No Waiting

"We need not wait for big events and others decisions to determine who we are. The opportunity to become who we want to become lies in this very moment's behavior."

-- David Reynolds

Please don't wait for opportunity to knock. That son-of-a-bitch is knocking all the time! It's just that most of us are lost in the shuffling of our Ipods or too engrossed in the latest episode of Survivor to even hear the tap, tap, tap of possibility.

Each moment, every little choice, every minute behavior is the window of opportunity for which you so vainly wait. You don't need to graduate from college first, or get married, (or get divorced), or earn a six figure income, or get enlightened to get on with becoming the person you want to be. Your character is fashioned not by major rites of passage but by small, everyday actions that float just below your threshold of importance.

And others decisions, while they may seem to facilitate your growth and development, are at best supportive of your own efforts. No one else can decide who you will become. All men are self-made men. And all women, too.

I'm usually not one to recommend cheesy affirmations, but, what the hell, in this case one can't hurt. To keep focused on the power of your own self-creation, use this grammatically appalling phrase: Who I be is up to me!

No One to Blame

"Take your life into your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame."

-- Erica Jong

I'm almost tempted to let Erica's insight stand alone without commentary. She pretty much says it all. The only thing I might change is the word "terrible" to awful. I really don't think that it's so terrible that we have no one to blame. Instead I find it freeing, empowering, exciting.

Awful, meaning full of awe, seems to capture that condition much better than terrible. Sure, there's some terror involved. The terror of self-responsibility. But mostly, no one to blame, is awesome. Because the flip side of no one to blame is no one to restrict you either. You see that your life is all of your own making.

That doesn't mean that everything is all hearts, smiley faces, and unicorns jumping over rainbows. Who, other than a tween girl, would want a life like that anyway? Stuff that you don't like still happens once you take your life into your own hands, but how you respond to that stuff changes. You no longer play the victim. Instead you choose to use that stuff to create a soulful life. No blame, no shame.

Today's a perfect day to quit playing the Blame Game. Take a scrupulous self-inventory: Who are you still blaming for the life you currently live? Release them, release yourself, all by letting go of blame. Take back your responsibility, take back your power, take back your fun! Your life is your creation. You are the Michaelangelo of your own life! Create, share, enjoy.