Mind Body and Soul

This past weekend we watched an episode of Hoarders. I am the opposite of a hoarder, almost to a fault, I throw away almost everything, but the episode had a strong pull for me.

There was one man who just couldn't throw anything away, he let it go too far, it wasn't that he was holding on to "things" but he couldn't manage to even throw away all his trash. He felt a spiritual pull and asked for help. He set a goal, anything that did not feed his mind, body or soul could be thrown away.

The woman who was helping him was there to further his goal. She asked if she could throw away all his plastic 2 litre bottles, he was okay with it for the most part, but stopped at the caps. She asked him why and he said that there are contests in the plastic tops, she asked him then "Do they feed your mind, body or soul?" His answer was a definitive "no." And that was it, it was easier for him to toss them out when he knew it didn't feed his goal.

And that is what having a goal makes easier. When he didn't have a goal, he wasn't sure what to toss away, it all melded together and made his decision hard, when he did have a goal, boom...he knew exactly what to do.

This is what I am in the process of doing, my goal is a bit different, my goal is to make a living giving tours and the big picture is to get my own travel show. Anything that doesn't forward that goal will get tossed. Last week I got a phone call about work. The work being offered to me was production work, getting ready for a big event for a major company. The work consisted of phone calls and excel spreadsheets. Definitely something that is not part of my goal. If I was interested in being a producer, it would be a great job, but I'm not.

If I hadn't had a set goal in mind I may have jumped at the job, even though it was work I wasn't interested in. But this time I had a set goal in mind and with shaky hands and a fearful heart, I turned down the work. I was scared for about 10 minutes, but as soon as I turned it down I was liberated and free. It was not work that forwarded my goal.

Making a life decision took me 40 years, but now that I've made it other decision come decidedly easier.

Conceive of a goal for yourself, put yourself on the right track, once you find it, it's so much easier to stay on it.