While trying to drift off to sleep last eve, or should I say around 2am (because of a massive creative attack), I thought of a
speech that Steve Jobs gave at Stanford University. He spoke of how one can only connect the dots when looking backward, never when looking forward. Meaning…if we try to piece everything together before it happens, we waste valuable time.
Will my dreams come true?
Will my family be happy and healthy?
Will I finally be able to own my dream house?
Will I be able to travel the world?
What about work…will I be able to keep my job?
If I completely dislike my job and decide to quit…will I be OK? Will I starve?
If I leave my dysfunctional relationship, will I ever find love again?
The list goes on and on…
The truth as Steve Jobs so eloquently put it…is that we simply can’t know. We can only make wise/bold decisions in the present moment and have faith that the dots will connect in the future. One moment will lead to the next, no matter what we do. Time cannot be halted until we figure it all out.
The key is to stay focused on what we can do in the here and now. Begin writing before we worry about finding publishers. Start running for a while before we become concerned with whether the pounds are coming off. Do our best each second to create healthy relationships with the people we love…not try to connect the dots toward forever.
We must be the task…whatever it is…otherwise we push people away, we don’t focus on the actual work that needs to be done to build our dreams. I was thinking today about Justin Bieber. That poor kid has so many haters and critics. But I’m going to tell you something…
he’s doing it…
he’s putting himself out there while…
well…while many people are sitting on their arses doing nothing. Staring at the TV with their mouths open…allowing for
their minds to grow soggier by the moment. Laugh all you want…while he’s singing and dancing his heart out…and traveling the world to boot.
It’s not that we all have to become fans…but really we must respect those who are out there experiencing and pushing the limits.
If you have a dream…or a hope…just put one foot in front of the other and begin to create something.
The dots will connect while we’re doing our work…
– Jen Engevik
Project BE Bold
undoubtedly the greatest gift to human beings. But the Sanskrit word vikalapa also means fantasy or delusion. Without steady application, even the most inspiring flights of imagination must remain impotent, devoid of reality. If a scientist has an idea, he may have to labor for years, experimenting, analyzing, and checking in order to bring it to fruition, to make it concrete. A writer may dream of plot for a new novel, but unless he applies himself to pen and paper his ideas have no value. A callow youth once said to a great poet, “I have a marvelous idea for a new poem.” The poet replied cuttingly, “Poems are about words.” The true poet had his feet on the ground. Never mind the idea, write it down!”