We can decide how we start them.

What are you doing tomorrow morning?

I know it seems strange, but they fly by pretty fast.

I worked pretty hard most of my life. I didn’t always wake up glad that I was alive.

I was often thinking of things I had to accomplish for the day or worried about things that were going on. We forget most of these days. They are the days that make life go so fast. We want to forget those days. We drink to forget those days. We go on vacation to forget those days.

But there are days we remember. They are rarely about work. They are about fun, family, friends, and adventures.  These are the days we were meant to live.

If we were inspired about the fact we were here and everyday did something that was an expression of our appreciation, we would remember more days.

We can make it different starting tomorrow morning.

What is the Price of Joy?

We and most animals on earth are born with the ability to experience Joy.

I watch Pelicans glide in the wind with no evident purpose. I watch puppies play just to amuse themselves. Cats pounce on things imagining they are big game hunters. Humans always want to have fun. Let’s Party.

So what happens to us? Why do we trade in a life of fun for a life of purpose?

We are led down one path and not given much insight into the alternative.

From the very first we are taught how to do and how to behave. We are given the rules. We are taught morality, religion, and reading. We are schooled on the importance of success.

We see living examples every day of role models in every endeavor. We, of course see examples of people crashing and self destructing all around us. What happened on their path?

We are separated from who we are into what we should become. We are born Joyful, We are born into a universe that has been here a trillion years. Earth has been here 5 billion years. Man has been here millions of years.

What exactly are we supposed to accomplish that will change the course of the tides? Let’s not take ourselves too seriously. It’s an open palate regardless of what people have told us. It’s our choice. In the long run it will make no difference.

We could choose to appreciate the fact we are here. We could look around and say this place is not too bad. I personally happen to like living at the beach but I could also be happy in the mountains. I feel connected. There are much bigger forces here than me and I can thoroughly enjoy them everyday.

We could choose to recognize our connection and work from there. What is it I could do that would keep me connected to why I am here and yet allow me to help others have a better life as well.

I could choose writing, cooking, building, flower arranging, doctoring, lawyering, surfing, or what ever I feel best expresses me and the reason I am here. I don’t have to achieve something to feel connected. I was born connected. I can have joy everyday just because I am here and expressing myself. I don’t really need to win the Super Bowl or buy a BMW to have joy.

I have choices.

We Go to Work Everyday to be the Best

The definition is what you do better than everyone else.

How important is it that this is communicated?

The point of marketing will be to attract Prospects that will listen to why they should do business with your firm. You can describe your business and your services. If you are going to close, you need to explain why you are better than your competitors.

Has your firm created a Mission Statement and and the strategy for achieving it?

A Unique Selling Proposition spells out the company’s competitive advantage.  Keywords that define it create the Company’s online niche. The niche is what the Optimized website will shoot for.

You could be second or third in your niche in capabilities. If you are behind Fed EX and UPS, then you better specialize in personal service or flexible hours or carrying more than 150 pounds. There is always something.

Self Esteem and Inspiration

It is a wonder people don’t think highly of themselves. We think we live in an egotistical world.

The problem is the world is more egocentric than egotistical. Egotistical is not bad.

Humans that think little of themselves might be more egocentric. How does it happen?

We are born perfect. Actually it’s hard to argue that we are not what we are. Do you think nature is imperfect?  Nature is sometimes called cruel, but nature is also what it is. It is part of a very large plan. There is no stopping evolution just like there is no stopping erosion or gravity. Natural forces. Aren’t we just a little awed?

It is hard to imagine puppies not being cute. Its what happens after they are born that usually affects their personality. I don’t think pit bulls are born angry, but people can make them that way.

If people are raised in generous and loving surroundings and taught to contribute rather than receive they generally follow in those footsteps. People who think they are blessed to be here usually respect the value of other people. Respecting other people is almost the first step in respecting yourself. And even if it’s reverse, the outcome is the same.

Being connected to the larger plan and believing others are the same leads to generosity and high self esteem.  Children are born perfect but parents are far from perfect.

How Fragile Are We?

Your first answer is that there is always a way to get another drink. The second answer is everyone would turn to drugs.

If that is your answer, isn’t that enough to make my point?

We know it is unrealistic to think people would turn to exercise and meditation or painting and writing.

Let’s just assume people couldn’t escape what they were feeling with alcohol or drugs. Is this a condemnation of the social order? Why the great need to escape? What is it about our lives that we can’t face for more than a week or two at a time?

What is it about our existence that we cannot reconcile what we do with who we are? We obviously need to change mental states in order to feel joy with our friends. We have to assume that a 20 minute “this is what’s on my mind” would not get everyone out of their existing mood and create the levity everyone is looking for.

This means that most of what we do is not in agreement with who we are. We feel out of sorts. We are not doing what we do from inspiration.

We are living in the box and performing to fulfill expectations. These are reasonable expectations, though.

They are:

We will be able to survive on our own by getting jobs and paying our own expenses.

We will go to school and get a great education so that we can accomplish this.

Everything will be perfect when we have accomplished the above two.

Then, we get the job and can pay our expenses. Joy doesn’t always follow. Why not?

Well maybe because there are more expectations. Why?

If we follow this logic doesn’t it lead to the reason we think we are here is to get more and be more? Only frustration can follow so doesn’t this lead to more alcohol and drugs?

What has gone wrong in our lives that we can’t say that we are born perfect and that our lives are perfect and that we are here to express ourselves, not live up to unreasonable expectations.  We can’t accept who we are and why we are here and reconcile that with what we have to do to exist.

The first solution would be to drop the expectations and just do what we want to do that expresses ourselves. After living a life of expectations, so far,  we might have trouble identifying what it is we really want to express. Jumping just into doing what we want would require a lot of courage and might not turn out well. That might really result in the need to drink. But aren’t we drinking while doing the things that are expected of us whether or not it is what we want to do?

So what is the real risk; starvation and homelessness?

Therefore how far are we willing to go to be happy? Is it in getting more stuff or finding out who we are and pursuing a different path? Or are we afraid to ask or maybe know the answer?

And that is where we go wrong.

How many drinks down the line do we go before we eventually realize we have been on the wrong path? We might see the unanswered answers in alcoholics, divorces, abuse, crime, depression, anxiety, sickness and disease.

We prefer to live in the box than live our lives by inspiration. However, in being fair, we are not given any clue of what that is. In a sense it is to everyone’s best interest to keep everyone in the box. People are looking our for our best interests aren’t they?  Does a nation of college kids engaged in black out drinking partially answer the question? Real risk requires courage and we can’t even live in the box without liquid courage. What would it take to keep us alive out of the box?  Get more on InspirationIsFreedom