It's what you make of it

Life is what you choose to make of it... this is the constant theme around me lately. Who hasn't lived through some harsh, strange, hystericaly, or absurd circumstances at some point? Your focus will determine your outcome. If you choose to look at life as a disasterous experience racing for an end, you will no doubt be plagued by how awful everything is. However, if your focus is on a destination - what you want to become, who you want to be, and better yet... getting your eyes off your life long enough to see others from a selfless perspective... to know that others matter to. Having personal goals is necessary, however, it is equally important to know that more exists than you alone. I get sucked into this vaccuum of me more than I'd like; it happens so easily I don't realize it until after the fact. Looking beyond self causes us to realize, we are part of something bigger. Though we may not see how we fit into that now, someone else is depending on something we have to offer. Life is about love, and love is not about what I can get... but rather what I can give. All this being said, it weighs and measures the daily actions I take. I realize I must take care of my life in a reasonable manner in order to be able to offer anything to others. It isn't about me - this resounding idea is difficult to grasp. What I do must be for others - even taking time to relax is to be restored for others. When I feel most empty from whatever I've lived through at any given point, I must realize even this is not just about me. More is at stake here. Though I feel like disappearing at times, enduring whatever I must will result in improving something else at a later time. Trials and tests are not meant to crush, they are meant to be endured en route to the goal. They will make us stronger; they will make us better.

My question to you as we look toward next year... what are you really living for? What is your motivation. What is the reason behind what you do? Can you see where you are going? Pause long enough to get uncomfortably real about all this. Then, set your sights ahead - personally and towards a corporate goal. This is not about idealism, it is about what you will make of the gift of life.