“There are books in which the footnotes, or the comments scrawled by some reader’s hand in the margin, are more interesting than the text. The world is one of those books.” ― George Santayana (1863-1952)
What is life? This is an old question that many of us human beings have been asking ourselves for centuries. Philosophers, scientists, artists, writers, ordinary people… And lots of answers have been given as well; some convincing, some less convincing and some others completely unsatisfactory. But in the end it all comes down to living… and living well. No-one likes problems or having trouble going through life. Unfortunately, we all come across problems in our ways and try to find solutions to them. The thing is that sometimes solutions come hard and it may even seem impossible to find them no matter how hard you try. So, what to do when you have been struggling to change things in your life and you still end up pretty much in the same place? What to do when it seems no transformation is possible? Yes, I know, you may be thinking that there is always “transformation” —something Heraclitus said thousands of years ago—, but I mean that “transformation” you really want in your life. Well, here your are a tip: know your limitations and accept them. This is a good start, but not enough if you still want to transform your life. That is why I chose that quote of Santayana. Let’s assume life is just a book we cannot change. Sometimes its text may be so dull and boring that we want out of our particular chapter. But the text is written in indelible letters and either we keep reading the rest of it or quit, and by “quit” I mean “die”. So, the only alternative we have left is to use our resources to scrawl comments in the margin or add footnotes to make our lives more interesting —and remember, the first person to whom your life must be more interesting is YOU. And this is my suggestion: if you want to transform the book of your life, just start by writing in the margin and become the world you want to live in. Then you may even realize that the assumption that you cannot change the book of your life is wrong.
Now, don’t be fooled. Using your resources requires effort and perseverance. It is nothing magical, but practical, that is, you need practice, practice and practice.
Michael Thallium
Global & Greatness Coach
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