One of my favorite messages comes from author Oriah Mountain Dreamer. It’s called The Invitation, and it speaks to my heart and soul, as I expect it will yours. It unveils the richness of our spirits as human beings.
We spend so much time “doing” as humans, that often there is not enough time for “being.” I guess if “doing” was important, we would be called human doings. We are not – we are human beings. There exists in our business community the paradox of us wanting you to sell more, recruit more, lead more, earn more, and build more. We want you to do these things, for without them in abundance, we do not get to enjoy this particular business community. We do want you to do these things, but we want you to be mindful of your “being.” Mindful such that you spend as much time nurturing and inspiring your “being” as you do anything else. Ours is not so much a business of doing, but more the art of attracting. Doing can be hard work. I do not know anyone who really enjoys hard work for extended periods. Being someone who others enjoy and are inspired by is fun. Fun can be a bridge to being.
I know lots of people who love to have fun. Fun is such an underrated word with connotations of frivolity and irresponsibility. But perhaps fun is much more profound, meaningful and soulful. Perhaps it is the key to unlocking our spiritual power. Perhaps if we are supposed to be doing anything, it is to be having fun. Perhaps it is the most significant of all states of being. Try it on. See how much fun you can have this month. Just play full out as though it was your last chance to unleash your “wild child” on the world. See how it makes you feel and let me know. My guess is you will make even more money. And now for the Invitation …
The Invitation
By Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or yours, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal, and not betray your own soul. I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "YES!" It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair; weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children. It doesn’t interest me who you know, or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t interest me where, or what or with whom, you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside, when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.
Eleven of us just completed a 5-day full immersion transformational retreat here at our home on Lanai, Hawaii. These courageous ladies trusted the transformation of their souls to the conversations we had … and each other. All of them headed home last night with a new state of being.
Being Love.
Being Whole.
Being Fun.
Being Wonder Women.
All of us can create a quantum leap in our results, our joy, our peace, and our income by just changing the stories we embrace as true. May 2019 be a new story for you.
The work is worth it,
Richard
P.S. When was the last time you had fun? What were you doing? Comment below!
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