Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Enlightenment, Hump Day Hmm

This week's Hump Day Hmm asks "What stunning realization has enlightened you recently or at some point in your life and caused you to take a turn, either in your life path or in your thinking? And...what happened next?"

Well, from my recent post about how I see my life as a vision quest, and another I wrote about Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, my life feels like a series of awakenings lately. My post about rediscovering my introverted nature goes right along with those. So am I a brand new man? Not really. I have always been fairly self-aware. I've even been extremely confident in my abilities most of my life. Yet somehow I had let myself fall into a trap of not trusting myself, and not trusting that what I want was a good thing to strive for. Now I am just getting back to my more natural state of believing in myself and in my ability to learn and grow. When I want something, I am quite good at getting it. When it matters to me, I learn new skills necessary to achieve a goal or reach a new height. I just needed to remember those things.

So my recent turn has come from a lot of inspirations - my best friend, my wife, a former classmate, my own desires, and even some promptings I know come from a greater place. I have simply remembered that I can and should continue to grow as a person. I am my best self when I am learning new things and feeding off the energy of my excited brain. That is the person my wife fell in love with, the person that impressed numerous admissions counselors, and the person that will one day stand in front of a classroom full of expectant undergraduates, waiting to hear what the big bald dude at the front has to say. For me to pretend I belong elsewhere any longer would simply be a travesty, a failing on my part, and completely unacceptable. I must continue to push myself, to learn and grow, and to become more. That may not seem like enlightenment, but it qualifies as epiphany for me.

-- Robert

9 comments:

Melissa said...

Epiphanies come in all shapes and sizes, and yours is great. Good luck to you.

And how's the house? Did the offer come in?

Robert said...

Yes, it did. We countered. We're waiting to hear back on the counter, but we're hopeful.

le35 said...

I had exactly what Melissa said in mind. Elightenment comes in all shapes and sizes.

Julie Pippert said...

I agree...I DO think it is enlightenment, keeping a ear towards your true self and making choices to stay true to that? It's harder than it sounds. So all that you guys are doing is enlightening.

GL with the house offer. I will keep an eye out for an update!

Robert said...

Enlightenment definitely does come in all shapes and sizes. We're finding new ways to be enlightened every day.

We accepted an offer, we're waiting to see if it goes through now.

Anonymous said...

Seems like you are paying attention to your intuition. Recently, I have started noticing when my intuition told me one thing I went another way. I am realizing that I need to pay attention or follow it more.

Robert said...

In my life, I have generally had excellent intuition. I have almost always regretted it when I ignored my gut instinct. In other words, I know just what you mean.

More than just intuition, though, I know now that I am supposed to be preparing myself for this next step. More things keep showing me that every day, it seems.

Anonymous said...

Right on, Robert. Also, I'm married to a bald dude. You should check out Christine Lavin's song "I love bald-headed men." Because "everyone knows it's testosterone that turns a bushy-haired man into a chrome dome. But testosterone's what makes a man a man. The more that he's got, the more than he can do the things that make the women go "Oy". I'll take a bald-headed man over a big-haired boy. Big-haired boys make really good friends but the cannot compare to bald-headed men."

Hope you don't mind. I like that song. :-)

Robert said...

I don't mind, Natasha. Whenever people ask me about whether I want to get hair implants or treatments, I comment on the side-effects. I notice they're just the opposite of Viagra - so virile men go bald, and bald men are virile. I'll take virility any day. Who needs hair anway?

Thanks for the comment.