A man walking his dog late one night in a dark parking lot spies another man on his knees under a lamppost. The man is swaying back and forth—obviously drunk. So, the man walks his dog over to the man and politely asks, “Excuse me, sir, can I help you find something?”
The man on his knees looks up with bloodshot eyes and replies with slurred words, “I . . . I’m looking for my keys. I think I lost them over there near the door to that bar.”
The man with the dog looks over to extremely dark area near the door. “Sir, if you lost them in over near that door why are you way over here under this lamppost looking for them?”
“Because, dummy,” retorts the drunk man. “This is where the light is.”
Are you where you want to be in your life? Where you need to be? The self-help market in this country is estimated to be worth almost $11 billion. That’s billion with a capital B! That figure seems to indicate that most people are not where they need to be. At least the people buying those books, CDs, and materials are searching, the rest are under the lamppost. We are where the light is instead of where the keys are lost—the place where the keys to our happiness and self-fulfillment lie hidden in the hard to see places. Why do we spend out time in the lighted place—where the keys are not—instead of the place where we must work harder, but where the keys certainly exist.
Hint: I just gave you the answer.
The man on his knees looks up with bloodshot eyes and replies with slurred words, “I . . . I’m looking for my keys. I think I lost them over there near the door to that bar.”
The man with the dog looks over to extremely dark area near the door. “Sir, if you lost them in over near that door why are you way over here under this lamppost looking for them?”
“Because, dummy,” retorts the drunk man. “This is where the light is.”
Are you where you want to be in your life? Where you need to be? The self-help market in this country is estimated to be worth almost $11 billion. That’s billion with a capital B! That figure seems to indicate that most people are not where they need to be. At least the people buying those books, CDs, and materials are searching, the rest are under the lamppost. We are where the light is instead of where the keys are lost—the place where the keys to our happiness and self-fulfillment lie hidden in the hard to see places. Why do we spend out time in the lighted place—where the keys are not—instead of the place where we must work harder, but where the keys certainly exist.
Hint: I just gave you the answer.
Because, it’s the place where we must work harder. Most of us don’t like difficult things. We like comfort and security. We value safety and the absence of conflict. We create cars that parallel park themselves, for goodness sake!
Now, don’t get me wrong, we are smart. Like the drunk man we know where the keys are, we choose to ignore it and go to the easy place. We pretend to search and work under the light knowing it will do no good.
QUESTIONS
1. Are you the person you know you should be?
2. The father/mother you should be?
3. The friend you should be?
4. The manager you should be?
5. Are you happy?
6. Do you like yourself?
7. Are you one of the best people you know?
8. Are your priorities in line with your quest to be one of the best people you know?
Now that you’ve answered these questions, ask yourself one more: Are you are in the dark where the keys are, or are you under the lamppost in the light? Are you doing the difficult thing that will certainly lead to being a better person, or the easy thing that requires no hard work—lets you stay in the comfort zone—and accomplishes nothing?
I offer the exact opposite advice of the diminutive, squeaky-voiced Tangina in the movie Poltergeist, “Do not go into the light! Turn away from the light! Do not go into the light!”
Get into the dark places, do the work and make yourself better. Find the keys to your happiness and then there will be no dark places.
Now, don’t get me wrong, we are smart. Like the drunk man we know where the keys are, we choose to ignore it and go to the easy place. We pretend to search and work under the light knowing it will do no good.
QUESTIONS
1. Are you the person you know you should be?
2. The father/mother you should be?
3. The friend you should be?
4. The manager you should be?
5. Are you happy?
6. Do you like yourself?
7. Are you one of the best people you know?
8. Are your priorities in line with your quest to be one of the best people you know?
Now that you’ve answered these questions, ask yourself one more: Are you are in the dark where the keys are, or are you under the lamppost in the light? Are you doing the difficult thing that will certainly lead to being a better person, or the easy thing that requires no hard work—lets you stay in the comfort zone—and accomplishes nothing?
I offer the exact opposite advice of the diminutive, squeaky-voiced Tangina in the movie Poltergeist, “Do not go into the light! Turn away from the light! Do not go into the light!”
Get into the dark places, do the work and make yourself better. Find the keys to your happiness and then there will be no dark places.
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