Hi friends! I wrote this post a few weeks ago before we found out that one of our closest friend's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. In light of this life changing news, I'd like to add that life is also fragile. My hope for you is that you can live each day true to your heart and your deepest desires. You deserve it. And hey, before you read this post, can you send a quick prayer up for strength for Mackenzie and Conor Rooney?
This week's blog post was supposed to be about how to network with the big wigs at work (seriously - you should be doing this - they are normal human beings just like you and I) but I had been reflecting on some of my clients and what they are going through and I was just HIT with inspiration for this post. So, wait a few weeks and we'll talk about big wigs. This week is all about why you deserve a creatively designed life.
First, let me define what I mean by a creatively designed life. This is a life in which you create your life by thinking outside of the box. You think in terms of what is best for you, not what is normal. I used to try and design my life around a 9-5 job and failed miserably. That structure just wasn't for me (note: just because it wasn't for me, doesn't mean it's impossible to have a creatively designed life with a 9-5. I work with clients all the time who have full time jobs and are making decisions to align their life with what they really want). A creatively designed life is also about filling your life and time with things you love and things you will be glad you did at the end of your life.
Life is short. I 100% believe that some day something will occur in our lives that makes us think twice about the path we are on. I actually believe this will happen multiple times but the most intense impression left upon us will be the very first time it happens.
For me, the first time I really understood just how short life washappened when my dad's dad passed away. He left us very suddenly and unexpectedly. He was as healthy as they come. I came home from school one day in ninth grade, heard the news, and my life has literally not been the same since.
I understand that life is short. Anything could happen at the blink of an eye that will change the course of our lives forever. But… I'm also kind of stubborn. I like to take things in to my own hands and I don't really like waiting for things to happen. What I also know is that life is LONG when you let it happen to you. Waiting for the perfect change to come your way is like waiting for the ocean to not be salty. It just is not going to happen.
We have a long life ahead of us. We're starting our lives later, living longer andhaving more jobs and even more careers, than the generations before us. We better make this long life a rich life.
This crazy combination of - life is short/life is long - in my head is exactly why you deserve a creatively designed life. You deserve to have a life that has a vision, a purpose and a sense of longevity and legacy to it. You also deserve to have a carpe diem-yolo-esque life.
But, how can we have both? How can we make smart, long-term decisions AND risky, short-term decisions?
It's called courage.
Want to know what's easy? Living a life based on shoulds. Living a life based on what everyone else tells you to do. Living a life based on "some day". (Actually, it's not that easy. It actually sucks.)
Living a creatively designed life, a life that balances today with the future, takes courage. Taking a risk and designing your life to be centered around your life's purpose, what you love to do and what you were BORN to do takes courage.
And guess what? You already have this courage inside of you. I know what you're thinking - "Kelsey, what you are talking about sounds CRAY". I promise you have the courage. It's that little flame you feel in your gut when you think about your "what ifs…" and "if onlys…" and "someday I will…".
Focusing this courage and answering the questions "what's my life purpose?", "what do I love to do?" and "why was I put on this planet" is vital to leading and living a life you can look back on with no regrets.
You deserve a creatively designed life, because, well, life is short. And life is long.