Live Your Story

Longing for life!

We all desire to live a full life. Yet in the process of trying to live it, we can so often miss out on actually living. Comparison is the the killer of all that we find good within ourselves.

You might ask what I mean by that. Read on then!

How often does your comparison change who you think you are and in actuality distract you from seeing your true self? For me that's all too often! And it used to be way more. I had this deep set fear of failing. I wanted to be the best I could be at sports, or lifting weights, or just simply exercising, or even just being the best I could be in my career.

However I was setting myself up for failure by comparing myself so harshly with my own goals. We so often put ourselves down for not achieving our goals! What on earth happened to all those small achievements along the way? Can they not be a big enough step?

I had to re-orient my thinking about everything I was pursing. I began to look at the small achievements and stopped comparing myself both myself & to the pros. I started comparing my little accomplishments with what I had achieved in the past.

You are your best temperature gauge.

You are the best driver and encouragement for all your adventures. And you are your own worst critique. Yet combined, your encouragement and criticism have the ability to drive you to your best state. Lean too heavily on one and you will become puffed up and arrogant, or lean too much on the other and you will wallow in your own misery.

I believe that we need to be driven to the the point of saying -- "WOW, I've done that! And I've done all this other cool stuff in the past too. WOW, look at all the cool experiences I've had. Look at where I've come!"

That sort of pure sense of joy and wonder is what is set deep within us. We desire and long to live a full life. Realizing where you've come is the best gauge for your accomplishments.

You can't be like everyone else. Not everyone is John Muir, or Tommy Caldwell, Kelly Slater or Payton Manning. Though you can be who you were made to be -- be present in that and live a life out of this state.

This past year I set out to become a better rock climber. I had planned to train and become fluent in climbing V7's and 5.12D's. And guess what, I haven't. I'm not where I set out to be, yet I'm content in the present moment -- with who I've become with the time I've had! I have become better at climbing, and there is always tomorrow to build upon.

Goals are good, but stop putting yourself down for not accomplishing them all! If you died tomorrow would you seriously kick yourself for not climbing that next mountain,
backpacking a special trail, camping in that one valley or even making it to that lucky number of countries. Just be content with each day you have and each cool adventure you've been lucky enough to see!

Now go live a life worth living! Stop comparing yourself to others and begin making a story worth telling!

That's me -- trying to tell a good story through my camera, the poeple I am with and the adventures that we all share! I would rather have tried to live a good story, than miss out on telling one.