Keeping it Real

Since the "keeping it real" posts seem to be among our reader's favorites, I thought I would jump back into blogging with a fresh breath of reality.

A friend posted this photo on Instagram the other day, and it really resonated with me.

I reposted it to my personal Instagram and have been thinking about it ever since... Are these things really all that new?  And are they in fact independent of one another?

Can't rich people be happy and healthy? Why can't success accompany inner peace? And who says the cool kids can't also be kind?

To me the takeaway is about perspective and priorities. It's easy to get caught up in money and success and being cool. There's no denying that our society focuses on these things, sometimes too much, and like it or not, they are important.

These analogies are much like the saying "strong is the new skinny". They are statements that are meant to shift our priorities. There's nothing wrong with being skinny. However, the focus on being skinny has taken much of society to an unhealthy extreme, an extreme that comes with negative consequences. Shifting the focus to "strength" is more positive. The negativity attached to the goal of being "skinny" is much like the negative associations made with success, wealth and being "cool".

So we shift our focus.

If you live with purpose and with the priority to be happy, healthy, kind and at peace, then chances are you will be. It's also quite possible that you will be cool and wealthy and successful (however you define those things) as well.

If you live with the latter as your priorities, it's like the kindness, happiness, health and inner peace in your life will be lost or diminished.

So here's to everyone putting messages like this in their windows. It certainly won't fix all the worlds' problems and won't cause everyone to change their priorities, but it may cause a few people to shift their focus, and sometimes a little goes a long way.