Saturday, August 16, 2008

Life is Short, so Live It!

I recently went through a period of being just completely emotionally and physically drained. There were several family issues, nothing really big, but lots of little ones all hitting at once, compounding their effect. In addition to that, my mother has been having heart problems, and some other medical difficulties as well, and that was weighing on me. In fact we went out to Texas just last week to see her and my Dad. She had an operative procedure done this afternoon that should get the heart problems back in line. Things went well, and that provided some stress relief.

In the midst of all this, I was experiencing somewhat of a dry spell in building my home business. I was having difficulty recruiting new members, and in an MLM business that can be quite discouraging. Looking back, I can see that more than likely the trouble recruiting was largely attributable to the fact that all of the above was coming through in my voice and potential recruits were being affected by it and driven away. I'm not by nature a negative person, but the past few weeks or more I know I have been. It had to be having an effect on my prospecting efforts. What, you might ask, does all of this have to do with MLM or Home Business? Everything. It really put things in perspective for me. Perhaps it can do so, for you.

You see, life is short, very short. It's much too short to lose sight of the important things, like family, friendships, even our goals and dreams. It's much too short to spend complaining, whining, worrying, things I had been doing quite a bit of, recently. We spend far too much time in MLM, talking about the negative. We lament over things that hinder our success, people who just don't get it, who can't see or won't see the power of the opportunity we are putting in front of them. We discuss all the negative press our industry gets from people on the outside who, quite frankly, don't know what they are talking about. And we complain about how it affects our recruiting efforts. We gripe about success not coming quickly enough to suit us, when all along the greatest gift of all has been given to us, for free! That gift is life. And that life is very short.

We have so much to be thankful for. I know I do. No, I'm not making as much money as I would like, one never does. My business is not growing as fast as I would like it to, and even if it were, I would just want it to grow even faster. It's amazing what things we allow to upset our apple cart, things that when put into proper perspective when we or a loved one becomes ill, or worse, really don't matter. I'm not saying our dreams and our goals are not important or worthy of our commitment, our determination and effort. I'm not saying that the obstacles in our way are not real. I'm just saying that we need balance. That balance for me comes in the form of my wife, family and friends, my church, my faith, and yes, my life. If we lose balance we lose perspective. If we lose perspective we are lost, adrift in a sea of confusion and uncertainty, like a ship with no rudder. If we lose balance it will affect every thing in our life. Nothing will be truly right, for us, unless that balance is restored.

I apologize if this is a bit too metaphysical, but I do believe it is important. Maybe it will help someone else who is going through a crisis of balance and perspective. If you have lost sight of what is really important in life, my suggestion is to take the time to get alone with yourself, take time out to be thankful for the incredible gift of life you have been given. Find that center, find that balance and let it put everything else back into perspective. It will, if you will let it, I promise you. It did, for me. And now, with that balance restored, I can get back to the business of growing a successful organization that will continue to change my life and the lives of those who will come along. I can focus on my dreams and goals with much more clarity of vision and I can work toward them with much more commitment and determination. Yes my friends, life is short. So live it.

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