“We get caught up in being more and more active to generate results. But slowing down and being with someone, listening without a clock and without anticipation of results, teaches us about love. The success of love is in the loving — it is not in the result of loving.”
~ Mother Teresa
My friend, last week the producers of Maker’s Mark made a stunning announcement: they had a growing global demand for their whiskey and not enough whiskey to meet the demand. Rather than raise prices or not meet the demand, they decided to water-down their whiskey.
The outcry from their loyal drinkers was so intensely negative they announced yesterday Maker’s Mark would not water-down the whiskey.
You don’t need to be an expert in whiskey or marketing to realize what a poor decision it was to even consider watering-down their product. But my friend, I’d suggest many of us water-down the possibility of our lives.
You see, we all face the same challenge that the whiskey maker faces: too much demand for our most limited resource: time. We are pulled in countless directions professionally, personally and relationally. To combat this, we multitask and try to do even more.
The belief tends to be: if we do more, we’ll be more; if we work harder and longer our supervisor will be happier; if we have our kids learning four sports, two languages and one instrument they’ll be better adjusted; if we add more water we’ll have more whiskey.
Life isn’t about seeing how far we can spread ourselves, but about the impact our lives can have on those around us.
I want you to pursue excellence in your life and to achieve remarkable success. I want you to drink up the incredible possibility of your life. The key is, though, that relationship, business, spiritual growth and true significance grow when we let go of the need to be all things to all people and understand the gift of fermenting perfectly into who we are intended to be.
Don’t add water. Sometimes in producing less we become more.
John O’Leary
www.RisingAbove.com
www.Facebook.com/SpeakerJohnOleary
P.S. What is one example of something you do each day to stay focused on what real success is and how to achieve it? Share your answer in a comment!
One of my favorite movies is Dead Poets’ Society. A teacher’s vibrancy for a potentially bland subject sparks his students to not only radically grow in their love of poetry, but also in their zest for life.
My friend, watch the clip below. And decide today to do less, be more, and seize your day!
We’re starting a Rising Above Book Club! We’ll vote on which books we should read and at the end of each book – Rising Above will host the author for an interview! Email me your favorite books and books you’ve been longing to read today. Soon we’ll share this list and vote on our very first book.
PS: voting for Tolstoy will require an awful lot of reading….and a very boring interview!
Thanks for reading and continue to take back your life, ignite your possibility and change your world,
0 replies on “What if MORE, isn’t MORE?”
Brother Gene, thanks for sharing! It does sound like you’ve hit the jackpot in life. Keep loving your wife and enjoying your days – thanks for all you do!
Every day of my life (fortunately and with more gratefulness than I can adequately express), I arise very early with the 1st thing being to give thanks for another day. Within an hour, after the daily constitutionals coupled with a potpourri of miscellaneous duties, organizing my work schedule and prepping myself for an hour walk (a prerequisite for each and every day of my life). It’s more than an exercise regimen involving abbreviated meditation of sorts, listening to music on an Ipod, greeting friends and acquaintances that are moving about involved in their own quest as fully functioning human beings – and once again giving thanks for the mobility and being grateful for another opportunity at “life” as I know it.
Arriving home with a cup of coffee for my wife of almost 52 years – being greeted by 3 pups that are awaiting their early a.m. snacks. Finally, a breakfast of egg beaters, 1 slice of whole grain toast and a glass of 50% less calorie orange juice.
I’m now prepared for a day of rewarding work as a self employed business development/marketing representative.
If I never deviate from the above schedule or experience any of the things and events that other folks seek out – for the duration of my life on this planet, I feel confident that I have won the lotto of life as I make my way on this journey – the one and only one we get on this planet. As someone once said, it’s not the years in one’s life, it’s the life in one’s years. Wealth is not something measured in dollars and cents – it’s measured in how much wisdom is acquired as a result of being exposed to “opportunities” for growth that were disguised as problems.
Namaste’
Gene L. Kalika