Last week the New York Times had an interview with Gloria Steinem on the occasion of her 80th birthday. When asked if she had any regrets, she said: “It’s not that I would do anything different. It’s that I’d do things faster.”
When Ms Steinem, one of my role models, candidly wished she would have gotten to where she was going in life a little faster, she was referring specifically to writing a book she had planned to do for decades and just never got around to it until recently. It seemed Ms Steinem was a procrastinator but who isn’t. But Gloria Steinem is 80 years old now (hard to believe) and because she still travels and speaks on issues she is passionate about, she’s making tracks, making up for time lost. She’s not exactly hurrying to the end of her life; it’s more like she’s making the most of her life and she is, metaphorically speaking, gorging on caviar at the moment. However, I doubt that this female icon ever tasted dirt.
Live Life To The Fullest And Don’t Settle For Less
I’m on a kick about kicking butt and living life to the fullest. I wrote a blog months ago entitled, “If Not Now, When?” I’m just saying: don’t eat dirt – don’t waste time – when you can gorge on caviar and live a full and rich life.
Eating dirt tastes terrible and has no nutritional value. In some circles, it’s might even be considered maintenance food. At least my daily green drinks have all the nutrients I need for the day even though when I drink it, I smell musky earth. I hold my breath and think of a delicious Mexican dinner complete with a side of lard. The funny thing about eating what isn’t good for you is that it doesn’t stimulate your senses. Food with no substance limits your creative imagination. You can’t get caviar in a world that serves up dirt.
Moonlight In A Martini
Life is about the search – the search for a higher level of virtuosity. You’ve got plenty of abundance, all right, but doesn’t it strike you that you can reach a little higher, be more fruitful and generous and cultivate an idea of a future that gives your gifts a whole new meaning – a meaning that supports your visions of a healthier, happier, more loving and fruitful universe. I want to see moonlight in my martini.
So why do you choose to eat dirt? It’s because the usual suspects inevitably show up – fear, doubt, regret and blame – and you use them as excuses not to live your life more completely. Without the ability to self-reflect, there is a lack of will and energy to create a future with your mug shot in the center of your vision board. Take off your lead boots and run quickly to the real feast where caviar abounds.
Rabbi Hillel (a famous Jewish religious leader who lived from 110 BCE to 7 CE) said, ” If I am not for myself, who is for me? And when I am for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, then when?”
Put On Your Red Shoes And Dance
You feel safe in this moment and it feels nice and comfortable but comfort is a trap. Your life may seem in order, you may feel you’ve got everything organized, but there is a static, rigid essence that paradoxically has no resemblance to a comfort zone. The comfort zone is a trap; it’s not exciting, there’s no forward movement, you don’t talk to the spirit within and make plans to be the best that you can be. If you never articulate that vision, never picture it in the future, you’ll never rise higher than your circumstances.
Abundance is relative. We all have it but in what portion? Why not have more abundance and be more fruitful and generous and cultivate ideas that support great health. You are going to have even more fun because life isn’t a singular encounter. Fun is envisioning the future, staying emotionally focused and connecting in a profound sense to what you will be doing in that future setting. Live with that vision day to day and see how exciting your life unfolds.
The vision thing sounds simple but it’s demanding. Instead of focusing only on your needs, consider giving other kinds of energy to the world. Your your needs aren’t enough to build a complete life. That mindset limits possibilities. Believe it or not, your life is a message to the world and sharing it with others is important. That’s what’s called a legacy – the ability to change lives long after you leave the earth. The legacy is your passionate and devoted energy bequeathed to those whose lives you touched. And those lives you touched in turn share your legacy with others.
Every Move Your Make, Every Step Your Take
Life’s a two-fold proposition – to be truly great is to be of service to others as well as yourself. These two ideas change your thinking, gets your taste pallet ready for the caviar, and gives you exciting ideas for living on a level other than your own physical comfort. It means being brave in your choices. It means not just about having the most, but making the most of what you have.
Get up everyday and want that vision. Put yourself in the center of the world you want to live in. And please, don’t eat the dirt. The caviar is being served any time you want it.