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Keep your feet on the ground, doing first things first


"This is an invitation to make your life more a journey of self-discovery. It asks you: How do you approach your life? Do you create opportunities where you dare to grow? Do you seek what is beyond all our individualistic selves?

How would you answer such questions? Or better, how do you meet such questions? Actually take time to research questions for yourself, and take time to consider them. Write down some of your thoughts and hopes. Establish some ways in which you can actualize these hopes, and put them into action. Keep track of what you wish for and what you did and you can become more realistic about who you are. A diary or journal can be helpful here.

I would suggest a certain ordering of priorities. Simply, try to keep your feet on the ground, doing first things first. Before leaping into considerations of the transcendent, consider first who you are—right now. Learn more about yourself as you presently exist. This is a very important stage because you can’t really find something beyond yourself until you have discovered your present self. You try to get yourself together, and explore your strengths and weaknesses. First, you see yourself as you are, going about your everyday affairs, and you accept what you see. Then, when you can realize the limitations of this “you,” this person, the wish for something beyond yourself, beyond persons, emerges.

But now, first things first. Not what you want to be, or what do you wish for, or what do you try to be; but what are you now? Can I rely on you? When I need support, will you be there? Are you worthy of trust? Do you do what you say? When I come to you, will I meet someone of substance or is there a hollowness inside? But it’s not a matter of me asking you. Only when you honestly ask yourself does it become important; when you can honestly answer yourself, it becomes very important!

Start to take note of the quality and character of your days, the force and direction of your life. You examine yourself and if your vision is clear, you see what we all must see—that, right now, we are all very unreliable, undependable, and insubstantial. We are at the mercy of our environment, reacting to the whims and wishes of others. If you can establish that fact for yourself and accept it, then you can begin to do something about it. I’m not suggesting that free will springs full blown from reacting personality. But you could begin to change the quality or flavor of your days ever so slightly. You could begin to be more intentional and start to stand up because you’re strong inside.

Richard Katz, Preludes to Growth

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