Be careful not to find comfort in a fool’s paradise

Chatting with a friend recently about professional and personal growth, we mulled over the deflating feeling one gets when you go somewhere only to realise that you have gone very far in the wrong direction.

You are likely to get deflated by this reality. The thought of retracing your steps to where you took the wrong turn and restart your journey is overwhelming.

Yet this is not as bad as when you have to restart your personal or professional life. It can be a crushing experience.

You begin waking up to the realisation that the personal or professional direction you have taken is wrong.

You made a wrong turn somewhere. You must turn back, make amends and begin all over. Whereas the result of retracing the steps could pay generously, the retracing may not be very pleasant.

HARSH REALITIES

We mused over the equally unpleasant realisation of the fact that you might be in a race but you are left so far behind by everyone in the race until you start getting persuaded that you are actually the first.

The fact that you cannot see anyone ahead may make you to start imagining that you are actually leading. Translate this to personal and professional growth. We all want to grow.

Yet you allowed yourself to be left so far behind that you start imagining that you are actually ahead of everyone else. You find comfort in a fools’ paradise.

When we are in such situations, we tend to make excuses instead of making the necessary correction.

This is particularly so if we should find some comfort in the place where we have strayed.

The right thing to do when you are lost or stagnated is to correct the mistake. When you refuse to face up to the harsh realities of life at the appropriate time, you are likely to pay heavily when they can no longer be repressed in a comfort zone.

Such realities include the great sacrifices that are necessary for you to attain progress and the many hours you will have to put in whatever you want to succeed in.

This reminds me of the 10 thousand hour rule. This is a proven theory that for one to attain mastery and success in anything, you must spend at least 10,000 hours of practice in it. Such is the reality of life.

When you lose sight of what makes you happy in life and start living and acting for others, you are a great candidate for this awakening.

It matters little the point at which you are. This could actually set in on attaining one of your most coveted desires in life.

It happens when the coveted desire is seen as an end in itself rather than another step towards fulfilment.

GOOD COUNSEL

Manifestation of this could include spending mindlessly, neglecting your body and neglecting any unresolved issue.

Waking up to realise that you are a pauper living a good life but for a short while isn’t a very pleasant feeling.

To set your financial stability, you look back at how far you will have to go can be very unsettling, regardless of the title you currently hold. You could have managed other people’s wealth very well to earn the title, but you forgot about yourself.

Your body is the last possession you will have. It is what will always be with you so long as you are alive. It is good counsel not to neglect it.

The realisation of this could come a bit too late.

In life, we all come across unanticipated situations that leave us with all kind of feelings and tastes in the mouth. It does well to confront those feelings and tastes to rest and close the matter.

Dragging such issues along will cause you to take the wrong direction, or be left so much behind that you will start imagining you are the first.