Aug-27-2009

Finding Clarity: What’s Really Important in Life

Post written by Chris Spagnuolo. Follow Chris on Twitter 6 comments

Something incredible happened to me a few weeks ago. Something life changing. Something that gave me a lot of clarity. Something close to miraculous. I lost my job. That’s right, I lost my full-time job. And do you know what? It was one of the best things to happen to me in a long, long time! In all the hustle and bustle and “busy-ness” of keeping my career going on just about a 24-7 basis, I lost sight of a lot of things.

Since I lost my job, I’ve had a lot of free time. And free time is a good thing. Maybe the best thing in life. It gives you time to slow down and actually see the things that surround you everyday. Things you take for granted. Yup, I’m talking about family…wife, kids, dogs…you remember them right? Well, it’s been amazing spending entire days playing with my kids. Noticing how much they smile and laugh. How big they’ve gotten. How much fun they are to be around. And it’s been amazing spending time with my wife. Realizing once again why it was her that I married. She’s the most supportive, positive, amazing person in the world. And it’s been nice getting to know that again (although I’m not sure I ever forgot that or doubted it).

Besides spending time with family it’s given me a lot of time to do what I love doing most, riding my bike through Colorado’s beautiful mountains. Cycling is a meditation time for me. It’s when my mind finds the most clarity and everything starts to fall into place for me. During all of my recent cycling, I’ve found a lot of clarity in my life. I’ve thought a lot about the direction my life and my career should go in next. And I’ve realized that where I was may not have been the healthiest place for me mentally, physically, spiritually or even career-wise. I’ve been given a great opportunity to really think through the choices I’ve made in my life and reevaluate them. I have the time now to decide what will make me and my family the happiest. And I believe that if you’re happy with your life and your choices, then that’s as good as it gets. As Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com said: “When your work is an extension of who you really are deep down inside it’s no longer a job or a career. It’s a calling.” I think it’s time I found my calling.

Share on Facebook
Post to Google Buzz
Bookmark this on Yahoo Bookmark
Share on FriendFeed
Bookmark this on Digg
Share on reddit
Share on LinkedIn
Share on StumbleUpon
Bookmark this on Delicious

Related posts:

  1. Learning from Quincy Jones
  2. My Outsourced Life: Maybe I should try this
  3. Commit to Something Today! You’ll Be Glad You Did.
  4. If it hurts, you’re probably doing it right
  5. The Life Manifesto

  1. Lisa Braithwaite said,

    Congratulations on figuring out what’s important to you! And good luck on finding your next path! It’s exciting!

  2. Pat Mishler said,

    You’re blessed to have realized it is about ‘the calling’. Not all of us have the same one of course, but – when you have found what fills your spirit – you have found your calling.  Congratulations!

  3. Angel Jordan said,

    Congratulations and thank God for finding clarity! This an awesome story and it just makes my heart and soul feel good! May you and your family be blessed!

  4. ken jordan said,

    amazing! Going through similar questions with a job. Just wonder if this ON CALL life is mky call. Any way congrats looks like you figuring out what most of us are wondering.

  5. Kani said,

    I was married for over 20 years and then my wife died from ovarian cancer. We have two kids 15 and 19 than a year after death of my wife I nearly died from who knows what. I am still alive 2 years later. I have slowed myself down and hardly work and lot of time of think.  The last thing my wife said was make sure kids are Ok and I love you. She was not concerned about anything else. What was important to her was her relationship and who she loved.  I think the whole experience changed my being and made me realize what is important in life.
    Sometimes something like loosing a job etc make you realize things.  One thing I know is I am much more peaceful now than ever in my life.

  6. John said,

    I wish you had gone into more details, particularly in regards to your old job and new career. Also how you were effected financially? because that is the single most important reason other people don’t follow their calling.

Add A Comment

 


Creative Commons License
©2011 Edgehopper.com. Please don't copy me, it's bad karma.
Edgehopper by Chris Spagnuolo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.