I Screwed Up...

I did. I’ll admit it. I lost track. Life got in the way, my focus shifted, and before I knew it, distraction and resistance had me in its nasty little grip. Old beliefs started to resurface. I felt locked in a room with a speaker blaring things like, “You’re not good enough,” and “Of course this happened to you.”

This is the lie I told myself: “I should feel bad about doing something I enjoy because all of my attention needs to be focused on solving this problem, and until this issue is sorted, you don’t deserve to be happy.”

Just when the light from the entrance of the rabbit hole was fading to black, it hit me… The more adversity life throws at us, the more we need to double down on the things we love. And no, unfortunately, I ain’t talking about Chicago-style hotdogs.

Dirt didn’t choose to be a Cow-Dog. Dogs don’t get to choose their vocation.  It’s in their DNA. What’s even better is they also unequivocally love their jobs and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. No Labrador Retriever has ever wished they were herding cattle, and no Cow-Dog has ever wished they were sitting on a front porch dreaming about the six days a year they go hunting. Dogs don’t have options, and there is certainly not some pinnacle they feel they need to reach to be successful.

This also means their identity is unencumbered by the thoughts and ideals of others telling them what and who to be.

Today, being a creator, artist, or entrepreneur seems to be getting a little flack, almost like it’s deemed as bougie, or maybe “trendy” is a better word. Or maybe what's happening is people are starting to realize they get a say in what they want to do with their lives. It’s never been clearer that more money and more things don’t equal happiness. And finding happiness in our lives work only comes when we find fullfillment.

I think we’re all a little jealous of dogs. Because deep down, we all really want to be whatever it was we dreamed of being as a kid. Somewhere along the way, we just lose track of it or are told to, “put down the pencil, you can’t make a living doing that,” only confirming our suspicion – money is more important than happiness.

Well, I have some wild and crazy news: nothing we do matters nearly as much as we think it does. Only the things that are important to us as individuals carry any weight. We get to choose what matters to us. See, to me, I care more about writing something catchy to steal five minutes of your time than I do about any amount of money. Am I crazy? That’s up for debate. But whatever anyone thinks, I couldn’t care less.

How do I know this to be true? Well, I think of it the same way Dirt thinks of herding — If for some reason I couldn’t write, just as if Dirt couldn’t herd, we would be going through life as an existence rather than an experience. There is no amount of money to satisfy a love for something. Because if there were, it would never be enough.

Love is the only thing that matters. Love for ourselves. Love for our friends. Love for our work. Love for our family. Love for our spouses. Love for our pets. Love for our quirks. Love for those who don’t believe they are lovable. Love for those who don’t love themselves. And yes, even love for those who have hurt us.

I did. I screwed up. I lost sight of what filled me up, and a month passed. A whole month of my life was spent not doing something I love. And that's just too damn long.

So, in the spirit of business, let's make a deal, you and I. No matter how bad things get or how bad the stories are, I’ll keep on cranking them out. All you have to do is, well, what you love.