We can have it all.
But how much of it can we give?
Traction.
It is the contribution we provide the world, once we eliminate the (dis)tractions.
Being busy, being part of the rat race, spinning our proverbial hamster wheel--none of this cultivates what I refer to as the 3 Honors, for these 3 Honors guide my life, they are Choice, Certainty and Pride.
We have a multitude of Choice every day. To be distracted or to make traction. To eat the brownie or have a piece of fruit. Our choice is as wide as our mind. Some choices aren't so obvious... we've been working steadily for a few hours and realize we need a break. Do we choose to dump all of our mindfulness into the social media quicksand? Or do we have a glass of water, take a little stretch, bust out some push ups, and power back up?
Our choices creates our identity.
The collection of our choices form our Certainty. In my experience, I've witnessed people have many unfortunate events occur in their life and choose not to be defined by those circumstances but rather treat them as neutrally as deciding which pair of socks to wear in the morning. I've also witnessed others completely destruct by similar unfortunate events, and cease their identity to a point where they couldn't even pick out their socks unless someone did it for them. They felt the experiences altered whom they were to an extent they no longer recognized themselves.
I believe our work is our contribution, but not our identity. We are meant to identify our brilliance, and choose how that serves us and others. I also believe we will experience this differently through different stages of our lifetime; we are not limited, nor expected, to pick only one thing that encompasses all of our livelihood, forever and ever. I feel when we embrace our Choice and cultivate our Certainty, these two things lead us to the Third Honor, which is Pride. Pride is the joy in achieving our greatest ambitions. It is the rightful glory we embrace when we live a life of traction, rather than that of distraction. No one experiences Pride scrolling their social media apps, watching YouTube videos all day, or 'putting out fires' by being busy with trivial matters all the time.
The 3 Honors guide my life; I am grateful to share this philosophy with you. I will be sharing more in the weeks ahead. Make the right Choice. Cultivate Certainty. Your responsibility is to pursue your Pride.