Well, here we are!!!
Happy 4th of July everybody! Thank you to all the men and women who worked so hard to make today’s celebration even possible! We can all give thanks that we live in a country where your destiny is pretty much up to how much smarts, effort, and plain old hard work you put into your choices. That is all due to one thing that we all enjoy in this country;
Independence.
The beautiful thing about independence is that it is the great equalizer. Because we all can do what we want, when we want (within limits of the law), the results usually speak for themselves.
I had to have a really tough conversation with a group of young men, which will be followed by a few more tough conversations I’m sure. I won’t go into the reasons why, except to say that it was becoming obvious they needed some course correction to meet their stated goals.
They were deciding independently that their course of action wasn’t going to hurt them in the long run. That everything would turn out okay. Years of experience have shown otherwise, but they are just too young and green to have that perspective. Also, things have been happening so fast, that it probably seems like everything will just continue coming up roses by itself.
Truthfully, I had been hesitant to have this conversation in the hopes that the gentle nudging they had been given would be enough. I independently hoped that this strategy would work, ignoring my years of experience, reams of books on the topic, and just plain common sense.
We resolved the issue for the time being, but independence will determine if we these tough conversations come up again. It will also determine if we are working together in the future. And independence will also determine how successful they are (remember that part about hard work, effort and smarts).
I am hopeful that the path forward becomes clear independently. I will do my part. That is the independent choice that I’m willing to make.
What are you willing to do today to make things better in your world independently ?
Try it, see what happens, add back value, expect nothing in return. Enjoy the fact that you are able to make this choice of your own free will. See what happens when you become your own motivation independent of your surroundings and people in them.
Independence is a beautiful thing.
Enjoy your day!
-Just a Dude
Just a Dude 