Most people know more about their neighbors than they know about themselves.
They know who is succeeding.
Who is failing.
Who is dating.
Who is divorcing.
Who is buying.
Who is selling.
Meanwhile, their own gold mine sits untouched.
Perhaps it is time to stop minding everyone else’s business…
And start mining your own.
DON’T BE A BUSY-BODY or COPYCAT
I run into people all the time who have something to say about everyone and everything.
They know the latest gossip.
They know who made mistakes.
They know who should have done what.
They know how everyone else ought to be living.
Yet when the conversation turns toward themselves…
Silence.
The irony is fascinating.
They are experts on everybody else’s life while remaining strangers to their own.
There is a better use of that energy.
Mine your own business.
YOUR AFFAIRS ARE A FULL-TIME JOB
Let’s be honest.
Your own life is plenty to manage.
Your health.
Your relationships.
Your finances.
Your beliefs.
Your goals.
Your dreams.
Your habits.
Your character.
Your purpose.
If we devoted the same amount of energy to improving ourselves as we devote to discussing others, the world would transform overnight.
There is more than enough work within our own little kingdom to keep us busy for a lifetime.
THE BUSYBODY PROBLEM
A busybody is often someone who avoids their own unfinished business by becoming involved in someone else’s.
It is easier to point out another person’s flaws than confront our own.
Easier to discuss another person’s marriage than improve our own.
Easier to criticize another person’s choices than examine our own decision-making.
The soul knows this.
That is why gossip rarely satisfies.
It entertains temporarily but leaves us unchanged.
Growth requires looking inward.
IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU DO…
TIME BECOMES YOUR FRIEND
I have often put in twelve-hour days and not felt burdened by it.
Why?
Because I enjoy what I am doing.
Purpose has a strange effect on time.
When you are engaged in meaningful work, time becomes your ally instead of your enemy.
You stop watching the clock.
You become absorbed in living.
Many people are bored because they have not discovered their purpose.
They exist.
But they are not fully living.
As I have often written:
“The purpose of life is to discover the purpose of life.”
That discovery changes everything.
RELEASE THE PLAN OF ACTION
Deep inside every human being is a blueprint.
A calling.
A mission.
A unique set of gifts.
A portion set aside specifically for them.
Most people sense it.
Few fully pursue it.
Yet when activated, something remarkable happens.
Life begins cooperating.
Energy increases.
Focus sharpens.
Meaning appears.
The person begins moving toward what they were designed to do.
The world benefits because of it.
PEOPLE WHO MINE FIND TREASURE
Gold miners do not sit around discussing gold.
They dig.
Builders do not endlessly discuss building.
They build.
Writers write.
Teachers teach.
Artists create.
Parents nurture.
Leaders lead.
The common denominator?
Action.
Mining your own business requires effort.
But it also produces results.
Minding everyone else’s business produces very little besides distraction.
THE GREATEST GOLD MINE
The greatest gold mine you will ever discover is not in the earth.
It is within yourself.
Hidden beneath fear.
Buried beneath doubt.
Covered by old beliefs.
Waiting beneath excuses.
There are talents in you.
Ideas in you.
Dreams in you.
Solutions in you.
Gifts in you.
Pearls in you.
As I have written throughout the Pearls Series:
“Everything you need to know is already within you. Let’s flush some of it out.”
That is mining.
LOOK IN THE MIRROR FIRST
One of the most liberating experiences in life is taking responsibility for yourself.
Not blaming.
Not excusing.
Not comparing.
Not competing.
Simply growing.
The person in the mirror becomes the project.
And what a worthwhile project that is.
PEARLS TO PONDER
“The greatest treasure you will ever discover is another human being.”
Start with yourself.
“We were not put here to be defeated.”
Stop acting defeated.
“The purpose of life is to discover the purpose of life.”
Get busy discovering.
“When you feed the soul, you feed everything.”
Feed yours first.
WHAT THEN?
Before discussing another person’s life…
Pause.
Before criticizing another person’s journey…
Pause.
Before becoming consumed by what everyone else is doing…
Pause.
Ask yourself:
Am I minding someone’s business?
Or am I mining my own?
Because there is a gold mine waiting for you.
A purpose waiting for you.
A life waiting for you.
And unlike gossip…
The rewards are real.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
Been expecting you