Next time we see each other and I ask how you’re doing please don’t tell me you’re busy. That’s not specific enough. There’s more than one kind of busy. There’s hamster busy and the lion busy.
Hamster Busy
When I was nine I got a hamster.
We bought the wood shavings, the plastic cage, the pellet food and of course, the wheel. I named him Lunch since we had a cat in the house too. He slept in my room for one night but after he woke me up running on his squeaky wheel a few times he was moved to the basement. He did not live a very good life. Most of his time was spent burrowed in a pile of wood shavings or running on the wheel. Sleeping and running in the same place.
When life sucks I’m a lot like Lunch. I sleep too much and do things that get me nowhere. I’m a hamster on a wheel.
[Tweet “When life loses meaning I’m like my stupid hamster.”]
Lion Busy
My kids are six, four and two. They love to watch nature shows so I’ve been learning a lot about lions. It’s the work of the lions that impresses me so much. They hunt.
Unlike my hamster they leave the safety of their home base and go find food. They create their future. They go get what they need or they die.
A caged lion is a cliché. It’s a picture of unfulfilled purpose. Lions weren’t meant for cages. Lions were made with the ability to create their own destiny. So were we.
[Tweet “Lions were made with the ability to create their own destiny. So were we.”]
Open air or urine soaked wood
Lions are at the top of the food chain but they still have to work. When they hunt they run after what they want. Fresh air fills their lungs. Then there’s my hamster Lunch. He ran in place on a wheel and smelled his own urine most of the day. He wasn’t self-sufficient. He couldn’t open his own cage. We can.
Freedom isn’t a wish or a dream, it’s a destination achievable for those willing to risk, create, work hard and be generous.
[Tweet “Freedom isn’t a wish or a dream, it’s a destination achievable for those willing to risk”]
It’s always easier to blame your family tree, the economy, your lack of twitter followers, a divorce or your age. It’s always easier to blame. Don’t blame, go hunt.
Step one – get off the wheel
The first step to the life you want, the marriage you want, the business you want and the faith you want is getting off the wheel. Routines have the potential to make us better but most routines lull us into the cage where we don’t belong. Our routines become our hamster wheels. Running in place, busy, but getting nowhere.
It’s harder outside the cage but there’s no ceiling, just open skies. You will have to cut new paths to feed yourself.
It’s worth it.
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