"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.
And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."
- Steve Jobs
The new year is now upon us and with it comes many hopes and promises. We do have great expectations of what to accomplish this year before 2012 says hello. Driven by resolutions, many of us have already started doing the needful towards that end.
Looking back however, you may have been trying to make some changes in life or to attain your mandate in line with some set objectives, but failed to do so within the specified time.
Should you feel hopeless in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds this year, remember that you can refuse to stay around or even take with you, a past that no longer does you right.
Looking back in 2009, we all learnt a lot in life. Hopefully, we became better persons and are now looking forward to a richly rewarding year.
The walk into the future will not be without challenges and hiccups. There are new things to be done, new people to meet, new days to be lived. Informed by what we experienced in the last year, we can use that as a foundation for the accomplishments we endeavor to realize, as stepping stones into new horizons.
Seize the Day
The new year presents us with opportunities to make the most of every moment.
Otherwise, we may die regretting the time we lost when we already had the chance.
Carolyn Arends
From the Prince of Peace compilation gospel album, Carolyn Arends sings Seize the Day, a deep song that encourages us to make the most of the days we've been given, even as we seek God's guidance and favor.
Following are the song lyrics:
I know a girl who was schooled in Manhattan She reads dusty books and learns phrases in Latin She is an author, or maybe a poet A genius but it's just this world doesn't know it She works on her novel most every day If you laugh she will say
Chorus: Seize the day, seize whatever you can 'Cause life slips away just like hourglass sand Seize the day, pray for grace from God's hand Then nothing will stand in your way Seize the day
Well I know a doctor, a fine young physician Left his six-figure job for a mission position He's healing the sick in an African clinic He works in the dirt and writes home to the cynics He says "We work through the night so most every day As we watch the sun rise we can say
Chorus
Well I know a man who's been doing some thinking He's as bitter and cold as the whiskey he's drinking He's talking 'bout fear, about chances not taken If you listen to him you can hear his heart breaking He says "One day you're a boy and the next day you're dead I wish way back when someone had said
Chorus
Well one thing I've noticed, wherever I wander Everyone's got a dream he can follow or squander You can do what you will with the days you are given I'm trying to spend mine on the business of living So I'm singing my songs off of any old stage You can laugh if you want, I'll still say
Chorus
The above lyrics and artist names are copyrighted to Carolyn Arends. They appear here for educational and personal use only.
The Challenge
For those of us who subscribe to the writings in the good book:
Let the giving of thanks be your sacrifice to God, and give the Almighty all that you promised.
- Psalm 50:14 (Good News Bible)
Now is the time to make the most of every opportunity. Remember all those new year resolutions you made last week? 2010 is now here with us.
"I'll tell you something, It's not hard to die when you know you have lived, and I did. Oh, how I lived." - Edie Britt (Desperate Housewives s05e19)
The Lessons We Must Learn
Only yesterday, I was watching season 5 of Desperate Housewives. The 100th episode (s05e13) is titled "The Best Thing That Ever Could Have Happened". Here, residents of Wysteria Lane remember how the neighborhood handyman Eli Scruggs deeply affected their lives.
Later on in episode 19, the housewives took time to remember Edie Britts, who really lived her life - a life that was one of a kind.
Steve Jobs on How to Live Before You Die
In 2005, Steve Jobs, the legendary Apple Inc. CEO gave a commencement address at Stanford University.
Following is his address:
In his talk, Steve Jobs outlined three life stories that in his opinion, characterize a life well lived:
Connecting the DotsYou can't connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards.So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
You have to trust in something... because believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.
Love and LossSometimes life's gonna hit you on the head with a brick. Dont lose faith.You've got to find what you love, and that is as true for work as it is for your lovers.
Your work is gonna fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you you find it. And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking, don't settle.
Death"If you live each day as if it's your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."Remembering that you are going to die, is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart.
Death is the destination we all share. It's life's change agent, it clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now, the new is you. But someday not too long from now, you'll gradually become the old, and be cleared away.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice.
Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
In Other News...
Today is the first day of the year 2010. Amid all the fanfare and gratitude of making it through 2009 to see yet another year, do we have it within ourselves to let 2009 be the end of something, and 2010 the beginning of everything?
Like Abba said in their 1980 hit song Happy New Year (from the album Super Trouper):
Happy New Year... May we all have a vision now and then, Of a world where every neighbor is a friend, May we all have our hopes, our will to try, If we don't we might as well lay down and die... You and I.
Following is the video to this song:
We at The Walkabout and the greater Complit Communications family do wish you all the best in your life, your work, your studies and your dreams.
