MAWMonday Motivators 05/07/2017

by: Dr. Michael A. Wright In Blog, Coaching DiaryTagged , , , , , , , ,

Keep Moving Forward: A Legacy Perspective

I offer a bonus tweet today setting the stage for this week’s #MAWMondayMotivators. I am inspired by the imagery of tomb, today, and womb. The choice to move forward isn’t just about movement. It is also about leaving. Leaving involves loss. But, that’s only sight focused in one direction. In the other direction is gain and progress. It is opportunity to develop and grow. And yet, there is a third even more comprehensive perspective on moving forward.

It is a view of your life as a production in legacy. It is opportunity to see yourself as worthy of every great thing. To gain courage and dream even without evidence. To suffer and yet develop humility and empathy for others. To engage fearlessly in the risk of authenticity hoping for extraordinary outcomes and relationships. To release and forgive when your genuine invitation and life on the line is rejected. Keep moving forward with the purpose to leave a legacy that is honest even if ahead of its time.

1. You are Worthy

Should you give up your quest to awaken humanity in every person you meet?

Remind them that life is more than evaluation, validation, or scrutiny. Life is living for the choice to accept, allow, and choose. Accepting what you cannot change. Allowing the universe to sort out the energy. And, choosing to offer positivity and authenticity at every interaction. From the stranger on the sidewalk all the way to your loved one at the reunion. Remember that your humanity reaches out to theirs. It is not validation that you expect in return. The interaction spreads beyond the two of you to inspire others. That’s the power of human spirit.

2. Never Stop Dreaming

Should you give up on a dream of community and authenticity?

Dreamers never see the dream as the problem. They wrestle with the ideal seen only in their mind attempting to pull it from the realm of thought into the world of the tangible. To stop dreaming is to stop breathing. To stop dreaming is to lose yourself to the despair of missed opportunities and rejected invitations.

Dreams are oceans. The size is immense and unmanageable, only controllable in the mind. But, yours is not to control the ocean as a whole. Learn its patterns, limits, motivations, and endpoints. Figure out how to harness its energy, even in small sections. Figure out how to surf its waves, sail its expanses, and explore its depths. Respect it as something to experience and power your living, not something to control. That same is the power of your dreams.

3. Suffer for Humility

Should you seek comfort in silence or suffer for an interrelated ideal?

I’m not callous enough to dismiss your level of suffering by comparing it to someone else’s. You recognize it as suffering. I see your perceptions as reasonable. And, here is the goal: to find humility and self-reflection in the midst of that experience. Easy? Never! The inclination to defend, state your case, and refocus attention is motivated by a system of criminalization. But, just as energy of any kind stemming from any motive is only energy, every experience is a lesson in its elemental form. Suffering is experience. Experience is lesson. I feel your pain. Learn from them all.

4. It’s a Risk to be Extraordinary

Should you hold tightly to the usual or risk for something extra?

Settling. Here’s the thing. It’s not the easy choice presented in the question above. The reality is that settling is the combination of all those minute moments of self-protection, comfort, and silence. It looks like a dearth of opportunities. It looks like the chance is not given. But, what it is are missed opportunities, decisions to forego, and moments allowed to slip away. It feels like safety. It feels like getting prepared. Settling is the opposite of risk. Extraordinary is risky–not just at some highly charged moment, but every day in little things. Giving up good enough for a hope of better looks and feels insane. It’s not. It is taking a chance based on what you want from life. Whatever the outcome, you are beyond ordinary. Few take the risk.

5. Release and Forgive

Should you hold it against them or take the hint to grow beyond your current level of existence?

The choice to forgive seems like an insistence on self-criticism, and some of us are overly critical of ourselves. A solution is to give others their portion of credit for outcomes. But, forgiveness is more than releasing the person. The release required is letting go of that energy, worn path of logic, or justifiable grudge draining your focus. Refocus on your path and choices. Ask yourself the tough questions about the interactions, experiences, lessons, and risks that make up your life. Choose to release the inclination to visit or even live within those. Build upon the self-reflection and self-reactiveness–the ability to see and act based the new knowledge you have. Forgiveness is for you. Let go of the current rung of the ladder and reach a higher level.

Dr. Michael A. Wright received his Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work degree from the University of South Carolina - Columbia. Since 1997, Wright has led MAWMedia Group, LLC, a firm helping individuals and organizations tell stories and translate ideas into capital.