Tuesday, August 23, 2005

A "Fire in the Belly" or a Burning Desire to Excel

Do you have "fire in the belly"?

Some of us, at least when we are younger, have a fierce desire to excel at something, be it a career or sports or music. Someone in my family was a basketball nut growing up and he definitely had "FITB" to play well and gain recognition for it. He achieved a degree of success, and was well known in some circles for his prowess. His son was taught everything he (the dad) knew about basketball, but the son lacked the "FITB" necessary to excel, even though he had all the physical requirements necessary to be a good player. He still plays ball occasionally, but it is pick-up ball and he mainly enjoys the exercise and camraderie. His basketball playing is not about competition. He never did light that fire, even though his dad stacked up those logs, placed the kindling just so, and proffered the matches.

How about you? Did you ever have a fire in the belly for something?
What did you to to make that dream come true?
Did you succeed?
Has the fire gone out?
If so, what could (or would) you do to light that fire again?

6 comments:

OldHorsetailSnake said...

This is too much like work!

I DO know that when the doctor took my prostate out of my belly a lot of fire went with it. Ho ho har de har har.

Jamie Dawn said...

Hoss cracks me up!
I was a singer until my throat surgeries, but I still desire to sing again, especially with my family who are all musicians and singers.
I love to write, and blogging gives me an outlet for that.
The main desire of my life has been to have a healthy, happy family. Though we're not perfect, our family is wonderful, and I will always have a FITB for it and everyone in it.
Also, I have a FITB to lose 20 - 25 pounds (I'm doing well so far) and to start exercising more. I hope that fire doesn't go out.

brendalove@gmail.com said...

Judy - I think I need an all-around FITB fire-lighting. What does Cayce say about motivating?

BTW - what is the best Cayce book? Not a book about his life...I want a book that discusses the readings in some depth.

Raehan said...

Fire in my belly?

I get it lots. I always have to have at least one fire going. Otherwise, I get bored.

My current fires: my kids, and working to become an archivist.

Past fires: desire to see the world; and study history.

The best way to do it is to just jump in and don't think. You'll be forced to swim to your destination.

Daisy said...

I always had the dream of finding a perfect guy, having a family, a home with the white picket fence and to live happily ever after. I wanted the guy to be the perfect father that went to all his kids' functions. I got a guy and had the family. Turned out the guy wasn't perfect (wasn't any where near perfect). He was very self absorbed, did everything for himself, did not go to any of his kids' functions (EVER). He was very controlling and verbally abusive. The fire went out years ago. I felt like I was only existing. I feel that my marriage was a complete failure. I had two daughters and like I said, their father was not there for the girls or me. Those girls were the light of my life and I did everything for them. I think I over compensated for the father that was always too busy. Does the song "Cats In The Cradle" come to mind? I finally got the strength and courage to leave after 31 years of marriage. The girls (who are 25 and 21...they are not young children!) now are butt buddies with their dad and pretty much ignore me. The fire has been lit again. I have found a wonderful guy who treats me like a queen. Ask me if I would leave dipshit again and I would tell you in a heartbeat. Even if it means losing my girls.

Panthergirl said...

I am a "fire in the belly" kind of person, to an extreme. I get something in my head/belly and act on it immediately, sometimes with less than glorious outcomes (three marriages come to mind).

However, one of my projects was becoming a childbirth educator and labor assistant. I was determined to do it, aside from my day job, so I took a correspondence course for certification and began to work with a local doula group. This was in 1997 and I stuck with it for about two years, until it just became too much with everything else in life.

The fire (my passion for educating women about childbirth the way it was meant to happen) has not gone out, but my desire to do this as my life's work has. Maybe it's something to fall back on when I'm retired. Who knows?

Good question, though!