The story of Noah has always seemed a bit peculiar to me. A gentleman decides to build a giant boat on dry land and to put a bunch of animals on board. It made no sense and people generally ridiculed him for being different and having beliefs.

Of course we know how the story ends for Noah, and those who ridiculed him. The value of this story to me is that it teaches a valuable lesson about how we should undertake our own missions in life. Each of us has within us an authentic mission to achieve in our lives. We are going to be required to build our own arks at some point, doing something that makes no sense to others but makes sense inside of you.

Do What Makes You Happy

Doing something that makes no sense may  be the only way to create a real identity for ourselves in a world that is working hard to force each of us to accept the narrow conformity of what is acceptable behavior.

It is becoming increasingly clear that no matter what you do it is going to be accompanied by the harsh and critical judgements of others.  Since people are going to be judgemental of all you do anyway, you might as well do what makes you happy.

Sometimes I think that I may just be the most dysfunctional person in the history of mankind.

There have been times when my behavior has been a perplexing string of poor decisions, which do not serve me or represent what I want my life to be like.  Brave, vital, insightful, and thoughtful are just a few words I want associated with myself. In the past I found my choices were the opposite of that. The main reason was fear.  Fear of the unknown, of being hurt and most significantly what others might think of my choices, behavior and life.

What others think of you is none of your business!

I have struggled with this weakness all my life, from being moderately worried as a child what others thought of me, to having significant social anxiety issues as an adult. Then the choice was clear, I had to choose each day, to honor myself and act in a fashion that was more in line with the ideals I wanted to represent. Have courage to be my own self, write what I think, express what I feel regardless of what others might think.

Nobody, including you,  knows what you are capable of, until you give it a shot. Step into the unchartered waters and do what your heart tells you is right. Build your own arc, create your own masterpiece, and don’t listen to the critics. If you perform anything for those who will ridicule you, you will create very little that is exceptional.

Take the Steps to Create

Look inside yourself today and see what is there that you want to accomplish and look at the steps you have taken today to make your dream a reality. One of the best analogies for this is Noah’s Ark. I think that one of the most valuable lessons this story brings is that we should all follow our hearts regardless of what other people say. Nothing great was ever accomplished by strictly following the rules and only doing what is expected. There will be no motivation to reach beyond your current self and situation.

My challenge to myself is to continue to be my best self, writing my own truths and not worrying about what others think. They have their own issues to deal with, I have to take care of my own stuff. And it begins with building my own ark and doing it to the best of my ability.  All I can do is live my life in a way that makes sense to me. I think that is all any of us can do.

So as you look at someone else who is looking to create their own dream  or masterpiece of creativity, it is not your place to judge them, or to even offer advice but to look and enjoy the beauty of their creation. Perhaps it will be in the inspiration of their action that you will find your own courage to act. You may just become exceptional and build your own arc!!

The video below is about a group of people who created this one song to convince the Foo Fighters to go to Italy and perform a concert. Love the song, and the energy created by the artists. I am sure there were many people who told the guy he was crazy for doing this but he did it anyway and the results were his own arc.