When I leave this earth I hope that people choose to see me for who I know I am inside. Although it’s hard to predict how you come across to others, I hope that the people who were close to me saw the person I was both flaws and strengths alike. There is no greater accomplishment on this earth than leaving an impact for those who you’ve had the good fortune of interacting with along the way and most importantly the children you hope to leave behind.
What do you want them to know about you?
If you could tell them anything before you go let it be this – Every day you wake up should be considered a gift. Life will not be easy, but it’s not supposed to be. The gift does not come without sacrifice. When you rise in the morning and feel tired just make sure it’s because of a good day’s work the day before. You should experience all the pleasures life has to offer but don’t be unrealistic about the pain and suffering that will be experienced along the way.
Never let the highs be too high. Never let the lows be too low. Maintain a balance that can keep moving you forward. There will be great accomplishments and horrible setbacks in this life but none of that matters. It’s the process. It’s the things you learn along the way that serve as the tolls on the road to those accomplishments that matter. No one can ever take something you’ve learned away from you. Those are yours to keep.
Be grateful for what you have but never let that stop your desire to improve. Do not settle but understand that you have everything you could ever need in that moment right inside of you. No one can make you happy unless you, yourself are happy first. Likewise, you cannot even begin to love someone else if you do not totally and humbly love yourself.
Don’t let people mistake your confidence for cockiness as the two things are different. It’s good to have both when you need them but confidence is much deeper than cockiness. It’s like comparing the depth of an ocean to the depth of a piece of paper. If you want to build confidence, practice. Practice more than you think you need to and then practice some more. There is no such thing as mastery but there is such a thing as discipline and hard work.
Love the craft you seek to master with the understanding that you’ll always be an apprentice. Hope to shoot for the moon so that you can be lucky enough to miss it ever so slightly so that you land amongst the stars.
Just like beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder the same goes for success. Remember success is arbitrary and your success is nothing compared to someone else’s in this world. Conversely, your success might be miles ahead of the person you’re sitting next to. Stay humble, stay hungry. Above all, be kind and be considerate but understand no one owes you anything. You do not owe the world anything and the world does not owe you a thing.
Time will move faster than you want it to at certain points and slower in others. Embrace them all, be present in the moment even though it’s really difficult sometimes. Understand no human is perfect and neither are you. You will make mistakes but try to learn everything you can from them. At that very moment don’t ask why me but embrace it and say of course it’s me because it was meant for me.
If you don’t understand the reasons for something going on at that very junction– that is ok. You don’t have to understand it all but just understand that it’s part of the bigger picture, the puzzle piece that was deliberately and delicately cut out for that section of your life.
Some people won’t ever see things the way you see them. It would be foolish to expect this from two different individuals. Have compassion for them and for the beauty of the uniqueness of the individual. You will be fueled at times by other people’s actions, use that fuel wisely to advance yourself as a human.
Do not use it to cut others down or think that it will sustain you. Eventually, that fuel will burn out if that’s your primary motivation. Your reason for anything needs to come from inside you. It’s not selfish to want to be the best out there but understand why you want to be the best. Do not set out on an adventure that will leave you hollow when you reach the top. Success of any kind is fleeting. All of these things are hard to see beforehand but just remember that there is no substitute for hard work.
Have virtues that guide you through your life but understand why you chose those. Be open and flexible to change your mind. No two moments are ever the same and it’s ok to not feel as you once did. You can change your mind, and you can move on if something no longer serves you just don’t be one of those spineless people who end up yesman that let their lives be dictated by the opinions of others.
You are capable of extraordinary things but they will not just be handed to you. Your quest should be to squeeze the most out of this life. Never stop learning and growing. You beat incredible odds to just to make it here and you had no doing in that part. You were gifted this life so treat it as such. If you need to be humbled from time to time just go outside and look around. Life itself is everywhere around you and bigger than any one person could begin to understand. Stand next to a mountain, get pulled in the undertow of a wave or just pause during a thunderstorm to understand how insignificant you are. It’s a beautiful insignificance that reminds us that if we’re going to have any impact in this life we must respect every aspect of it.
Do your best.