Thursday, September 14, 2023

Fighting for success, and seeking peace and joy


 Who am I = What do I do?


In the seeking peace  and joy universe many of us spend many a day/year dancing or wrestling with  big questions like Who am I and what  should I do with my life?  Answering  these heavy questions often requires doing some exploration and testing of activities to see how one fits in.  Some professionals encourage folks to start with activities  they might enjoy so that choices of vocation and use of recreational time wind up in some sort of harmony and balance.  This makes sense.  Now these same professionals  often urge us to match traits and values with activities to make decisions about our purposes in life.  


Well… this past week marks the beginning of the NFL (American Football) season and one thing is clear.. human beings really love competition.  


It is also clear that many people have a wide variety of skills, interests, and values so obviously exploring  “what should I do?” Matters calls for some research..so this is what happened.  A search revealed some results combining competition, intellectual challenges, and a variety of physical activities such as jumping, dancing, etc.  


Well here’s the perfect match  for most Americans  who want to combine  healthy exercise with a competitive mental activity…


Chess boxing


Yes my friends there is such a thing.  In fact for just over twenty years there has actually been  A professional association devoted to this.  Apparently competitors make a chess  move and then box  for a few minutes and then alternate these things until one of the players either gets check mate  or gets knocked out.  Research also revealed that the average annual income for chess boxers is around $43,000.  


Now there are some seeking peace and joy implications for this sort of result, however, first we might also know it’s good to have career options so here’s a few suggestions that additional research may uncover…just not yet.


How aboutNASCAR Knitting Speed Skating Scrabble referee, or in your spare time doing a little archery tennis?  


Okay… maybe the point is… people and circumstances along  with geography, educational opportunities, cultural obligations (the list of variables goes on and on) can thwart (love that word) almost any matching activities—job—purpose scheme no matter how many computers and data banks we throw at it.  So how then do we carve out the answers?  No one knows for sure…. Well that’s not very satisfying you say… true..but it’s pretty helpful…  What? 


You see when we start looking to others to tell us who we are and what we should do we discount the knowledge housed in the soul of the person who is the real expert on what we like and what we have to offer… that’s right it’s you!  Look we don’t advise  “Cannonball Catcher” or “industrial Dog Polisher” for recent grads…but we do suggest that one experiments because there are a lot of jobs to do and a lot of activities  to explore and if you are lucky you will get to experience many of each.   Can one improve the odds of having this happen?  Probably and here’s how..


Wake up in the morning… Ask the universe  what you can do fort today.   Then ask what are the lessons I learned  yesterday… Next dedicate yourself to shaping activities  that consider if the results of those  tasks  done by others to you would be as rewarding  as they will be when you do them… and then … take a moment to ponder… “What if I’m wrong?”  


Oh and if someone asks “who wants to be the javelin catcher today?… keep your hand down…


Peace 

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