are times in life when we need to take—not out of entitlement but necessity. In addition, we need mentors, teachers, etc. We do need to take in order to develop. We take, however, only with the expectation that we will multiply what we have been given and share with others.)
The concept of “well-centeredness” is easy. The implementation is what is difficult. Life happens. Life is not easy. We are easily distracted and led off course. We need to practice the skills—the discipline and habits—that keep us on course.
The techniques for staying on track are, not doubt, individualized. One tool that we can all implement on a daily basis is to keep a journal and take time every morning to set goals for the day, to plan, and to set our minds on a course for the day. How we do so is a matter of personality. The key is to just take some self-time in the morning before we start our day.
Taking this time in the morning is not always easy. I know that. [My day typically begins with a 4:20 AM alarm (followed by a battle to temptation to hit the snooze), feeding the pets and taking the dog out, exercise, making lunches and packing backpacks for school, eating, showering, dressing, getting the kids up and off to school, and commuting an hour-plus to work. Somewhere in there, I have to find time to get myself centered.] We need, minimally, a few minutes to breathe and focus ourselves.
I can’t effectively approach the day if I don’t consider my spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, and social dimensions. My workout may be solid, but starting the rest of the day rushed and hurried just sets a course for me to me irritable, impatient, and unproductive.
We need to be intentional with our day. We don’t need to make big changes each day; we just need to direct our course and move forward. We need to dream big, but if we don’t act on our dreams, they don’t become reality.
The dimensions of well-centered fitness are not isolated. They are interwoven like an ever-changing tapestry. We cannot thrive in one dimension without the other [e.g., our relationships (social dimension) are affected by our view of the universe beyond our self (spiritual), our health (physical), our interests and knowledge (intellectual), and our emotional state.]
Be intentional. Carpe momento!