“Doing what you want to do is the ultimate prison. Doing what you need to do is the ultimate freedom.”
-Tao Te Tzin

Every day, there are things we need to do.

We need to breath. We need to drink.

We must eat.
We have to work, and then we have to rest.

We do these things to survive, but we can do more than just survive. We can learn, we can improve, we can be inspired, and we can create—this process gives meaning to our lives.

A person who stops drinking water will die quickly. A person who stops working is not so lucky.

Work gives us life, it gives us purpose. Work teaches us to feel and to appreciate what is real. Work allows us to experience the exhilaration of real feeling.

Whatever we do, it has to be done right. If we do it wrong, we have to work twice as long and twice as hard to fix it.

We must do something at a professional level—this is the way we help ourselves. True wealth does not mean you have money in a bank account—it means you can do something that people value. If you have something real to contribute, you will always have the ability to support yourself.

If we are lucky, we have people we love and care about. Sometimes, doing something important for a loved one can come naturally and effortlessly. Sometimes it is difficult—but we need to do these things.

We can support people, or we can burden them. If we want to support someone, we need to first and foremost work for our own benefit. We must take care of our own health, our own well-being.

If we do not develop and sharpen, we will dull and deteriorate. If we neglect ourselves, our survival becomes a burden to ourselves and to others.

How much time do you have in the day?

When you do everything that needs to be done, something more will present itself...is it a chore, or a pleasure? Is it below you, or does it honor you? If it needs to be done, does it really matter?

There is always more to do. This is a blessing and a curse of our existence.

How much time do you have in a day?