The other day I was reading some information for a speech I am working on, and I came across perhaps the most awful thing that could ever be said about someone and it is from the Tartar tribe of Central Asia – they say that prior to battle, the Tartar Tribes of Central Asia used to make a pronouncement over their enemies. It had nothing to do with their ability to overpower or wipe out their enemy in battle. Instead, their curse was this, “May you stay in one place forever.”
Their curse was that their enemy would stop learning, stop growing, and fail to improve. The Tartar Tribe was well aware that a person or group that fails to learn is learning to fail.
Wow that might be the most terrifying phrase I’ve read in years… “May you stay in one place forever.”
Wouldn’t that be a terrible thing to stay in one place forever not about where you live in your house but no personal growth, no movement, no future, no hope, and no options? Wow – I too would consider that a curse… stay in one place forever
I’d be surprised if anyone out there knew a member of the Tartar Tribe or could find Central Asia on a map and yet so many people seem to have bought into this phrase and placed it on themselves willingly because from what I can tell that’s what some people do with their lives…stay in one place forever or put another way they do NOTHING
They are happy to stay in one place forever
They are happy enough with the status quo – Why dream Deb… it might not come true… let’s just stay where we are and be safe
Some have bought into the belief that you shouldn’t live above your’ raising (a good southern phrase)– learn to be happy with your lot in life and while I agree that contentment is a virtue – movement is the joy of life… friend – the world is big, the sky expansive and the ocean goes on forever – why stay where you are?
Helen Keller said it best – Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
One of the great joys I have is my job where I get to travel and time after time I meet wonderful people who have succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations… say me to – I had to get out of my dead end job to do what I was born to do, or I had to leave my little town so I could explore the world, or I had to leave my not so nice friends and find a new network who encouraged me to dream…and be my best and not tear me down…
Now I am sure that some of you are thinking – well Deb –staying in one place forever is a choice and I like my choice – and to that I say fine you can stay but for your success I encourage you to grow… to learn something new to keep your mind active and engaged and your imagination to be open and wide and hopeful… it’s not just about physical movement – for some it is their joy to stay (and that’s okay)- but for others it is their joy to go on about dreaming, hoping, wishing, doing, being, and becoming.
It is my hope that you don’t stay in one place forever because the world is big and I think you have a responsibility to explore, dream and discover…so you can find your sliver of light in which to stand and shine… and shine brightly…
I hope that you don’t stay in one place forever because – you might miss opportunities that are just down the way that you’ll find if you at least step out and search…
I hope that you don’t stay in one place forever because – even the most shy person can read a book and allow their mind to take them to faraway places…that’s why reading is so important – not just for your kids but for you as an adult – and not your job requirement reading but reading for pleasure to set your imagination to see big and go bigger.
When you think about all the inventions that have made our lives easier those were not created by people who stayed in one place forever – No – these are people who dreamed big dreams and then made them come true…
- The Wright brothers who dreamed to fly
- Marconi who imagined that voice could go over a wire to be heard on the other side
- Thomas Edison known for his work with light bulbs, electricity, film, and audio devices
- George Washington Carver was an agricultural chemist who invented three hundred uses for peanuts, soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes; and changed the history of agriculture in the south.
- Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin a machine that separates seeds, hulls, and other unwanted materials from cotton
- Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning rod, the iron furnace stove or ‘Franklin Stove’, bifocal glasses, and the odometer.
- Alexander Graham Bell
- Henry Ford who popularized the gas-powered car with the Model-T.
- *Alexander Fleming who was a scientist experimenting with mold that became the basis for penicillin which is the most widely used antibiotic to date…
- And the current list of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, James Dyson, and the list goes on….
These are people who did not stay in one place forever because they heard a call to go, to create, to move…
In order to have more, we have to grow more.
If you serious about getting unstuck in moving from “staying in one place forever” it’s not going to be a quick fix, what it will take is you seriously stopping your world for a bit – sitting down with a blank piece of paper and pen and writing your dreams, hopes and wishes on that sheet of paper and then allowing your mind to start the process of finding ways to make it happen….
So once again I am asking that you take a long hard look at your current self, understand that for the most part you are where you are because you chose to be there…so if you want to move – ever so slightly – let’s start by accepting personal responsibility, and commit to a life time of self-improvement and learning…
Because we all know that personal responsibility and personal action result in growth, freedom, and progress toward your goals.
So, friends unless we commit ourselves to learning, growing, contributing to the improvement of ourselves, our families and others and being better today than we were yesterday, we will relegate ourselves to the fate of the Tartar’s enemies – to be in one place forever…and you kwon what I say to that… that is not acceptable for your amazing life…
