Oxygen Mask!

There’s only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self. – Aldous Huxley

When you travel by plane the crew will begin their instructions as to what you should do in the case of an emergency. If you are traveling with small children and the cabin loses pressure, oxygen masks will fall from overhead…who are you instructed to put them on first? YOU! That’s right, you MUST put your own oxygen mask on first! This emergency instruction trancends the plane and offers us a great lesson for our lives! In this new millenium or “Information Age” we have become overwhelmed by incredibly busy schedules. Although technology has given us new leverage and immediate access, it has also robbed us of our privacy and made it too easy to be interrupted and continuously distracted. As we look for improvement in the areas of balance in our lives; family, financial, social, spiritual and most important, physical and psychological, we fret over the fact that they all seem to run together and leave us in a state of frustration and despair! How can we ever end this madness and bring balance back? Do we need to flee the hustle and bustle of the cities and escape to the countryside? Do we shut ourselves off from the world in a hermit like existence? While a nice simple country retreat sounds great, it’s still not going to untangle the mind!

The simple life lesson learned from the flight crew is to start with YOU! It’s impossible to think that you are going to be productive in any area of your life unless you make a serious effort to take care of yourself first. We have fallen into some delusion that if we simply work harder and make more money then some day we will be able to live for ourselves. After we take care of our aging parents, our kids or any other dependent! As a species we have an incredible drive to serve others in the face of unbelievable self depravation! Contrary to popular belief, it’s NOT a bad thing to be selfish! After all, self preservation is an inherent part of the survival of our species.

There is an ennormous amount of discussion about pursuing our heart’s desires, but how many of us do any more than dream about them! Why? Do they really require us to have millions in cash before we can even begin to realize those dreams! Well maybe if your thinking is out of whack! How much does it really cost to work out? A yoga class? A gym membership? How about a simple daily walk…FREE! Maybe taking care of yourself has nothing to do with working out…how about painting? Learning to play the violin…the piano…the guitar? How much time and money does it really take? Stop guessing and really do the math…the BEST things in life are usually very inexpensive, especially in relation to the priceless joy they bring to our lives! For all of us they are very different and it should never matter what anyone thinks about our heart’s desires…they are OURS and NOT THEIRS!

So today is the day you need to begin the pursuit of what you need…whatever it may be! Happiness is nothing more then the pursuit of what you want for yourself. Now I’m certainly not suggestiing your throw out all resposibility, pack a knapsack and run away! That’s nothing more than cowardice and irresponsibility! However, I am saying STOP blaming the world for your frustrations! It’s simply because you don’t take 100% repsonsibility for taking care of yourself first….so you blame your kids, your spouse, the economy, your upbringing! So today take a moment to reflect on how great you would feel if you would simply do something for ONLY YOU each and every day! Would your family life improve? Would your business increase? Don’t dare go and say something like I don’t have enough time because that is a ridiculous statement in the face of 168 hours available each week! This is an EMERGENCY: Please put your own oxygen mask on FIRST!

Danny Griffin
Quantum Leap Mastery Coach

Tags: Motivation, Self Improvement