Recently, I met up with one of my closest friends. As we sat and evaluated our lives and current professional opportunities, he asked me, "What do ya wanna do with your life?". My answer? "I wanna save the world, so ummm I guess I wanna be a super hero!" I don't think I ever said it out loud before, but it's true.
We both chuckled, but he knew I was serious. I dedicated my life to public service a long time ago. My career experience is laced with corporate philanthropy, government affairs, and communications. I volunteer to fill the void I feel when I don't think I'm doing enough. I don't have a cape or a truth whip, but I do what I can.
It's funny. I've seen the movies, Man of Steel and Iron Man 3, twice this summer. I love action movies because the hero always wins in his pursuit of justice. Although my theatrical taste varies, I seem to have the interests of teenage boy rather than a (very grown) woman.
I finally admitted to myself that I never really pursued the corner office at a Fortune 100 company. I just like to do what I do and do it well. Write. Strategize. Community Engagement activities. Developing bridges between corporations and communities. Solidifying my spiritual foundation and sharing the knowledge with those who may be interested. Maybe that's why I'm not as professionally successful (by modern standards) as I think I should be. However, I like who I am at the core of me. Yep. I would like to earn more money, but only to do the things I think make life special. Take care of my parents. Travel. Eat really good food. Help others. Oh yeah, pay bills, of course. I want to have more than just a life. I want to live! Unfortunately, that means I need another 401k plan, since the last one took a dive w/the economy. What's an unemployed Super (S)hero to do?!
At times (many times) I can get discouraged. The big symbolic "L" (for loser) on my forehead looms when I feel hopelessly undesirable and unneeded. To immediately change my thinking (because all thoughts start actions and must be controlled), I think of these things:
1) Bible - Matthew 6:25-27 & 34 - New International Version (NIV)
Do Not Worry - 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]? 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
2)Pema Chodron
“When you open yourself to the continually changing, impermanent, dynamic nature of your own being and of reality, you increase your capacity to love and care about other people and your capacity to not be afraid. You're able to keep your eyes open, your heart open, and your mind open. And you notice when you get caught up in prejudice, bias, and aggression. You develop an enthusiasm for no longer watering those negative seeds, from now until the day you die. And, you begin to think of your life as offering endless opportunities to start to do things differently.”
3) OSHO
“Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny--he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally--you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.”
4) Deepak Chopra
"...worriers believe that being anxious will force them to change, but psychologists know that pain isn't a good motivator. If it were, the millions who worry about their weight would all be slim. When somebody punishes you, do you feel motivated to change? No. And worry, being a form of self-punishment, is just as useless. If anything, it becomes a habit that clings stubbornly to the mind and refuses to change.
You can't think clearly while you are worrying. Worry takes up energy and occupies the space where productive thoughts could enter. Like smog, it limits visibility. The reason for this is both psychological and biological. Psychologically, fear is convincing because it is such a powerful emotion, yet what it wants to convince you of -- that everything is bad, hopeless and doomed -- is rarely correct. Biologically, worry activates stress hormones that throw the brain into a state of low-level arousal to fight or flee. This arousal is temporary, and is soon followed by exhaustion and apathy. So when you worry, your brain isn't in the best shape to consider what to do."
5) Marianne Williamson
"Whenever we feel lost, or insane, or afraid, all we have to do is ask for His help. The help might not come in the form we expected, or even thought we desired, but it will come, and we will recognize it by how we feel. In spite of everything, we will feel at peace.”
Then I remember how far I've come, and just how fabulous I am. (Yeah, i said it!) I, then, put on my "Super Girl Onesie" and sip my magic potion, jasmine tea, and smile. I know who I am and Who carries me. I got this! I just repeat when the "L" returns.
...So if you know of an opening for an available Super (S)hero, please let me. I'm ready for my next assignment!
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