December 3, 2015
What is the difference between you, and the person next to you? Nothing.
And everything!
The difference is what you decide it to be. The differences between us are the decisions we make. Decisions. Decisions are what make you different than me, and everyone around you.
Until that moment, you are the same. However, in a instant that all changes. A spark. An idea. And then, a decision.
It starts with something small. Two people sitting in a dim living room. The television babbles on to whoever will listen, needy, and alone. One person decides to get up to practice running.
It is the decision to practice. It is the decision to be better tomorrow than you are today. It is the decision to develop your skills until they are good.
Between the two of you, you may not have the most talent. There is talent, and there is skill. The difference between them is a decision! Talent is what you are born with. It is what comes easily, and naturally to a person. The other person on couch may have more talent than you. She may tire slower on the trail. He may be stronger than you are. However the difference between you, and them is not the amount of talent. It is a decision.
It is the decision to practice and be better. They may have more talent, but when you take every ounce of talent you have, and through unfathomable amounts of work, turn that talent into skill- well that is where greatness comes from! That is where success comes from. That is where achievement comes from.
It comes from a decision.
Then, from something small, it grows. The first man rises from the couch to run, and the second man follows to do the same. People call it leadership. They call is charisma. It is responsibility. It is integrity. It is purpose. But it comes from a decision.
The decision is not to lead the world in a foot race. The decision is to run a foot race. The world just follows anyway, ready to be contained within you.
People think of responsibility as something they are required to do. That is not responsibility. That is obligation, duty, and perhaps guilt. Responsibility is not a requirement, it is a decision. A person’s level of responsibility comes from that knowledge that they can do something for others, and with relish, they do. Whether it is taking care of others, teaching them, or letting them be to be themselves, a person’s responsibility always started with a decision they made for themselves.
The difference between two people is always a decision, and the most important decision is what you believe. People don’t think they get to decide what to believe. You do. They don’t think it matters. It matters more than any other decision you make. They think the world is what it is. That it is unchangeable, and our only choice is to try to discern what the nature of reality is. They are wrong. You decide.
You can decide to believe that getting off the couch will make a difference. You can decide to believe that greatness can exist. You can decide to believe that the world is a beautiful, fun, challenging, scary, awesome place to exist in for this moment.
There is no difference between you, and the person next to you. There is only a decision. And another. And another. Until you aren’t sitting on a couch anymore. You are sitting at a boardroom table, or a storyboard, or a beach, or a child’s feet, ready to make another decision.
There is no difference between you, and anyone else, until you decide there is.
Venture to Dream my friends.
-Michael Speck
SJ
December 3, 2015
What you mention is interesting. We should always try to do things or decide what to do, instead of being quiet and letting life make decisions for us.
SJ simplyconversing.wordpress.com
Michael Speck
January 19, 2016
Hey SJ,
Thanks. I think replacing fiddling around with things, with taking precise deliberate actions is an important precursor to living the lifestyle we desire.
Also I tried to leave a comment on you site for 1/2 an hour this morning but it wouldn’t ever seem to submit. (Sorry if it turns out to have submitted 20 times.) Suffice to say, I liked your post, “What do you do when no one tells you what to do?”
SJ
January 19, 2016
Michael thanks for stopping by my blog. I will check what’s going on with the comments. You are the second person who tells me the same. I like receiving comments, so I will try to figure out the problem.
Thank you! I still find the subject interesting. How to fill time and space when there is no obligation.
Michael Speck
January 20, 2016
Check out this article: http://venturetodream.com/life-between-the-seconds/ I think you might like it. It’s about the difficulties we have finding, and making proper use of our free time. Cheers.