We’re excited to post the first of our six Legacy Project contest winning entries! We’re beginning with the elders who shared their own wisdom. Then we’ll post the three young people who offered what they have learned from their elders.
Our first runner up entry comes from Art Pereira. He highlights the importance of “just starting.” And he’s right – we could
accomplish so many things if we would just take the first step.
If you have an idea, any idea, begin working on it. Just start. Start anything, start anywhere, though starting at the beginning is a good idea. Too many times we don’t start or begin because we already have this notion that it is not going to work or it will fail. And so, we don’t start because we don’t want to waste our time on it and fail.
Don’t worry about failure. If you start on it, anything, you can figure out whether you are making the right moves as you go along. It does not need to be perfect or pretty. You will make changes as you go along. But if you don’t start on it, you will never know how to make it work and it will most certainly have failed before it got off the ground. So be brave, be the one that made the decision, be the one that opened the door for everyone to walk through, be the one to start.
Just Start.
I’m been involved with producing a documentary filming older adults ( which I am one at 75) who were children during WWII. Our stories need to be told as our generation experienced loss and sacrifice. We had parents who experienced the Great Depression.
My thought for getting starting is this: begin examining the real things you like to do, I’m not talking playing tennis, golf, the theater – I’m talking real basic things that comprise who you are. For me it was real simple. I love connecting with people of all ages, I love learning, and I love a big old fat all consuming challenge! Hence, I decided to make a film without any experience.
Talk about a challenging journey. This is the most challenging, all consuming project I’ve ever done and I’ve done some big ones. My thought – dream big, work large, step out into uncharted territory, accept the down times, and kept right on developing until your passion and purpose become clear to you.