Commit to Commitment

I’m wondering this morning just what is it that separates a person from the pack?  What does it take to stand out in a talented field?  It’s easy to feel like your own talents are insignificant when you’re afloat in the vast ocean of other talents.

“Unless you’re the lead dog, the view never changes.”

I’ll be the first to acknowledge that luck has much to do with it – being in the right place at the right time, etc. – but my chances will be a heck of a lot better if I am ready when that time comes.  What is the old saying? 

“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”

Read that line again.  It’s important.  Olympic athletes are wonderful examples of commitment and preparation in order to be ready when the opportunity presents itself.  Their discipline and dedication is the icing on a cake created by desire, long hours and years of practice, choice, forfeit, support from family, and a myriad of other attributes and opportunities –  some obvious and others not so obvious.

I think often of Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Outliers, in which he reveals that many non-obvious circumstances like birth month can become the tipping point (no pun intended) for mega-success.  His premise is both fascinating and daunting to consider.  It makes us wonder whether having “the right stuff” is enough.

Well, it certainly can’t hurt.  But we must hone that right stuff through our commitment.  I must take care of the variables I can control and have faith that the ones I cannot are going to favor me.  And I should learn to be happy with my progress and talents at the end of the day, whether recognized by the world or not.  That’s it. 

Yogi Bhajan, the Master of Kundalini Yoga, a true Saturn teacher, put it in his undeniably direct way:

Life is a commitment. All of nature is committed except you. Commit!

And live that commitment. Beyond that you will find there is absolute,

infinite freedom.

So, with that in mind, I think I’ll get back to the task at hand: honing my own talents.  See you on the podium.