Do you ever wonder if you’re actually ever going to strike gold?
We spend so much time digging in the trenches that after a while the treasure you were seeking starts to seem like an illusive dream. It seems as though it were something unattainable, something make-believe, and perhaps even something impossible.
Sure, there are many of us that will hear, “come on, keep going! Just one more; don’t stop digging!” But even that starts to get old after a while, because just like we’ve been paddling all this time with no land in sight, we’re also hearing those words “keep going” over and over with no land in sight; not even a sign that we’re headed in the right direction.
You scream out to your destiny, “Where are you?!” like you were sending out a raven to go find it, but just as the weary bird returns to the boat, so does your own scream return like a pointless echo, as if to mock you and tell you that you’re wasting your time.
So what do you do?
Do you give up? Do you stop paddling, and risk the chance of giving up right before the tide breaks?
Or do you give it one more seemingly pointless and exhausting row? Do you send out one more e-mail? Do you make one more phone call? Do you go to one more function? Do you throw one more event? Do you send out one more promotion? Do you write one more blog post? Do you make one more lap around the track? Do you train for one more day?
Only you can answer that for yourself, but I’m going to ask you one more question.
Think about what you will regret the most next year or in the years to come. Will you regret more that you dug again without striking gold yet, or will you regret not digging and never knowing if that could have been it?
If you don’t dig or paddle on more time, here are 3 things that will happen.
1. You will never know if that next dig could have been your opportunity, or whether it could have been the moment that you noticed your raven never came back.
2. You will find yourself adrift because you now feel completely disconnected from what you thought was your purpose. You will feel like you lost your way.
3. You will be more prone to the doubtful thoughts that make you wonder if you have any ability to achieve anything at all. The knowing you gave up is always a struggle to climb out of; doable, but more difficult than had you decided to keep going.
If you do dig or row one more time, here are 3 things that will happen.
1. You guarantee to yourself that you’re still in the game and that patience is now becoming your best friend. Whether the tide breaks in this moment or not, you’re accepting the possibility that it could; that you might actually strike gold here and now, and you’re accepting another day to fight in case it might not yet.
2. You will become stronger and more available for the true victory and freedom that awaits you because you decided to press forward against the resistance that wants to stop you. With every paddle and with every dig you are being molded and made for victory.
3. If the tide does break, you will never have any reason or anything that compels you to doubt your ability. From there on out, you will be unstoppable because you know you are. That moment is where your life leaps to the next level.
So, here we are with options. Do we keep going or do we stop? Either way, I’m not telling you what to do or what decision to make. I’m just giving you the consequences and the rewards for any direction you choose.
No right or wrong here. It’s only yours to choose.
Like everything else we decide to do or not do. We just have to be willing to own up to what’s more important to us, and our actions will spell that out loud and clear.
Do you want freedom or do you not? That is your daily decision. As you press forward, from the time you wake up to the time you shut down, you have to make that choice, every single day.
We all do, and only the fruits will eventually reveal that choice.
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Robert de Brus reignites the unemployable entrepreneur towards re-claiming their freedom.
Photo: Flikr/Carlos Gotay Martínez
Recommended reading:
* Seven Helpful Tips for a Happier You
* You Are More Amazing Than You Realize