Talking to Myself

sometimes my showers turn into writing sessions where I get into deep conversations with myself.

“It’s your world” those three words are now so engrained in me, I might as well get them tattooed across my forehead. (update: In March 2021, I did get a tattoo of them… although not on my forehead.)

There’s no one telling you you “have” to go to work. You “choose” to go to work. No one telling you you have to go to school You “choose” to go to school. Life is made up of choices, and choices are one of the few things that are in our power to control.

Society wants us to ride on this railroad that it’s designed. We spend our lives being trained to hop on that train car and get to this destination where the grass is green. This place of success. But then there are the few that say, screw this, I’m going to build my own railroad tracks to the destination that I want to go to. Then they pursue that and bring others along with them.

Steve Jobs said wake up and look at yourself in the mirror every morning ask yourself..if today was the last day of my life would I want to do what I am about to do, today? If the answer has been “no” for too many days in a row, you know you need to change something.

And passion requires sacrifice. Something I know comes with pursuing what you love is giving up on other things you love. But perhaps not giving up, maybe pausing. Change. Can’t have all four burners burning, as Chris Burkard says.

It’s your world. To mold, to shape, to change, to design. Get after it. It won’t be easy, but at least it’s yours.