Cobbled from the Greek eu ("good") and daimon ("spirit" or "deity"), eudaimonia means striving toward excellence based on one's unique talents and potential—Aristotle considered it to be the noblest goal in life. In his time, the Greeks believed that each child was blessed at birth with a personal daimon embodying the highest possible expression of his or her nature.
One way they envisioned the daimon was as a golden figurine that would be revealed by cracking away an outer layer of cheap pottery (the person's baser exterior). The effort to know and realize one's most golden self—"personal growth," in today's lingo—is now the central concept of eudaimonia, which has also come to include continually taking on new challenges and fulfilling one's sense of purpose in life." Gabrielle Leblanc, writer and neuroscientist in Washington, D.C.
Strange that this article found its way to me because this is precisely what I am attempting with my life - striving to do my very best with the skill that I have. Too often we live our lives conservatively and safely because that's the only path that we know........and I'm not saying we should always live life out on the ledge of danger but having one skill go by because of immaturity and fear, I'm not prepared to let this one go so a little time out on the ledge is going to be GREAT for me.
When I was a teenager, I had a literary skill/talent. Of course age and immaturity distracted me and I didn't realise that this was a skill or talent that I could have made my career. I should have become a journalist. I know this now. However, teenage life distracted me and I never really gained it back again. Now, some folks say it's never too late but some things, like a career in journalism, is a young person's game and I let that boat sail away, sadly. The positive side is that I've had a genuinely fantastic life so only very minimal regrets.
BUT...*pointy finger up in the air*....The Universe has generously given me a second chance to explore and do with my photography. This is a skill I've uncovered over the last few years and now, with the valuable gift of maturity having been firmly ensconced upon my wobbly little head, I have a strong and undeniable urge to make the most of a newly discovered skill. Although still in it's developing stage, it's a calling from within. On occasion, if you listen carefully enough, you may hear it as a low whisper but, inside me, it's a thundering roar that I can't ignore!! How lucky do I feel that I have found something else that I can be good at?
Without sounding like I'm having a religious experience, I am TRULY grateful for this opportunity because it feels like I'm on a new ride in Luna Park that no-one else has tried yet. It feels new and adventurous and pioneering and, in a way, it is that for me.
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