Two people walking together...

I learned this from Les Brown.  When two people are walking together, something happens.  One person will either slow down or speed up to match the speed of the other person.  This is true in life as well.  Have you slowed down to match the speed of certain people around you?  Who are the people around you?  Where are they going with their lives?  Are they even going anywhere? 

I have found that when I committed myself to growing and going, I had to work to stay aware of the effect that the people around me were having on my own pace.  The tricky thing with going somewhere significant with your life is that at first you want to take people with you.  You don't want to leave anyone behind.  And so you kind of wind up sticking around, trying to tug them along.  But nobody gets anywhere with that approach.  Nobody.  Yeah, maybe you feel like you've made some difference for them...helped them a little bit.  But what's really happening is you've slowed down yourself, you're spending time that could be invested more valuably, and you're getting really, really tired. 

If people are going to walk with you on that awesome, challenging, fulfilling, empowering journey that is personal development, they need to do it by virtue of their own energy, not yours.  Tugging and pulling people along is not allowing them to light up and make use of their own energy...it's just sucking up all of your energy.  And eventually, you're going to find yourself moving at the sluggish pace of the people you were trying to "help." 

You can love people, be patient with people, and treat them with integrity and respect, but don't sacrifice your own progress for people who simply aren't ready to move...or move more quickly.  Sometimes the best thing you can do for the people you want to help is get out there and show them what is possible.  Be a light in the darkness.  And you know what?  The people who are ready will find you and they will run that race with you.  And everyone else will just watch.  And that's okay.  Who knows?  Life can surprise you.  People can surprise you.  But first, get out there and surprise yourself.