“Do the things external which fall upon thee distract thee? Give thyself time to learn something new and good, and cease to be whirled around. But then thou must also avoid being carried about the other way. For those too are triflers who have wearied themselves in life by their activity, and yet have no object to which to direct every movement, and, in a word, all their thoughts.”  Marcus Aurelius Meditations Book 2

I have much distracting me of late.  My intent is to grow this site into something more, something big.  In the end, I hope this site serves as a support for a personal coaching practice.  For now, I am maintaining “multiple streams of income,” which of course keeps me distracted from my ultimate goal here.  I am torn between keeping a roof over my head/feeding the family and following the dream.

Sometimes the dream seems like a huge mountain to be scaled.

Truth be told, I am taking baby steps toward the dream, while maintaining a standard of living for my family and me.  I don’t think I would ever do it any other way.  Unfortunately, sometimes I feel like Marcus describes as one of those who have wearied himself in life by activity, but having no object.  Actually, my problem is that I have too many objects.  So many, in fact, that I have difficulty keeping all those plates spinning.

In the end, I have to keep everything in perspective, and understand that each task has its place.  Each occupation has its place.  As husband, father, employee, writer, and teacher.  I must fill all of these roles as required, and I fill each of them to complement the other.  I am a good employee, so that I can support my family as father and husband.  I am a teacher as a writer and father.  I write to support my teaching, etc.

Marcus’ entry to himself, I think, is not advice for us.  No, it shows that even he, as Philosopher King, was troubled by distraction, by all the tasks that were put before him.  The entry above was his effort to refocus on what he thought was important.

My pile of books to study for my “job.”

I have a test to pass in a few days for my “other” employment.  I must focus on that for awhile.  After that, I will start refocusing on the dream, on my mission, and pursuing my vision.