Be Serious With Your Life.

"There are some things worth being serious about. You just have to figure out what in your life matters most. Then, it’s time to get serious," so declared a writer. To Jamie Jackson, "Be serious in the love you give. Be serious in finding the value you have to offer for that is your gold. Be serious in your pursuit of inner peace. Be serious in your personal growth. Be serious in facing your fears and discovering who you are." Today, let's reflect on being serious with your life. Do you know that the attention you pay to things determines the outcome you get from them? In a world filled with distractions, it's possible to get carried away by every "wind" that you lose focus of what really matters and is essential for your progress. It's also possible to be so relaxed and resort to the comfort zone that the things that matter are left unattended. As Janie Jackson noted, "Life will happen to you rather than for you if you don’t take it seriously." That might have been why Syama Mukherjee advised, "Whatever work you undertake, do it seriously, thoroughly and well; never leave it half-done or undone, never feel yourself satisfied unless and until you have given it your very best. Cultivate the habits of discipline and toleration. Surrender not the convictions you hold dear but learn to appreciate the points of view of your opponents." Friedrich Nietzsche added, "Men should learn to live with the same seriousness with which children play." To avoid confusion, Allan Bloom noted that "A serious life means being fully aware of the alternatives, thinking about them with all the intensity one brings to bear on life-and-death questions, in full recognition that every choice is a great risk with necessary consequences that are hard to bear." So, enhance your capacity to recognize what to be serious about and to actually be serious. As Jackson counselled, "Be serious in taking responsibility for your life... Be serious about creativity. Be serious about the friends you keep and the people who give you counsel. Be serious about extending yourself and your world through your relationships with others. Be serious about how you spend the fleeting minutes of your life. Be serious about the actions you take because all actions have consequences. Be serious about being a parent as your children will follow your example, not your advice. Be serious about putting your priorities in the right order and be serious in endeavouring to find out what is that right order. Be serious in working out who you are. Be serious in working out your mission and struggles. Be serious about all of this or be perpetually disappointed in life." Recognize that if you're not serious with your life, nobody will take you seriously. Know what to refrain from and what not to invest your energy or time on. Let what you are serious about be things that add real value to your life and create positive impacts. Reject the temptation to be serious about unhelpful relationships, distractions, other's opinions of you, pleasing others, or indulging in acts that do not enhance your vision. As you step out today, review what you do and what you're involved in to determine what requires your attention and what does not deserve your time and energy. Always remember Robert Hutchins' words: "It is not so important to be serious as it is to be serious about the important things."