There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living
– Nelson Mandela

I think there should be a trophy on your mantel right now (and a mantel, if you don’t have one).
Inscribed on that trophy would be the words “World’s Greatest [insert your name here].

Of course you might note that since nobody could be a better you than you, why the trophy?

Simple, for most of us, we are NOT living our own lives!

How many times have you “compromised” and spent a miserable few hours (or days, or longer) because it was “easier” than working for a solution?
I once heard someone say that the ultimate compromise when two people want to do different things is to do a third thing which neither of them wants to do because “it’s the only fair thing to do”.
How sad…

Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for compromise, just as surely as putting aside one’s own agenda to defer to someone else’s can be a real gift. BUT, and that’s a BIG BUT, living this way is not living YOUR life.

Parents who give up everything for their children, even to their own detriment, have actually given their children the “gift” of modeling a behavior which limits and lessens them.

How much more of a gift it would be to show your children that some things need to be earned, some things need to be delayed, some may even be beyond their grasp at the moment. That’s a great life lesson.

So as we head towards the close of one year and the start of another, we consider what we want in our lives, how we want to live, perhaps even who we want to be.

Want to play BIG?
Want to reach for something truly challenging?
Live your life, each moment of it, as fully as you can.
Make no assumptions as to your ability to grow, to learn, to achieve.
Envision wonderful, miraculous things and then…work towards making them YOUR reality.