Living a Successful Life: My Curriculum

"Samsara" watercolor, 8x10 by Lani Chaves

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning."

~ Meister Eckhart

Imperfection, Life Balance, Impermanence, Curiosity, Empathy, Self-Motivation, The Present Moment, Positivity, Serenity, and Personal Boundaries. This self-designated curriculum includes these areas of study. I am actively working on understanding - on a deeper level - all of these ideas. 

Studying these things brings me great joy, but it is also hard work as I am often stretched beyond my comfort level - which NEVER feels good. Sometimes there is a pop-quiz which sometimes I pass and sometimes I don't. This serves to remind me I still have more to learn. And lately I feel as though I am being tested all the time!

So what is it I hope to gain once this course of study is completed? Well there's the rub. It is never complete. But there is a goal I have for myself. An overarching intention that has carved out this path in front of me. Moving forward I intend my life be lived experiencing as much Joy and Ease as possible. 

The biggest test lately is buying and renovating my new home. And so far I am being taught a lot about almost everything on the list! Much of what I am learning can be expressed this way...

I am not perfect.

I understand there exists a balance between work and play.

I see change as a welcome part of life.

I am curious about others.

I experience empathy.

I know my strengths, as well as my weaknesses.

I am self-motivated.

I do not live in the past.

I focus on the positive.

It is difficult to offend me.

I create and maintain boundaries.

And, to date, my studies have served me very well. But there is still soooo much to be learned!

I did not set out to create this curriculum. I mirely recognized it recently after encountering Daniel Goleman's ideas about emotional intelligence and it's impact on success. As I casually went down his list, I saw myself in it and saw very clearly my own journey retrospectivley. Thank you Daniel Goleman for your life's work has asissted me on recognizing my own!

Anything on this list strike you as worth knowing more about?

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Right Work

"Your big opportunity may be right where you are now."

~Napoleon Hill

Finding right work is the task of a lifetime. This is NOT the task defined in my youth - as a job, employment, a thing you do to survive.

There is another kind of work, a more person-specific way to employ some of one's allotted hours. The work of self-making, self-recognizing, self loving, and self compassion. All of which leads naturally toward the Grace of Love and Compassion toward others - I call this right work.

When I was younger I was silently asked by my parents (and the world around me) to find right work, to take responsibility for myself, to choose a course of study to advance my progress in this world. How fortunate, when I chose to study art, nothing was said to me but, "Yes. OK, you go and do and we will support you in your endeavor. We know you will succeed." 

Not everyone experiences this kind of response and support.

I did wait tables and was a house painter and a bartender to earn my own way. But I am eternally grateful to have been sent to college by my parents.

For four years, there in art school, I was a wisp following her heart. I recall that time as a blurting out of myself in all kinds of directions as I made my way constructing (and deconstructing) a life. 

Over these last 30 years I have sold printing and furniture. I have taught teenagers and toddlers. And I have traveled the US performing comedy. But the most impactful job I had the privilege to hold was that of wife. My heart has lead the way in all these things and the Universe has replied in kind with loving support.

Just yesterday I was reminded of all the love and support guiding my healing heart after my husband died. How fortunate to live amongst such loving people. How fortunate my heart was broken wide open which allowed me to receive their many healing gifts. 

Not everyone gets to experience that kind of response and support. And not everyone is able to accept the gift of healing when it first arrives.

And now today, I am experiencing the same Loving Universe at work - again unfolding in my favor as I churn the meaning of HOME from one place to another. Capturing glimpses beyond my 5 senses, I am more able than ever to see with my heart. This way of seeing, this frame which graces my vision fills every cell in my body with gratitude. I am grateful for this awareness and for the journey - ALL of it!

All I want now is to experience this overflowing gratitude as giving back. I am looking forward to what shape this intention will take. I know not the details, but I know it is already done. I am doing the inner work to make this happen…and I am seeing this shift taking place in time and space.

This is my right work. 

Not everyone gets to experience that kind of response or support. And not everyone is able to accept the gift of healing when it first arrives. And not everyone gets to experience transcending their sense of a daily life, to begin to see with their heart. 

…oh, but how I wish we all could!

What does your heart see? What is your right work?

Tag. You're It!