I received,
skilfully placed exactly in time, a message via the social media of a good
acquaintance. Actually nothing personal but a personified group mail.
"Dear Frans,
The countdown
has begun. 2017 Is knocking at the door. A new year with new opportunities.
Opportunities that you can redeem only if the organization is ready. A Future
Fit organization is continuously improving its services. Continuously developing
its people and processes."
With an approach
of my 'old' lifestyle, no wrong business propositions.
Personally, you
can link questions like: "Have you achieved already your goals this year?
Are you Future Fit?”. In short, the mail invited me to respond personally so one-to-one
and not marketing wise. Like no other I
know this acquaintance from a former cooperation. The great passion and
creativity of the sender and the desire to share that passion. And that is why
I dared to mirror my feelings. Something that I want to do with this public
blog as well.
More and more I
unleashed all the 'goals' that I had in my life. More and more I laugh about
them thinking once I had them in my mind. Many, many management training helped
me to believe the question and follow the outcome; “Where do you want to be
within five years?”. To work on achieving that. Discover what I needed to do.
To go for them. Taught to run after the goals in your life because you need to
go for goals. And, if you finally succeed in reaching them, you hardly
celebrate them. You are already up, on your way, to run to the next objective. How
stupid that I never saw this before ... That I believed that lessons from the
system called society.
Fulfilling my former
profession in fire-brigade, rescue, disaster relief and crisis management, I'd
rather known better. Too many have I seen in the splendor job and to discover that
everything in life, and even life, is only temporary. In a split second you can
lose everything…
Too many friends and
acquaintances with their dreams for the future I lost. Their dreams about what
to do after retirement age (I think you are always entitled to stop working,
but that's something else) did not come true.
I learned to run after.
To sometimes even fight the battle of achieving my personal the targets in five
years. Even damaged myself and my family with it (I shared that a couple of
months ago already). When I reached them, already I was running to the next
target to reach in the next five years (instead of taking the time to sincerely
celebrate I got there). “If you want, you can
achieve everything! Just
believe it!”, was (and perhaps still is) the slogan (or lie).
Too
much future focused, too little enjoying that I was standing on top of the real
and only goal in life. I did not see it (because, after all, I stood on top).
And once I had reached another goal ... immediately a hop on to the next
target. Too little standing still, sitting on my ‘milking stool’, to ponder on
the flowers I had sown (and the weeds that may have been there between). Not
waking up, but only very briefly sad, if friends around me, with their future
dreams and goals died at a young age.
I
changed (had to change) my way of living. Did you already achieved your goals
this year? How Future Fit are you…? Wake up! There is only one purpose in life
(words of OSHO I live now) and that is TO LIVE.
Confucius,
the Chinese philosopher, once said that every journey begins with the first
step. For me every day begins with the first step. So tomorrow not with the
second but consciously again with a first. And living without all the so well
known targets - al fixed destinations - allows me, every day and so far over and
over again, every day to reach a destination. Just look back and learn, go to
sleep without worrying (or at least worrying less) and be thankful if you get the
opportunity to wake up the next day. For me, if not, with all the sadness my
life, like yours, knows as well, all together it was very good…
Do
not create scapegoats and general excuses that this for me now is easy talk and
that you have your responsibilities. For me it was a hard way to unlearn and
more and more I feel free.
I should have known better
and much earlier but did not want to admit to. I needed a crash in the 7 km
long Dutch Westerschelde tunnel to listen to the final ‘wake-up-call’. Now I
can say… just in time. I am thankful, living this (my since five years new)
life philosophy, I reach my goal every day again. The great insights I get by working
with many different people and cultures in what I call 'Street University' help
me to always be more than enough Future Fit for the next day again. So to take
the first responsible step without any stress and having fun again.
Embrace your life, your
future naturally creates itself, do not fight it. Build your bridge while
walking it. Every day enjoying the first step again. Being proud of the unknown
destination you reach and of the result.
Goal reached. Ongoing Fit for the Future… LIVING can be beautiful.
Frans Captijn
Host / Catalyst / Talenteer at Captijn Insight
Captijn Insight: “Catalyst in your process to new sustainable flow in life and work. Whether you are an individual, couple, team or an organization.”
captijninsight@gmail.com
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