The most important thing…

As most of you know, I write a monthly piece for Recovering The Self on the topic of pursuing your dreams. The unlikeliness of this is certainly fodder for much writing but today I’d actually like to talk about how this unlikely turn of events has affected my life.

No one who knew me even a few years ago would say this is my thing but, as it turns out, I’m a firm believer in following your dream. For years, I’ve been a firm advocate of finding the thing you’re passionate about and doing it. What I didn’t realize was how much the “doing it” was an essential part.

I mean, when you look at me you don’t exactly see a mind-blowing success. I’m scraping by. I’m doing my best. But I’m not what you’d call an inspiration.

And yet, when I work on my writing, when I do the thing I am most passionate about, when I pursue my dream, I find I am happier than at any other time. Today, for instance, I spent a couple hours working on the new book and walked away from it feeling elated – I mean really happy.

The new book on ethics is undeniably where my life has been leading for many years and it is clearly one way my dream can make a difference in people’s lives. I can say without hyperbole that the new book has the potential to make the world a better place. And this is what dreams do – when you are moving forward with the thing you are most passionate about and when that thing is in tune with the world, when your dream isn’t just about you but about the world as well, it becomes inspirational. As I write this book, I really feel like I’m a part of something greater.

Keep in mind, by the way, that I’ve never done anything more difficult in my life. I’ve been working on this book in one way or another most of my adult life. I’ve been developing the theories since the early 1990’s. I’ve been assembling the ideas on paper for nearly a decade. I’ve been putting together the research for over two years. And I’ve been focused 100% on the writing for four months.

Books usually take me no more than three months total, from start to finish.

And yet, I don’t mind how trying this has been because, as I say, whenever I put work into it I get inspiration from it.

And I think that happens to anyone who is in tune with their dream and whose dream is in tune with the world around them. Simply put: creating something inspirational inspires you to create it.

I encourage anyone reading this to follow their passions, no matter how difficult it may seem – especially if it seems difficult. Those things that are most difficult are bound to be most worthwhile. That’s what life is all about!