Here is a repeat of my very 1st blog post. I wrote it because I was inspired, as you’ll read. It was orginally written in August of 2007. I am reposting in honor of a friend.
It was the only one I wrote that year and for many months to come. I was new at this.
Godspeed, David!
by: Sheila Mikulin on August 30, 2007
Hope this note finds you enjoying your beautiful summer! Wow, it’s almost Labor Day!
OK
– here’s what inspired this …. My brother’s dear friend, David, passed away from this physical world recently. I started to say, “I didn’t know him well.” But, that is not true. I did. I simply didn’t have the pleasure of talking with him very often over the years.
One only needed to talk once with Dave to know him. That’s because he was transparent.
His heart was wide open and he showed you who he was in every moment. He was fearless that way. He was beautiful.
When I heard of David’s passing, my heart ached so. I went to my favorite site for some comfort – this would be www.zaadz.com. (long since gone – this site!)
Here, I found this email from the CEO and founder of Zaadz. I am sharing it with you. It sounds a bit nuts, but I felt as if it was Dave speaking these words because he lived them. And, hey synchronicity happens…
What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?
OK… So…uh…what exactly are you waiting for?
This isn’t a dress rehearsal… Wake up!
Here’s the deal: What we can be, we MUST be.
Period.
There’s no getting around that one.
So, turn off your TV. Put down your drink. Get off the medication. Quit numbing yourself.
The pain’s not going away.
Not until you thinkarete.
“thinkarete”?
Yep.
Gandhi got it. Einstein got it. Mother Teresa got it. Tiger gets it. Gates gets it.
The Greeks got it.
Get this:
Guys like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle said that if you want happiness you better live with areté–a word that literally means virtue or excellence but has a deeper meaning…something closer to “constantly striving to reach your highest potential.”
areté.
How beautiful is that?
It was one of the highest ideals of Greek culture. It should be one of ours.
Tragically, it’s not.
We seem to be more interested in resumes, accolades and 401k’s.
Speaking of retirement… Who came up with that?
Work like crazy doing something we’re not passionate about so we can accumulate enough money to pay the bills from our stress-caused illnesses while we complain about what we should have done when we were still young.
Hmmm…We can’t quite figure that one out.
Seems like it makes a bit more sense to go ahead and dare to live now… Why not thinkarete?
Live to your highest potential–moment to moment to moment.
Not in the mood?
Fine.
Then live with regret, anxiety, and disillusionment.
Your call.
Think about it.
When do we feel most alive? Exactly.
When we’re being ourselves–our highest selves.
You want happiness?
thinkarete.
Dream. Grow. Stretch yourself. Rip off the tie. Jump out of the cubicle. Dream. Think. Dare to be crazy.
What are you waiting for?
thinkarete.
Are you crazy enough to think you can change the world?
Good.
Now go out and do it.
Live.
Love. Smile. Hug. Laugh. Dream. Do. Create. Have fun. Be intense. Be audacious. Be unreasonable. Act impeccably. Breathe. Be you. Be different. Get paid to do what you love. Dance in your underwear on your way to work… Why not?
Ditch the tie. Escape the cube. Leave the 8-5. Trash the resume. Ignore the critics. And the cynics. Burn the corporate ladders. Laugh at the ceilings. Quit the bitching.
Open your mind. End the laziness. Overcome the fear. Transcend the conditioning… Why not?
Move the world. Change the world. Push the human race forward.
Whatever you call it, go out and do it.
When?
Now.
Not when you have enough money or once you do this or do that. That’s nonsense. It’s not gonna be easy, but go out and live your dream. Now. You deserve it. And, if that doesn’t move you: The world deserves it.
thinkarete.
David thought arête – He believed in making things happen and he did just that.
He used to say, “If you can’t stand up, stand out!” David lived the last part of his life in a wheel chair.
My desire is to honor David by living and loving as he did. Being grateful…being fearless.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Always, always, always do what you are afraid to do.”
He was a transcendentalist and believed that God is immanent in man and nature and that individual intuition is the highest source of knowledge; this belief led to an optimistic emphasis on individualism, self-reliance, and rejection of traditional authority.
Coaching inquiry: Think about what you most desire but are afraid to do. Now, go out and do it.
Here’s a great vid, For those email subscribers click here.
Namaste,
Sheila
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