Collective intelligence

Jim Rohn recommends to borrow wise words from those you admire... Referring to a particularly powerful quote, I recall him saying: 'You could stay up all night and not think of that'.

So I saw this powerful collection of words by a writer that I admire, and share I must...
           

Hero's Forest  |  by Brian Johnson

"You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or a path, it is someone else's path. You are not on your own path. If you follow someone else's way, you are not going to realize your potential." ~ Joseph Campbell from A Joseph Campbell Companion

That pretty much sums it up.

Are you following someone else's path? If so, you simply aren't going to realize your potential.

Yes, we know that society does anything but encourage us to discover who we are and how to go out and give ourselves to the world. But that's why they call it the "hero's" journey. If it wasn't a challenge it'd be something like "the average person's" journey. Not quite as inspiring, eh?!? :)

Engage in your hero's journey! Find your own way. 

Check more of Brian's powerful, poignant and enlightened words at http://www.entheos.com/philosophersnotes/brianjohnson 

Contemplation

3 weeks ago, on a day like all the others, I fell over and hurt my leg. The sun came up as it always does, and usual stuff happened. Breakfast, coffee, the same good morning kiss from my beautiful wife. And then I'm writing an essay, in my study, indulging in the same procrastinatory thought processes. I hear something that captures my interest on the TV, and take a walk out to the lounge room. I never arrive... 

Unfastened shoe laces from my boots get caught as I walk, and I fall. I unconsciously hold onto the coffee cup I carry, saving it from demise on the tiled floor. My knee breaks my fall, and an excruciating pain shoots through my leg. I'm down, gripping my damaged right leg, and literally have to drag myself to the bedroom, a cold sweat covering my body. My wife, who is out at the time, returns to find me languishing on the bed, looking crazy with unfocused eyes, in serious pain. A trip to the hospital, an injection and an X-ray later suggests ligament damage, and I'm sent home with a pocket full of painkillers and instructions to keep the leg up. Doctors prognosis suggest several weeks recovery time. 

Fast forward 1 week - knee still swollen, recovery is slow, and pain is continual. A visit to the Orthopedic surgeon reveals a more serious situation - a 12cm femur fracture originating from the knee knuckle and a pool of fluid sitting inside the knee joint. After the dr extracted the blood and fluid deposit from my knee with a needle, a cast is installed from hip to heel (ass to ankle), and recovery time set at 4+ weeks. Make sure you keep the leg up, says the doctor, as I crutch my way out of the consultation room.

So sitting, now for three weeks, not able to drive or even get out of the house, I've been pondering, contemplating. The loss of mobility has forced a reevaluation. Whereas on a normal day, a thousand tasks vie for my attention, and I'm constantly on the go, jumping from one thing to the next, now I have severely limited physical movement, and a trip from the arm-chair to the toilet takes planning and lots of effort. I can't visit the fridge and grab a quick snack, as standing up requires both my arms to operate crutches. I'm reduced to washing in the bathroom basin - a sobering and humbling experience. 

As I describe the ordeal of the past three weeks, reevaluation was inevitable. The dark night of the soul often arrives when the normal routine is interrupted. Instead of busying myself with meaningless tasks, procrastinating with passion and purpose, surfing between tv channels, tidying my study when I should be studying... Worrying about inconsequential things like the time it takes to get to work, and the annoying drivers on the road. 

But I don't need to tell you right? I'm guessing if you are anything like me, then you know this pattern all too well... 

I'm 36 years of age, and I'm reevaluating the path that I am taking in my life. Am I on the right path? What a question... The answer goes deep, below the suite of facades I present to myself and the world. Below the work that I do, beyond the color of my skin, and the language that I speak. Beyond the quirky, quasi-intelligent comments I post on Facebook that represent "me". Past the resume that demonstrates past experience, study and interests, the perfectly polished online presence that I pedantically maintain, offering the world a managed snapshot of me. Crossing the great divide from what I think others want to see, to the inner working of my psyche - what is there? What is it that I really want?

My experience in the last few weeks has opened my eyes to what I have been missing, what i have been denying, what I have been running from. A good look at the big picture, where I'm heading and if that aligns with where I WANT to be heading. Do I even know where I want to be in 5 years? Here I am, hurtling along the highway of life, going somewhere fast. 

As Jim Rohn says, "In ten years time, you will surely arrive. The question is, Where?"

I'm not saying that I've got any more answers than I had three weeks ago, but I'm in a new mental space, looking outside of the box that routine delivers, away from the perpetual busy-ness that I have created in my life. It's a brave new world, the certainty of yesterday replaced with a scary yet somehow more authentic undefined tomorrow.