by Pettis Perry
How Wonderful You Are
Bringing greater meaning into your life by living the life you sing about in your song doesn't require magic
tricks or special talents. It only requires a frame of reference in
which you believe that you have the capacity within your Self to bring
significant meaning into your life simply by reshaping your own thinking
and beliefs.
After more than 40 years of working with people
of all ages, I can tell you that each of
us (almost without regard to age) has the capacity to dramatically alter our
lives if we are willing to put in the time and make the effort. This is
because, generally speaking, we all have the
same 24 hour clock and the same compass; and we all have the ability to think in unique and creative ways. The thing that differentiates
us is how well we use them and whether we have the courage and personal will to go after
and actualize what we want.
Let me introduce you to Michael, my long time friend and Brother member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Michael is one of the most creative people I know. We have a long history together. Our families know each other. We have lived together, played together, worked together, traveled together, and even cried together. Michael spent most of his career as the Director of the Feather River Children's, Family, and specialty Camps operated at the time by Oakland Parks and Recreation. He currently teaches for the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at San Jose State University. In addition to being a gifted teacher, he is an artist, musician, singer, lyricist, playwright, and actor.
If you met Michael you would likely say he is humble, compassionate, spiritual, unpretentious, and an all-around nice guy. (I call him Ghandi-esque.) You might very well not notice anything special about him other than how truly nice he is as a human being. Yet, he has chosen to live a meaningful life for himself by cultivating his various talents over a lifetime of practice. For as long as Ive known him rather than saying, I can't. He says, I can.
 |
| Michael F. Lange |
Let me introduce you to Michael, my long time friend and Brother member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Michael is one of the most creative people I know. We have a long history together. Our families know each other. We have lived together, played together, worked together, traveled together, and even cried together. Michael spent most of his career as the Director of the Feather River Children's, Family, and specialty Camps operated at the time by Oakland Parks and Recreation. He currently teaches for the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at San Jose State University. In addition to being a gifted teacher, he is an artist, musician, singer, lyricist, playwright, and actor.
If you met Michael you would likely say he is humble, compassionate, spiritual, unpretentious, and an all-around nice guy. (I call him Ghandi-esque.) You might very well not notice anything special about him other than how truly nice he is as a human being. Yet, he has chosen to live a meaningful life for himself by cultivating his various talents over a lifetime of practice. For as long as Ive known him rather than saying, I can't. He says, I can.
One day, while grading papers, Michael was listening to some music composed by Canadian composer Andre Gagnon. The music made its way from Japan to the US as the result of a gift that was given to his mom, who then gave it to Michael because it was such beautiful music. He tells the story of how he was multitasking while grading papers by also thinking about a play that he was asked to direct and about a close friend for whom he holds special affection. In an inspired moment fueled by a confluence of his activities the lyrics to a song that he titled How Wonderful You Are was given life. He has given me permission to share his song publicly so it is being shared for the first time with you as part of my Life blog.
How wonderful you are (click here to listen to song)
You can truly say that Michael lives the life he sings about in his song.
Live the Life You Sing About in Your Song
Michael is such a beautiful example of what can happen to bring meaning into your life at an unexpected moment in time when you pursue your passions.In so doing you never know how much of what you create or do in this process of creating meaning for yourself will affect others who might then be inspired by what you have accomplished, to do the same.
While Michael may have cultivated a wide range of his deeply held creative and artistic capabilities, the rest of us have the same capacity: We just make different choices about where to spend our time (our clock) and what directions to go (compass).
Find and Exercise Your Creative Self
Like Michael, each of us has our own set of gifts that we can cultivate to bring greater meaning into our lives. For me, having the freedom to travel is the way that I bring meaning into my life now that my son has left home to pursue his dreams. I also love to train people in areas of my interests, practicing as an amateur photographer, satiating a voracious appetite for reading as part of my lifelong learning commitment, and writing about things of interest like this blog. I also often provide Pro Bono consultancy expertise to organizations that could not otherwise afford to hire someone with my knowledge, skills, and abilities. In this way, I get to experience on a daily basis the things I love to do most by the simple actions I take as I proceed through each day.
The
importance of finding our passions cannot be overstated for those us
who are serious about creating the most wonderful lives for ourselves.
Our passion is what drives us to seek answers to great questions, to
love those around us, and to find joy in the smallest of
accomplishments.
In my case, I am extremely lucky to have had a mother who frequently reminded me that "there is a silver lining in every cloud." She believed this so fervently that as she was slowly dying of cancer she was able to keep her sense of humor, wit, and unending desire to continue learning. She personified what it means to pursue a meaningful life by seeking happiness with every breath she took. As a result, she taught me to always seek the positive aspects of a situation regardless of how dark things appeared. Thanks to her, I do my best to always try to find the hope in hopeless and the possible in the impossible. Let me stress that this is not wishful thinking, but a way of learning how to Become actualized more fully.
In my case, I am extremely lucky to have had a mother who frequently reminded me that "there is a silver lining in every cloud." She believed this so fervently that as she was slowly dying of cancer she was able to keep her sense of humor, wit, and unending desire to continue learning. She personified what it means to pursue a meaningful life by seeking happiness with every breath she took. As a result, she taught me to always seek the positive aspects of a situation regardless of how dark things appeared. Thanks to her, I do my best to always try to find the hope in hopeless and the possible in the impossible. Let me stress that this is not wishful thinking, but a way of learning how to Become actualized more fully.
She
was so good at maintaining her positive attitude that if you did not
know she was ill you would think that she was the healthiest person in
the world. She was a truly remarkable woman; not simply because she was
my mother, but because she was always looking for some good thing to do
for other people and found wonderful meaning for herself in the smallest
of acts of kindness and observations. She was also never one to blame
others for her plight regardless of how difficult things were for her or
for us as a family. Her spirit greatly influenced me by her way of Being
as she taught me to soak up every second of life and to maximize what I
do with my time on Earth. Moreover, she taught me to serve humanity and
as a result I find regular opportunities to actualize a truly wonderful
and meaningful life for myself by helping others.
Every Problem is a New Opportunity
However, in my work as a consultant/trainer, I listen to people who speak about being unhappy. I often hear them blame the world
for everything that is going wrong in their lives. They spend so much
time blaming others that they fail to see that they created the very
thing they are complaining about. They are so blinded by their own lack
of accepting responsibility for what is happening to themselves that
they make themselves powerless by giving away all of their power to those they are blaming.
As
someone who studies leadership as a disciplinary field of study, it
becomes apparent that the way to solve problems is to first ask
ourselves what part of the problem am I? By seeking the answer from
within ourselves we can begin to take ownership for what we manifest
outwardly in our lives. Herein lies the key to living the life you are
singing about in your song.
For many of us this is a very scary prospect because it is so easy for us to blame others in order to protect ourselves while it's much more difficult to pony up to the table and admit that we made a mistake. Think about this for a moment. How often have you become angry at someone for something that truthfully was your fault? Nonetheless, accepting responsibility for the consequences of our own actions is precisely what is required to change our frames of reference so that we can take control of our own lives. To that end, we have to own the fact that ultimately we are responsible for creating whatever happens in our lives. We are responsible and accountable for our own actions; all of the good and the bad things that occur. Once that ownership occurs then it becomes much easier to shift our thinking to pursue that which is truly our passion.
For many of us this is a very scary prospect because it is so easy for us to blame others in order to protect ourselves while it's much more difficult to pony up to the table and admit that we made a mistake. Think about this for a moment. How often have you become angry at someone for something that truthfully was your fault? Nonetheless, accepting responsibility for the consequences of our own actions is precisely what is required to change our frames of reference so that we can take control of our own lives. To that end, we have to own the fact that ultimately we are responsible for creating whatever happens in our lives. We are responsible and accountable for our own actions; all of the good and the bad things that occur. Once that ownership occurs then it becomes much easier to shift our thinking to pursue that which is truly our passion.
Find Your Passion
But what is passion? The on line Merriam-Webster Dictionary (n.d.) defines passion as ". . .a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something." As you contemplate your passions, how
often have you thought about something you were passionate about and
then in the next moment told yourself that you could not do it for
whatever reason you could conger up in your mind? For example, "I want
to go out but I have to take care of my kids. I want to go to school but
I have to spend too many hours at work. I want to go on a trip but
I do not have enough money. I want to stop smoking but I'm under too
much stress." We consistently talk ourselves out of doing the very
things we've identified as our passions and then we feel terrible about
it and short changed in the end when they do not manifest in our lives.
By the time we know it, a lifetime of waiting for things to happen has
passed by us.
The
question for each of us is, how do you want to use your clock and
compass? My belief is that we do not have to wait to find some magic
moment to exercise our passions; but we do have to exercise the courage to
take the first step in the direction of the change we want to see.
Ghandi offered sage advice when he reportedly said "Be the change you
want to see." So, if you want a change in your life then make it. If you
want to learn how to swim then do it. If there are places you want to
go then find a way to make it happen.
One of the truisms I have found in my own life is that, in the end, what you need will be provided for if you're fully committed to an action. You have to have the thought before it can happen. So, rather than telling yourself you can't do something develop the belief that you can do it and more importantly that it will happen if you are serious about making it happen.
One of the truisms I have found in my own life is that, in the end, what you need will be provided for if you're fully committed to an action. You have to have the thought before it can happen. So, rather than telling yourself you can't do something develop the belief that you can do it and more importantly that it will happen if you are serious about making it happen.
How do you create meaning in your life?
References
No comments:
Post a Comment