Making the Journey Extraordinary!

by Skip Cohen

​If there's one thing in my life that's become consistent, it's sharing my thoughts here in Reflections every Sunday morning. Although today's post touches lightly on business, it's still a long way away from my normal weekday posts.

I've written a lot about the wonderful habit Sheila, and I got into many years ago - it's reading something inspirational every morning over breakfast...

A honeybee flies from flower to flower looking for sweet nectar to create honey.The bee works to find the flowers with the sweetest nectar and doesn't stop until it finds what it's looking for. Don't stop searching for what you're looking for either. Persevere and know that something amazing could be waiting just around the corner. The anticipatory excitement of a journey makes life extraordinary. Soon you will find what you need and be able to revel in the journey.       Emily Silva from Sunrise Gratitude

I recently stepped down from being CMO of Platypod. I love the company, the products, and the people involved, but it had become an almost full-time job, and it was pulling me away from my core business and several projects I want to get back to. I will still be involved occasionally, but I want to focus on other directions in my "journey."

When it comes to my career, with a whole lot of help from Sheila and a few very close friends, I've stayed true to never giving up on my search for new adventures. Reading Emily Silva's analogy with the honeybee made the topic of change an obvious choice for me to write about this morning.

Here's my point:

Life is too short to be unhappy in whatever you do most of the time. If you're not enjoying each step along the way, then you've got the ability to make the changes you need. I'm not suggesting it's always easy, but think about what you'd do if you were going someplace you'd never been. 

To start, you'd plug the address into GPS and then look at the stats like distance and travel time. If your screen is like mine, you'd have a choice of several different routes. You'd pick one, and along the way, if you decided to change, GPS re-calibrates, keeping the focus on your destination.

Too many people stay focused on the same career journey, never straying off the path to see what's around the corner. Remember, you can recalibrate just like GPS. And, with each change along the way, the journey becomes extraordinary.

As photographers, you can't create images that tug at people's heartstrings if your own heart isn't in it! If you're bored and not jumping out of bed each morning with a smile, step back and check your internal GPS. Like the honeybee - don't stop searching because the sweetest experiences might be at the next turn in your path.

Wishing everybody a day ahead that's filled with smiles, family, and friends, and time to look at the map and think about your journey. Don't hesitate to ask for help along the way - those people who love you the most are always there for you, but so often, we think we have to be DIY. And stay with those eleven-second therapeutic hugs I always write about.

Happy Sunday or Monday if you're on the other side of the world!