Do You Ever Wish Your Life Was a “Walk in the Park?”
I work out pretty intensely 6 days a week. My workouts have two distinctly different sections to them: 30-45 minutes of intense body weight resistance training, and then 30 minutes of interval aerobic training on a stationary bike. Correspondingly, I listen to two different types of music. During the aerobic, I listen to energetic instrumental music (I do my personal development reading at the same time and can’t read very well to music with words), and during the resistance, I listen to good old butt kicking rock n’ roll (body weight workouts are insanely hard physically and mentally, so I need music that feeds a “gut it out” mentality. If you want to see some examples of my workouts click here). The past 8 months or so, I’ve been listening to AC/DC, and I have to say, their music does the trick.
One of their recent songs (A Shot in the Dark) has a lyric that says “A shot in the dark beats a walk in the park.”
I love this phrase because it resonates with me from the back end forward. If your life is a “walk in the park” that is NOT a good thing for you. There’s nothing to stretch you. It’s easy. Most people don’t have a walk in the park, especially in current times, but they believe their life would be better if they did.
And that would be incorrect. We are not designed to be stagnant. We are designed to grow and develop and learn and contribute. But the “shot in the dark” isn’t the answer either. A shot in the dark is doing something blindly and hoping to get lucky. It’s buying a lottery ticket. It’s betting big on a stock tip with no research. It DOES give you a momentary shot of excitement because there IS a remote possibility you COULD get lucky.
A shot in the dark would be deciding to go after a goal or dream with no idea what the first step would be. Nothing wrong with an occasional shot in the dark, but don’t use it as a strategy!
A “shot in the gray” however, is when you have strong idea of what you want to do or what you want to achieve. You can envision the outcome and it feels good to believe that it could be real. You have no idea what ALL the steps are, just how to get started and take the first step.
Are you willing to take a step when you don’t know the next one? This is the haziness of a shot in the gray, and while I know from battling my own hesitancy in the past that this isn’t easy, it IS absolutely necessary if you want to live an awesome life because…
It’s All Gray Anyway
Too many people, myself included years ago, do not go after the thing that is in their heart to do, or the idea that won’t leave their mind, or the opportunity that is inspiring them to dream, because they cannot see how they are going to get all the way there.
They don’t start because it’s murky out there…it’s gray. Instead of recognizing that this is the way life is anyway. Seriously, has your life turned out in any way like you thought it would so far? NO. All kinds of things have happened that you didn’t see coming…from events to shifts of your mind and heart.
Life is gray. You’re not ever able to clearly see what’s in front of you…heck, you can’t even see IF there will be a tomorrow for you and me, so it’s absolutely ludicrous to fear doing something because of the unknown when in fact our entire life is stepping into the unknown.
The Value of the Gray
Embrace the gray because this is where the excitement is. This is where your growth is. This is where your actualization is. This is where your new experiences are. And this is where your dreams live.
I live a life I never would have imagined in my youth, and definitely not when I was bankrupt and feeling like I was as low as I could go at the age of 35. I know I am not any more talented than the next person and I know for certain that I’m no more intelligent that any other everyday person.
What I have going for me, is that I was and still am, willing to live in the gray. If you look at the way I live, work, and many of the things that I do that create my life, you would find that the MAJORITY of people would not believe in those things being either possible or valuable based on societal messaging. And that’s TODAY. Imagine what it was like 25-30 years ago. Most people close to me thought I was an idiot, a dreamer, and other descriptors that you can imagine.….and some weren’t secretive about it. They could only see what they KNEW based on what they have been conditioned to think.
This is why I love what I do. Everyday I choose to try to impact someone to believe in what they can become and what they can do. I know that if they will take a step into the gray, and be willing to keep moving forward, then what becomes CLEAR (over time) in the gray is that they have value, they have a contribution to make, they have very little true limits, and they can create an amazing life that is built around their values and principles. And all this by simply becoming the best version of themselves.
And Oh my, is it sweet.
Embrace the gray my friend. There is so much more waiting for you. If this message is at all compelling for you, please share with others. Below is a video presentation I did last year for the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. There’s many nuggets in here that could help you and others in your organization.
If you need some Coaching, or Training for your organization, reach out to me.
Many Blessings, Todd
P.S. 3 Circles Living is now available in an audiobook. Here is where you can order it if you’d like to!
