Row Your boat

Hello All,

I have found myself recently beginning a new habit of multi tasking in the morning. I often workout to a DVD series in the mornings and since I have been doing the same workouts I have found I no longer need the instruction the entire time as much as just cues of when to change exercises. Since this routine has become very standard for me I found myself feeling like I was leaving something on the table each day in the work out time not being totally productive. The past couple of weeks I tried something new by turning off the volume while doing the workouts and listening to different speakers over audio CD's. I have been finding myself keeping a notepad close by to write down the thoughts or realizations I have while listening to many of my favorite speakers. Speakers like Robbins, Rohn, Maxwell, Ziglar, Dyer etc....

This last week there were several thoughts I heard that resonated with me so much but I wanted to share one thought by Dr. Dyer that I found to be so true. Now understand that my personality tends to lend towards the Ziglars and the Rohns of the world when being communicated to but for some reason listening to Dr. Dyer tends to really capture me even though his style is often monotone from what I typically seek out. On this one day last week I was listening to him speak of his love for his daughter and how he used to enjoy playing with her as a child in the pool or the ocean. He shared how she would often sit on his stomach in the pool and laugh and play and sing etc... He began to speak of a child's song we all know and have sang and then he opened my eyes to one of the simplest truths imaginable!!

He said when my daughter was young we used to sing a song and it went like this......Row.............................Row..................................Row

Don't speed, Don't race, Don't fly but rather ROW!!

and what should we Row???

"Your Boat"

Not your brothers boat, nor your fathers boat, nor your mothers boat but rather YOUR boat.

Now lets pause there for a moment because if this simple children's song never utters another word it has already given us incredible direction. In fact from my experience I would say a large majority of people live their entire lives without finding this truth. I see so many people "Keeping up with the Jones" trying to insure everyones acceptance of them and who they are "supposed" to be. I see so few people from my experience who simply choose to be who they really are. From the moment we are born we are essentially taught to be "good" boys and girls to do the "right" thing without really having the opportunity to determine for ourselves with cognizance what good and right are all about. I understand as children the instruction and discipline needed to protect us and teach us values but at what point in life are we taught to follow the teachings of the great thinkers like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates and search out right and wrong for our own understanding. I see many more people adopting their belief systems of how to build their lives then I do people using the Socratic method of questioning the beliefs they have heard so they can actively choose that which is right for them. In essence if we were created to be clones of each other, our parents, our culture then why were we given free choice?

As I listened to Dr. Dyer speak on this simple illustration it reminded me of how important it is that I search to understand who's boat I should be rowing!! It reminded me of how important it is to help others think of their active choice in deciding what's right for them may or may not be right for those around them. I often think of how exciting it is when my mind is working at actively determining what makes the world around me work. What do I agree with and what do I challenge. When I am in this mode I am truly alive and it makes a huge difference in each and every day and what I feel as a return on those days. On the other hand I have spent many, many days in my life looking up to realize the day has passed and I was on auto pilot for the majority of the time simply allowing it's truest opportunities to escape me.

I believe it is my responsibility to myself and those around me to remove the cruise control button and stay actively in the mode of choosing my directions, my thoughts, my habits MY Boat to row. I think it is all of our responsibility to support those around us in finding their boat to row instead of insisting that their boat look like our boat.

Dr. Dyer went on to make a couple of points further in this song about how the Row should go gently not violently, not struggling not frustratingly but Gently DOWN the stream. Not up the Stream, Not against the current of our inner direction but choosing YOUR Boat and enjoying the Row GENTLY, DOWN the stream.

I have found this year to be extremely rewarding on so many levels but this talk Dr. Dyer did for me at 5:30 in the morning last week while working out was in essence why this year has been so rewarding. I found MY Boat this year. I have spent many years attempting to shape and paint my boat as others around me have done.  I have spent years hoping everyone approved of what my boat looked like or the direction it was headed but this year was different. I looked at my 4 greatest things I love to do and I came back with Lead, Inspire, Communicate and Create. I started searching for anything that did not fit those 4 areas and began to look for ways to remove the items from my life that were not in my top 4. The more I determined this would happen the more it took shape. In fact it has reshaped several times through out this year and as I sit here ready to close the year of 2011 I am closer to being in love with everything I do than I have ever been in my entire life. I have seen people rise up from places I never could have imagined with talents in the areas I wish to removed from and I stand amazed knowing that it was my decision all along. I never understood what power there was in determining what will change and choosing to not yield to the voices telling me otherwise. I have had the same surroundings and people as many others out there who tell me you cannot leave that task you must row that boat no matter how heavy and awkward it may seem it is your to row!! All the while I struggle with their expectations and miss out on a gentle row through life. I listened to another speaker recently who reminded me that there are people who play at what you may have to work to do. Find what you love to play in and do that with every moment of your life! This year I found myself thinking a lot about my talents and things I really loved to do and I made active decisions to change course and go with the stream, gently rowing my boat, I encourage everyone who reads this today to ask yourself these questions;

Is it your boat?

Are you rowing gently down the stream?

Are you willing to know yourself well enough to make changes?

and finally.....

Are you willing to allow others to row their boats and help you play in life while they get to play as well at what you may be working to do?

It is early as I sit in a hotel lobby and the thought of getting others to experience a little of how great this year has been for me was an exciting thought this morning. After all it is one of my favorite things to do which is why I find myself waking up at 4:30 in the morning anxious to row my boat today! I wish to leave you with a simple quote today and I encourage to take 10 whole minutes and read this quote at least 4 times allowing it to truly sink in....

"Our Truest Life is when we are in our Dreams Awake"  - Thoreau

I wish you the very best year of your life in 2012 and I hope ALL of it is spent in your Boat!