The Price Must Be Right - Revisited

Singer, Ayo

Originally posted 8/24/09:

One of the keys to happiness is accepting that everything has a price. It’s up to you to determine if what you think you want is worth the price. There is a price to being in a relationship, and there is also a price to not being in a relationship. There is a price to being a working mom and a price to being a stay-at-home mom. Either pay up or let it go. You won’t know if you are willing to pay up until you have a realistic view of the cost implications and rewards. In other words, what are you willing to sacrifice and why?

We don’t always want what we think we want. Many of us spend so much of our lives seeking recognition, never developing or using the benefits of the things we do naturally. Many people dream about owning their own business, only to find out that they don’t like the demands and responsibilities of being their own boss. Perhaps you think you want to marry a rich professional basketball player until you experience the lonely side of being married to someone who’s away from home 80% of the time. It’s so easy to romanticize someone else’s situation and glorify all the things that you don’t have, but how many people can truthfully say that they know what it takes to acquire and maintain these things? Moreover, do the things you want truly align with who you are and your divine traits and talents?

Often, we think we want things because of the validation and approval we think we’ll get from sources outside of ourselves. If we would stop chasing other people’s dreams, we might find that we have our own ideas and abilities that can lead us to our own unique abundance. Whatever you spend your life's energy doing, you must be willing to give it your all through the ups and downs and the uncertainty. Yes there is always a price, but if you are investing in things that you are passionate about, you will always be rich and the flow of possibility will be limitless. The more of yourself that you put into your hopes and dreams; the greater the reward.

Are you dreaming about attaining things that you have no desire to roll up your sleeves and work for?

My 4/4/11 Response:

I wrote this almost two years ago, and it resonates with me even more now.  I realize that the reason success seemed so elusive to me in my twenties was because I wasn't putting myself into my dreams.  I had lofty ideas of success, but no cognizant connection with my passion.  I would half-heartedly try this or that, but I never stuck with anything.  Now I know that I didn't stick with things because I wasn't passionate about them.  At the time, I made the assumption that I just was a lazy person that didn't have "the right stuff."

Once I started putting energy into things that I love to do, not for the fame or success - but just for the love of it; I realized that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, how much it pays, or how hard I have to work.  Success is doing what you love to do.  Period.

Have you (or someone you know) ever gotten caught in the trap of reaching for a goal for the wrong reasons like money, status or fame?  How did it turn out?