#QUEST2016

[dsquest2016]

THE question for 2016

This prompt was provided by Jonathan Fields as goes as follows:

You wake up to discover a knock at your door. A wealthy uncle you barely knew has passed and left you a fortune. It’s more than enough to live out your days in glorious splendor, but there is a condition. To be eligible to collect, you must commit your full-time working energies to the pursuit of an answer to a single question of your choosing for the next 12 months.

You are welcome to continue that pursuit after the year ends, for years or decades if it warrants, but you must remain fully focused on seeking the answer until the last minute of the 365th day. A minute shorter, the entire inheritance goes to your annoying and equally long lost cousin, Philly.

What is your question?

In this scenario I would have to commit myself to something for a whole year, and even if I’ve done things like that in the past (committing to things for long periods of time) I’ve only now just realized I’m kind of a commitment-phobe, I don’t like to fail, so i don’t engage in things where I know I probably won’t succeed at, this has never been clearer in my mind that in this moment, I don’t fully commit to jobs, relationships or tasks that I know matter enough to shatter me if they don’t work, on the other hand I’ve somehow managed to shatter myself a couple times by not fully engaging, which brings me to the important part of the discovery a thing I heard the comedian Jim Carrey say once,   “you can fail at what you don’t want so you might as well take a chance in doing what you love”, this year I’ve been taking a chance, in fact you could say I’ve been doing it for some time now, but I’m not engaging fully, I’m not giving everything I have because I’m scared it would leave me empty.

So the question basically comes down to:

What’s keeping you from succeeding in what you love?

(and I know the answer is going to be me at least for the first few days)

Here’s to changing answers,

[dsquest2016]

What I most need to tell myself about 2016 is...

Susan Piver, suggested this prompt, and apparently she’s also the answer to the question I’ve been making myself for sometime about how to begin and engage in a regular meditation practice...Before getting off topic lets answer this thing.

2015 has been a difficult year for me, many changes happening around me, last year I moved to a new country after being out of my own for almost 2 years before that, the first 6 months living here (Ecuador) were basically damage control, I was anxious about life and as scared as ever to keep going, ironically a year before I’ve felt as free as I’ve ever felt in my life, so after the damage control, some counseling, some running and some (kind of) meditation practice, I was better and I was somehow prepared to start my life after college and a master, a real work life in a new country with only (though I know that’s more than most people have) some members of my family besides me, I never pictured myself as an entrepreneur, much less one at the age of 23 (currently 24) but somehow I kept making decisions that brought me to this path. It felt like a heavy load having people believe in me and my project, sometimes it felt like they where pushing me too hard, but later I thought about how lucky I was to have people push me to achieve my dreams, some say I have made them proud, and when those people are my friends, family and loved ones it fills me with emotion but the truth is even then I feel like a financial failure, my business is almost 9 months old now but its still very far from standing on it’s own two feet. I feel like I have jeopardized many things and most of them weren’t mine to begin with. All of this to say... It has been a ride and a challenge, but even if I’m not exactly where I wanted to be when this year began, I’m proud that I’m still standing and still have fire within me to keep going.

What I most need to tell myself about next year?

It’s going to get better, you should be proud of the work you’ve done so far, even in the days where it feels like its not enough, and this work is going to as they say in my mother language “rendir frutos” which translate literally to giving fruits but means to give results.

Next year is a whole new path and all you can do is expect the unexpected, and always remember to work on yourself because you’re all you need to make it through the storm.  

Be kinder, be gentler, be more open minded and express yourself with as much compassion as you can especially to your loved ones, don’t assume that just because they love you they have to put up with your anger or fears. Give positive vibes, even when uncertain, and say YES more often than NO.

And above all love you.

Here’s to remembering and applying everything I’ve learned so far in this journey...

[dsquest2016]

Step One... Follow Through

So basically Jonathan Fields posted on FB a few days ago a thing about an activity? course? or some kind of growth journey that people would make together guided by Jeffrey Davis to be better prepared to face the new year. I’ve been following Jonathan’s Good Life Project for a while and it has changed my perception on so many things, apparently not enough things because i haven’t been applying much of the things I’ve learned to my own life process, so in an attempt to be more proactive towards the goal of personal growth and a better living, I’m making the pledge to follow this 2016 Quest all the way through (hopefully) and start this new 365 days of my life on the right note. Here’s to new beginnings...