“I feel like I lost a piece of myself.” Ever say that or hear someone say that? For you to get to your best you, you will need to go through a bit of addition adding new, and old, pieces as well as getting rid of pieces that don’t align with the best you. Last week I asked you to think about what you are not doing.  What items did you identify? Sure, you can list some obvious things that really are irrelevant like… I am not robbing banks, I am not a substance abuser, I don’t hijack planes.  Really, how do these answers help you?  These won’t help you move forward, and you just cheat yourself out of personal growth. The goal is to force you to dig deep and reflect on what you are doing and not doing so you can find the work that is the best fit for you.  When you look at the list of what you are not doing, what is on that list that you really want to do? Why are you not doing them? Where you spend your time is the ultimate display of your priorities. If you are not painting because you don’t have enough free time and you are also working crazy hours, you are showing me that security, work, financial gain is more important to you. Could be true for most of us but if you had dreams of being able make a living as an artist? I would guess your parents, friends, siblings, spouse… all told you it’s a pipedream and you need to be practical and go make a living to support yourself and your family. Don’t believe them. If I planted an acorn, what tree do you think would come up? Yes, that would be an oak tree. Could it be that the seeds of what you were meant to be were all there when you were a child? Part of success in life is getting all the pieces of your acorn together, and the other is getting yourself planted in the right soil. If you plant your acorn in concrete mix, how well do you think it will grow?  By putting the original pieces of you back together, or at least uncovering them, maybe the true you can be found?  The truer your journey is to what is in your heart the easier it will be on your psyche. The struggle may be harder, and maybe even longer by heading to your true north but that is your journey and you will sleep better, smile more, find greater inner peace by being on your path and not someone else’s. This Week’s Talk Spoiler alert… this scene in A Christmas Carol may just be the most forceful. I am always touched when I read this or watch this scene.  Scrooge is having fun participating in the party merrymaking and suddenly he is transported off with the Spirit to a dark foreboding place. Each book, movie, play treat this scene a bit different. Each trying to create their version of what for me is the most striking scene of the story. In almost no time we swing 180 degrees and go from fun and games to dark and somber. Scrooge is in an isolated place and is confronted by a dark spirit with something under its robe.  As we come to see learn quickly, it is 2 emaciated children in rags and looking the worse for wear, tear and neglect. When Scrooge first gets hint of the horror hiding under the spirits robe, he looks away, when instructed by the spirit to look here, he is confronted by the horrible site. There is a brief discussion and Scrooge is told that these are the children of all who walk upon the earth. The are Ignorance and Want. For on their brow is written the word, Doom.  I favor the movies where they talk about these children represent the down fall of all who deny their existence.  We are told they are the children of all who walk the earth. In the original book, and pretty much all the movies, the scene goes on to say that the girl is Want… and the boy is Ignorance. From the original book “Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware the boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom.”  Scrooge lacks the compassion, humanity, or fortitude to look at them.  Usually, we see or read that Scrooge asks the spirit to hide them in some fashion, and then the Spirit responds that he knew that Scrooge lacked the humanity to look at them and acknowledge them.  The scene closes where once again Scrooges words come back to haunt him. “Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”   This Week’s Assignment Ignorance and want. Just a piece of literary craftsmanship. I dwell upon this scene so many times during the year, as well as reflecting on its message.  I may work this scene a bit more next week I find it so powerful but for now, let’s stay with the Spirit’s advice and most of all beware the boy for written on his forehead is the word Doom.  Why do you think Dickens picks Ignorance as being so powerful? Where are you ignorant? Look around the people that you spend the majority of your time with and consider if the entire social circle within which you reside share the same ignorance.  Use this upcoming week to challenge your assumptions. The flip side of assumptions is… ignorance. Your assumptions are only good where they fit but how many times is it the case that one or more of the underlying elements of your assumptions is not valid.  Sometimes this isn’t so impactful… and then it is and everyone challenges you on why did you “assume” this?  Spend this week thinking about the role of Ignorance in your own personal world of one. Then expand out to your family, your friends, your work, your school, your country.  Why is it that Ignorance is so powerful? Where are you failing to recognize what is right in front of your own eyes? See you next week…