Do you know the story about the two stone cutters? When asked what he’s doing, the first man replies, “I’m cutting this stone into bricks.” When the second laborer is asked what he’s doing, he replies, “I’m building a temple.”
How much do we do in a day with our nose to the grindstone? Myopic, focused, making a list and checking it twice. Done. Done. And done.
But what have we done? Really?
There is a Big Real behind everything we do. Sometimes it’s a negative Big Real. Sometimes it’s a positive Big Real.
I’m not posting to my blog. I’m evoking the truth.
I’m not working on my book proposal to have it to my agent by a certain deadline. I’m writing a book that could spark people into true action, and it’s burning inside me, and people want it, and they want it bad.
I’m not cleaning my house, I’m making it a Zen temple in which I can hear myself think and we can cozy up. (Okay, I’m just jokin’ with that one. Vacuuming is vacuuming, and it sucks hard. Pun. I know. I just caught it.) But you get my point.
What’s become rote or banal for you that is really part of a great dream or vision or bad plot that you really don’t want to be participating in?
Working overtime? How about: making sure you’re getting to Miami for your next holiday to flame your mojo.
Hauling your ass out of bed for a run? How about: connecting with the power of your body and tapping into your creative thinking.
Cutting people’s hair? How about: your salon is a place where people heal and are heard and have their beauty nurtured.
Waiting on tables? How about: you’re learning and teaching loving kindness.
Filing papers for your boss? Maybe the Big Real there is that you’re helping a do-no-good company make no-good money while your own genius wilts on the vine.
Look up. Zoom back from the tasks and see the holy weaving of your time and love and action. Make it matter. Because it does.
@DanielleLaPorte (Click to Tweet!)
Danielle LaPorte is the outspoken creator of The Desire Map, author of The Fire Starter Sessions (Random House/Crown), co-creator of Your Big Beautiful Book Plan, and soon-to-be publisher of DANIELLE Magazine, launching in early 2014. An inspirational speaker, former think tank exec, and business strategist, she writes weekly at DanielleLaPorte.com, where over a million visitors have gone for her straight-up advice—a site that’s been deemed “the best place on-line for kick-ass spirituality” and was named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes.
You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter @daniellelaporte.
*Featured image by PD Pics
