You are what you....

"You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.” - C.G. Jung

Pretty powerful words, if you think about them. Consider them a pragmatic approach to life.

Say you want to be a dancer. The best damned dancer of all time! But...you work on a pig farm. You work on that pig farm for 30 years. Guess what? You're a pig farmer.

In this day and age, people are often misled by bullshit promises by talk show goons, authors of pathetic self-help books, and the like. "You can do it!" "You can be whatever you want to be!" "You too can be happy!" Hogmuffins.

What all of these types often fail to mention is that it takes work. LOTS of work. Hell...not just work...DEDICATION! Is your dream, your goal something that you're willing to dedicate your life to...even if it means failure?

If you're content to just dream...be a dreamer. It's not a bad thing to be. But if you want something bad enough, don't expect someone else to make it happen. It just doesn't work that way.

Having just celebrated yet another birthday, I've spent the past week looking back at my life thus far, assessing and re-assessing, and planning for the future. I have to say, I've done pretty well...at most things.

I'm broke. I mean BROKE! But...I live in a nice home, with a beautiful woman who thinks the world of me. I have many people in my life who are genuinely glad that I'm still around. I'd say that when it comes to people and relationships...I'm successful.  I've created a lot of art. I write music almost daily. Some of it, the world gets to hear. Some, the world doesn't get to hear. I still created it. I've taken thousands of photographs. Many are beautiful. Some are not. Some I share with the world. Some I don't. They still, however, exist. I created them. I write and write often. Some of my writing, like this, I share with the world. Lots of what I write, I don't share. These works still exist. I created them. My music took me around the world. I've played to hundreds of thousands of people. They all seemed to enjoy it. I guess I can check that off as a success as well.

I spent 25 years working with folks with retardation (or whatever this week's buzz word is), autism, and assorted mental health issues. That was truly my passion. Especially when I worked in the vocational end of the field. I couldn't wait to get to work most mornings! I genuinely loved helping others find their talents, abilities, and strengths. They taught me every bit as much if not more. I don't get to do that anymore...but I did it for a long time...and I'd say I was pretty damned successful at it. I often run into former clients...and they remind me of my successes.

You can do whatever you want in life...but you have to actually DO it. Talking about it doesn't count. That's just talk. Dreaming about it doesn't count. Those are just dreams. If you want to BE it, you have to DO it. Not just when you have a chance to get around to it. If you want to DO it, you'll make the time!

So what are you waiting for?