I’m very honored to share this guest post by Greg Richardson.
I floated on the surface of life for a long time.
I believed what people told me. Life was a contest, a competition. My contest was about responsibility. Winning the contest of life, being happy, was about meeting or exceeding expectations.
Because I was a very responsible person, I could meet or exceed expectations pretty well. Some more than others. I suppose I focused on the expectations I thought were important, while not worrying about the ones I did not think were very significant.
The contest of life was a lot like other contests. You can tell who is winning. The way you know you are winning the responsibility contest is that people give you more responsibilities.
I did not have time to pay much attention to the Depth of life. I was busy winning the contest.
Eventually, I realized that there was a problem. I was meeting and exceeding expectations, winning the contest, but I was not happy.
I considered my problem for a long time from different angles. I had almost given up hope when, one day, I had a revelation.
I realized that I spent my life meeting other people’s expectations.
It was not merely that I did not do what I wanted to do or was not who I wanted to become. It was deeper than that. I did not know who I was at my core. I did not know my deepest, truest self.
Slowly but surely, I began to explore the Depth. I worked hard to get under the surface. I started to become acquainted with who I was.
It took me a long time. It was hard work. I went to places within myself I had tried to avoid my whole life. I had help.
The exploration continues. My relationship to myself, and to the people around me, becomes deeper and more true.
Life is not a contest; it is a journey of discovery.
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Greg Richardson
Greg Richardson is a spiritual mentor, and leadership and organizational coach, in Pasadena, California. Greg has served as a criminal prosecutor, an executive, and a university professor. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com and on Twitter he is @StrategicMonk.
[ Image above post by Tim Snell ]
