The world is such a wonderfully diverse place. There are so many options to choose from! We each have the potential to custom design our lives to be the perfect representation of who we are and to fill our lives with the things that bring us pleasure! Can you imagine how amazing it would be to live in a world where everyone is fully self-expressed and surrounded by all the things that delight them? It would be totally Kick-Ass!
The question is: how do you go about doing this?
What if you treated life as one gigantic buffet table? It’s there whenever you want it and it’s constantly being filled up with a wide variety of treats to choose from. You can go back as many times as you like until you are fully satisfied.
How would you handle this?
Would you play it safe, looking it over carefully and only taking the things that you already knew you liked? You would never be disappointed and you’d know what to expect, but your world would stay rather small.
Are you an explorer? Would you fill up your plate with a variety of things you’d never tasted before, trying out all kinds of new things to see if you liked them and going back for more of the things you enjoyed? This would give you a wide variety of experiences, but you’d have to deal with possible disappointment (and maybe some heartburn, too). But, you’d learn a lot about what you liked.
Would you only take the things you thought you should have, even though they’re not really what you wanted? I’ve met tons of people who would only eat the salad and veggies, even though they were dying to try the Beef Wellington and the chocolate cake. But how is this serving them? In which other areas of their lives are they doing what they think they’re supposed to do rather than what they want to do? These are the people who end up living unsatisfying lives and constantly feel like they’re missing out on something.
Let’s turn this buffet analogy around for a minute. You would never go to a restaurant buffet and fill your plate with things that look unappealing to you, but that is exactly what many people do in their lives. They fill up their lives with all kinds of things that they have no real interest in because they think they are supposed to. For example, I had a client who worked as a warehouse manager. Every day he dreaded going to work. He hated getting up early in the morning and the work was a total drag. He didn’t like managing people. He really wanted to be a musician, but he thought that being responsible meant he needed a “real job”. So he filled up his plate every day with things that he didn’t like. (But don’t worry—his story has a happy ending! He saw how he could live his Kick-Ass Dream Life, and now happily makes his living as a musician!)
My challenge to you is to taste it all! Try everything that life has to offer you. This is the only way that you will really know if you like it or not. If you’re not sure about something, just take a tiny nibble, but don’t miss the opportunity to try it all. Then go back and take more of the things you like. Fill up your plate with all the things that delight you! Enjoy the bounty of life. It will make your life very Kick-Ass!
Originally published May 1, 2011