“One year” she said. “I give you one year before you lose your soul”.
That was curse with which I started the first week of my professional life. My youthfulness would be drained in a year’s time. A single year and my passion would be replaced with the simple drudgery of ‘getting things done’. My GTD to KTBR would suck the utter joy of creation away and leave behind a pragmatic desire to climb the ladder of success while picking away at the tree of wealth. I would, in the end, and not a moment too soon, be brought in line.
Who said this was the end?
I will not give my soul up without a fight. I cannot and will not give up the truest joy in my life. The joy of creativity and creation. People wonder why a God would create man. What was the purpose? I suspect I know what the purpose of it was. It was the joy of creation. There is nothing I feel that makes life more meaningful than that joy.
‘Joy’, not enthusiasm. Enthusiasm can be forced or faked. Joy, true joy, the measure of the souls happiness, cannot.
So how does one find ‘joy’ in the harsh realities of a business? Can you ever really stand there and say “No, I’m sorry I can’t do that it doesn’t bring joy to my work. I’m afraid that project may just steal my soul.”
Probably not the best tact to take.
Belief is what is needed. Not the kind that makes you repeat “I am a winner” in front of the mirror. Whiner belief. Nor the kind that closes her eyes and lays her head down on the chopping block. Headless chicken belief.
I believe in fire belief. The kind that warms your soul. It’s the kind that makes you give that irrepressible half smile. The kind of cocky impish smile you have before you jump off into the wild naked. The kind that fearlessly roars for you while you calmly explain how things are going to be. The kind that shines a torch to show you the way.
It’s not easy to have that belief. Not all the time. And that too is significant part of it. You cannot fool yourself into feeling it. The fire will not warm. Sometimes it may scare some others. Fire scares lesser creatures. You’ll learn to see it when you see the smile and flicker in the eyes. You’ll also learn to feel it with your mind.
So stand up for your profession and believe that fire belief. Breath fire. Start storms. Smile.
In fact, I’m smiling like that right now. It’s because I’m about to jump off this ladder of yours. I think I see an elevator. I am going to be fearless for a while longer while this solar powered belief rages on inside me.
Flame On.
Essay from Riaz.MindArtAdventure
A ronin (Japanese: rōnin: literally, wave man - one who is tossed about, like a wave in the sea) was a masterless samurai during the feudal period of Japan that lasted from 1185 to 1868. A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege. The term originated in the Nara and Heian periods, when it originally referred to serfs who had fled or deserted their master's land. It is also a term used for samurai who had lost their masters in wars.
