Love never lets you go

Well here I am thinking about some wise comment shared with me during my (mis)spent youth.There are those people that make things happen, those that watch things happen and the that wonder what happened.

In thinking about this, I really could be classified into all three groups, particularly over the last few months of my life. I woke up this morning realising so much has happened so quickly that although I have been watching things happen around me, I have not only been making things happen, both in a knee jerk fashion, but also consciously in the belief misguided or otherwise that I can have an influence on the major outcomes of my life.

I woke up this morning wondering what happened.

In the last six months I have dramatically changed my outlook on where my life is going and furthermore even radically revised my plans for my future. I have met my soulmate, started making provision to emigrate (yet again).

Glass unsurprisingly remains the loved activity of my life. All those that know me particularly well, are aware that I struggle with the European winter. So much so that I function on a 50/50 basis with working during the summer and hibernating during the winter. Our new direction will enable me to enjoy my love of glass even more!

Exchanging the miserable UK winter for a moderate (In fact hot by Scottish standards)winter in the canaries is not an option to be ignored. I have mentioned in previous posts how my faith in the almighty has an influence on my life and my life choices and yet again, I find myself pondering this side of my attitude to life.

I asked for help finding the right person to grow old with and the swift way in which this was answered left me "wondering what happened". I have almost as if in slow motion watched my intended plans dissolve before my eyes and almost as fast watched new ones materialise. Here I have been watching things happen.

And finally to give these "gifts" direction, I am now going to make things happen. It's so wonderful having been reminded of the warm weather today that I am so motivated to implement a fifteen month plan rather than a twenty eight month plan.

I have even made a "work through winter" plan, to enable this to happen.

So you may ask why is this so significant? Well, for the first time in my life, I am able to share a vision for the future with a partner that shares my vision. My previous partners have always lived for the moment and have had great difficulty in planning for the future, while still enjoying the present.

The new plan will provide such a high level of self actualisation that even should we have to change some plans along the way, as long as the foundation of our future remains solid, we'll be definitely be content.

One fact of life that I have discovered is that when we go with the flow things tend to work out. This doesnt mean that we just need to stand by and watch life happen. It means that we use the most accessible route to reach our goals. I have seen several successful people achieve this in life. One of them started out as a semi literate burger flipper for a well known fast food chain. He then grabbed the opportunity to train as a team leader and once he got his promotion he went to night school twice a week to learn to read and write properly. This took about two years, at the end of which he applied as a management trainee with his employer. He started as trainee manager, became assistant manager, and from burger flipping at age sixteen he was a branch manager by age twenty four. He became a regional manager by age twenty eight and moved on to become a director of the company by the time he was thirty two.

He had no skills and no apparent future to speak of at the age of sixteen. He took the first job he could get and used the system he found himself in to develop a future. He watched what was happening, learned from it and when the opportunity presented itself, he made things happen. He identified what he needed to do within the environment around him to achieve a positive long term outcome. He didnt expect things to happen immediately. Learning to read and write properly became a priority when he realised that he did not need to flip burgers all his life. He did the math, opening doors to different routes to achievement.

Eventually he left his employer, with a strong history of stable employment and career development and today earns a six figure income, largely because he was patient and methodical about getting on with his life.

I have had far more opportunity in terms of education and circumstance than this man, so I can honestly say I find him an inspiration. Every principle he has applied in his life in terms of "getting on", would serve everyone else that wants to do the same thing regardless of how we measure success.

We need to have a long term goal, actively use opportunity to get there and constantly revise the plan to optimise the route. Of course patience and not expecting to have everything by yesterday helps too.

This attitude can be applied not only to the way we approach career development, but our relationships with others and spirituality also.

One day at a time is fine as long as we regularly look up to ensure that what we see on the horison is the destination that we aiming for. Provided we know deep within us what that destination is.