Stay the Course: A Message of Hope and Persistence

By Philip Joks

“Perfection just gets in the way of greatness. I don't need you to be perfect. I just need you to be great.” Experiencing Love Ep 130

Hello and welcome to Experiencing Love. I'm your host, Philip Joks, and I'm so glad that you're here today. I just want to give you a little bit of encouragement. Wherever you are, wherever you find yourself on your journey, I'm glad to be there with you. I have no doubt that there are some things in your life right now that are a little bit hard. Maybe they've been challenging for a while, or they're just now starting to get more and more difficult.

There may be days when everything feels like it's going to crap, and maybe there are days where it's not so bad. Even if I'm not there physically, I want you to know that I know you're working hard. I know that you're doing your best, and that's all anybody could really ask for. Sometimes it may feel like we have to sprint a 100-meter dash, or crawl for a mile. Whatever life feels like for you right now, just know every single time that you take a step, every single time that you move an inch, it gets you closer to that finish line.

You're doing exactly what you need to be doing. No matter what doubts you have in your mind, so long as you feel it in your heart, just know you're exactly where you're supposed to be. Most people probably don't even notice the little things about you. There's so much that you want other people to see, and maybe you get frustrated that they don't. Maybe you get a little sad, and that's okay.

It's okay to feel those things because sometimes, we could use that as fuel. We could use it as fuel to move forward, to take action, to do something different. We can use it as motivation to prove someone wrong, if that's what you prefer. Or it's an opportunity, a chance for you to extend gratitude, appreciation, and understanding for someone else in the way that they think.

I'm proud of you that you haven't given up yet. You haven't given up, and you always find a way. Maybe there's something in your life that you want to give up. Maybe there's something that you've tried to give up. Maybe you're only two minutes away from giving up. But the fact that you're here and you're listening to this, you know that it's not the time to give up. Now is the time to dig in. Now is the time to really feel it.

I don't know what you're going through again. Most people probably don't. Everybody is just so trapped in their own mind, in their own way of thinking. How often do you really step out of your mind to think about someone else? There's nothing wrong with it. Maybe you feel lonely. Sometimes you don't feel seen. There's anything I've learned, it's that if you want to be seen in the world, you have to show yourself.

There is no one out there that's going to dig and pry 24/7 to find out more about you, to learn about you. But there are many people that are willing to listen when they hear something interesting. If you want to be more interesting, be more interested. Do what you have to do to stay curious and to keep learning about the world, about other people, about your challenges, your difficulties, and be interested in how you can uniquely solve them.

You have so many strengths that I doubt you've really begun to tap into. Maybe you have physical strength, or maybe you have mental toughness that is unmatched to anyone in your life. Maybe you have incredible willpower or unwavering discipline. Or maybe your strengths lie elsewhere completely. You're a problem solver, you're a hard worker, you're a lover. You're kind, compassionate, caring. Maybe you're an incredible listener. I could truly go on and on about all the different strengths that I could think of. And I won't even scratch the surface as to who you are as a person. You're special. I know you're special because you're here listening to this.

All my life, I've been guided. I've been guided by the people in my life, by God and the universe, and by my heart. And I believe that anybody I come in contact with is also being guided. I know you're being guided because you've stumbled upon me out in the world, and that's no coincidence to me. As soon as you've stepped into my life, you have become someone extremely special to me. I cherish you as a person and as a friend. You have a beauty inside you that I wish the world got to see more often. I don't think you share it enough. It's that bright smile and the genuine laughter when you really feel love and you feel happiness. You have that within you always.

I'm sure you give some of the best hugs and even better advice because most of all, I think you want what's best for other people. It doesn't matter to me if you're perfect or not. I know you're not. Honestly, perfection just gets in the way of greatness. I don't need you to be perfect, I just need you to be great. I need you to strive for greatness. You have more value and more worth than you've ever given yourself credit for. You have a 100% success rate for surviving every single hardship that you've come across. You are proof of that by just being here.

No matter how hard things can seem now, I just need you to make one step forward. I don't need you to go all the way, just show up one more time. And obviously, it's not to show up for me; it's to show up for yourself. You're still here with us on this earth because there's still a plan for you. There's still a mission for you. There's still people to help. There's still love to share. There's still smiles to give. If all you did for the rest of your life was smile at every single stranger that you came across, the world would be a brighter place. Because to see more smiles, you have to give more smiles. And who knows? Your smile may just uplift someone in their darkest days.

Everything that I've said here today is within you now, and there's not a thing that I mentioned that you have to go out and get. It's so easy to believe that we're missing something, we're missing some skill, we're missing some outcome, we're missing some person. But we're not. There's still time to get all those things. And all you really need is within you now. I promise you that whatever you need to work on, you can do right now. There are steps you can take right now. And if there's a skill you want to learn, perfect. There's nothing wrong with learning. Honestly, I encourage it. I just want you to know that in this present moment, there's no need for it. There's just a want.

When you really believe that, you find that the obstacles in your way just sort of melt away. It becomes easier to move forward. It feels good to move forward. And I think we're always moving forward, moving forward with time. Because sometimes it may feel like we're going backwards, but we're really not. Because you're not the same person that you were 12 hours ago. So, even though it may feel like you're going backwards, maybe you're just relearning something, maybe you're just re-experiencing something. But it's different than last time because this time it's not new. This time it's repetition.

I'm sure you've had the experience of maybe watching a movie, reading a book, going to your favorite restaurant or park even, and the first time you went there or did those things, you were amazed. It was an experience that made you fall in love with it. And I'm sure that when you experienced it again, even though you loved it so much, there are bits and pieces that you forgot. And in coming back, you got to learn something new. You notice something different. So in life, when there's a lesson that you have to learn or there's a challenge that keeps popping up, it's not wrong and it's not a mistake that it's there because you're going to notice something this time that you didn't notice last time. And I believe that every challenge that we face is there for a reason and it's there to teach us a lesson.

Now, when that challenge pops up, we may guess what that lesson is, and we learn it, maybe apply it into our lives. And then, however much time later, we encounter that same challenge, what that teaches me is that I didn't learn the main lesson I was meant to learn. Now, once again, it wasn't a mistake the first time I learned a lesson that I was supposed to learn, just not every lesson. This time, I walk away with more lessons. So every time a challenge pops up, especially the same one again and again, I learn from it and I take what lessons I can.

And I'll give you a little pro tip here: I never worry about forgetting something in my life. And it's because I say this one thing to myself that puts me at ease. I believe that if something is really important in our lives, it'll find its way back to us. Whenever I hear an important quote and I don't immediately write it down, I'm not worried, because I know that one day I'll hear it again. If I get an idea that I think is life-changing and will give me a quality of life that I never imagined I could have, I don't worry about forgetting it because if it's really that important, it'll stay with me or it'll pop back up into my mind. And the same goes for these lessons. If I experience a challenge and learn a lesson, I'm not worried about not forgetting that lesson. Because if that lesson is really important, really as important as I think it is, I will experience more challenges to help me learn that lesson. So never worry about forgetting anything important when it comes to your growth, because life has a way of reminding us what's really important.

Now that being said, definitely don't forget your parents' birthday. Definitely don't forget your spouse's birthday or your anniversary. Don't forget any other special day. I'm not trying to give you permission to forget about that. I mean, you can if you want to and life will remind you. I'll just warn that it might not be in the best way possible. It just might not be in the most comfortable way possible, and you might be in the doghouse for a little bit. But maybe that's your lesson, and it teaches you not to forget next time. In which case, you know what? I'm just not going to get in the way. I'm going to let you learn your lessons. I'm a look out for mine.

You're doing your best. You're working hard. You're taking care of yourself in the best way you know how. You smile when you can, you rest when you have to. And you live a life by design, not by default. Right now, this may be the calm before the storm and you're about to dance in the rain.

So have a beautiful rest of your day. Really, I love saying "beautiful" because when I picture a beautiful day, it always looks different. Sometimes it's sunny, sometimes there's a rainbow, sometimes it's nice and warm, or sometimes there's beautiful powdered snow all over the ground. Because we get to decide what a beautiful day looks like. You get to decide what a beautiful life looks like.

I really hope that you enjoyed listening to this episode. More than that, I hope that if you needed to hear it, then it helped you, then it did something for you. My biggest hope is that you didn't need to hear this, that you had everything going great in your life and this was just a nice pat on the back. If that's the case, maybe save a link and send it to someone who does need to hear it. Save it for yourself for later. I put this out there because I know that there's more value than me just saying it once. I know how hard things can get. I know what it's like to want to give up. And I know what it's like to keep going despite those feelings. It's worth it.

You are worth it. So do it for yourself. Remember to always fill up with love. And I look forward to seeing you in the next one. I love you.

Craving more heartfelt encouragement and soulful insights that feel like a warm embrace? Dive deeper into this beautiful journey by listening to the full episode of our podcast that inspired this blog. Tune in for an extended dose of upliftment and understanding. Click This Episode On Spotify for the full experience.

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