The Important Things (at least to me)
A Dream Share by Chip Hiden
Here are some things I was thinking about today.
To me, the only important thing is that people enjoy their life.
What else matters? You get one shot to live. Why not enjoy every second?
Not just bits and pieces. Not just the sad and happy times, but all of it. When life is bad, when you hurt for relatives or people you've lost, then really hurt. Really feel something. That is part of really living. When you chase a dream, then really chase it. Run and fight for it until you can't anymore. Until your last breath. (Walt Disney died with a dream on his lips. As he lay in the hospital bed, he was tracing plans on the ceiling for his last dream: EPCOT) When you sing for triumph of a dream achieved, then sing until your vocal chords go raw and be content to smile and hum when you cant sing anymore. Party until the lights go out, as they say. Party your whole life for that matter. Party when your 90 and in a wheelchair.
Enjoy the sun and the sand and the trees and green and the snow and the cold. And friends. And people who aren't your friends yet but could be.
That is the kind of life I want to live.
It has nothing to do with green paper with monetary denotations on it.... (Although I work a job for a paycheck)
It has nothing to do with hierarchical systems of power that give one person dominion over another...(Although I work at a job where this is the system in place)
It has nothing to do with wasting a single second not in the pursuit of a dream that you believe in... (Although I feel like I am wasting tons of time at my job)
Maybe I am a hypocrite. I sometimes feel like one. But I think lots of people have the same problem. The inner-struggle about whether to be a dreamer or to be practical. Right now I'm being practical but I don't want to get stuck here.
Inside, a different message pounds through my head and it gets louder every day.
An entire life spent chasing a dream, is the most meaningful kind of life one can hope to lead.
In the pursuit of a dream, you will find that even the bumpiest paths, the rockiest mountains, and stormiest periods are all challenges that you will smile at and endure with gladness of heart.
If I were ever bringing people together for a project, I think this is how I would approach it...
I don't want to tell you what to do. I will be a leader but I will not be a boss. I don't think I could inflict my will upon another or use threats to get my way. I want to be an enabler not a controller. All I want to do is help you start running on the path to your own goals and dreams. All I want to do is lift you up to give you the strength to climb those mountains. All I want to do is be your umbrella when it storms. I feel strongest protecting you and your dreams. And even though one day I will blow away in the storm, my life was worth living if your journey was made even one step easier.
I've heard that people are motivated by incentives. But instead of tangible rewards, maybe what some people really want is for their leader to give them encouragement. Or kind words. To be a teacher and motivator rather than a micro-manager. What would it mean to you if your boss sat down with you and asked you what your dreams were and asked you how he/she could help you achieve them. That is the kind of leader I want to be.
To me, the only important thing is that people enjoy their life.
I think I can help people do that. I think I can help you greet the world with a smile.
December 30, 2009 at 6:45 AM
I think it's all true what you're saying and you're honest enough to be the kind of leader you've imagined to be, only it is hard for people to think of life in these terms. it's not because they don't have a dream, or because they've totally given up on it, or they wouldn't bother getting out of bed. it's just something they don't think about, because if they did then they'd have to confront their daily life not living up to it, while it's hard enough just going about that daily life. As long as you don't think about it, you can just about make it through the day, with a few distractions, a few compensations, a few real moments here and there.
Once you do remember your dreams and dare to think about them, dare to think about trying to live them, though--bam, you run into that reality falling short. which is why being honest with yourself in this way is so dangerous. but it's the only starting place for us. and i'm convinced it gets better.
one precaution, again: given how hard it is at first, i don't think you can judge others too harshly for making do with an unfulfilling job, a dream deferred. sympathize, but get them to believe in something again, so that it isn't only the negative impulse (this job isn't for me) but an active striving (i want to make this change) that starts them moving.
one other thing i forgot to say: we can't forget that not everyone has the luxury of being dissatisfied with a job, a living situation--they're unemployed, they're homeless. so i think homelessness would be a good first thing to focus on. can't have a commune without a home first!