As I was walking through the flower garden at the Bellagio this past weekend enjoying the beautiful arrangement of flowers, there was a gentlemen in there with his girlfriend/wife who was less than thrilled to be in there. As he held his beer and his facial expression and body language told a story of complete and utter boredom, my friend looks over and commented to me about going all in. I was so engrossed in the beauty and ambiance that it took me a bit to really comprehend and understand what my friend was saying. As we walked through the crowded casino floor, I started thinking about what was said and going all in. I looked at the people walking by, sitting at the tables and wondered about how much they were going all in.
Going All In
Do we always go all in? We like to think that we do but really we know that this is not the case. However how much are we missing when we intentionally do not go all in? If this man stopped trying to be the macho man he would have realized that the flower garden tells a different story for each of us. Sure, it may not have been his “thing” but at the same time, he was already in there so why not lose the ‘tude and look at hand laid tiles in the floor, the beautiful arrangements of the flowers and share a special moment with his partner. Instead, he opted to try and be the cool guy that missed an opportunity to take advantage of the entire experience.
Going All In vs Appeasing
This gentleman was appeasing. He simply walked into the garden because his girlfriend/wife wanted him to. We all appease as it keeps the peace. We do things that we are not necessarily fond of but there is a difference in appeasing and making the best of it. When we appease we miss out on so much. We have all had the experience of when we dreaded doing something but yet once there when we made the best of it and ended up really enjoying it. When we dwell on not wanting to be there and refuse to make the best of it, we are only hurting ourselves. Everyone else there is having a good time and enjoying it, well except the one person that we find and hide in the corner with and gripe the entire time about how we were dragged there and hate everything about it. Appeasing is not always the worst thing but yet we know that is not always the best.
Appeasing is a part of blogging as if we capture the audience in a way that resonates with them, they are captivated and return. We love our readers and want them to keep coming back. We are aiming to please while at the same time are we remaining true to ourselves? Some posts may not always be what we wanted or intended to write but yet depending upon our goals of the blog or the purpose of the blog, we are many times appeasing the audience. While this may seem a bit harsh or some may say fake, we know that it is true.
Already There
When we are already there, we are there. When we close ourselves off to what is around us, we are missing out. We are not only missing the part with our partner or friends, we are depriving ourselves of something. Sometimes most of all, showing we can adapt and enjoy the surroundings. Sometimes the surroundings are the people that we are appeasing or the people that are all in. The all in what we should focus on. Looking at them tells a story, a story that we create and can relate to. If we are there, “there” is something we can learn and grow from. Even if it is just watching other people, we learn.
In blogging, we blog to gain experience, traffic, leads and notoriety. We want to be successful and be someone that is looked at as a leader. We are are already “there” with writing each post and gaining a new reader each day, but are we really there? Are we giving the experience to the readers or typing words on the page just to say we did it?
Going all in is more than the commitment to just be there. It is taking the time to make the effort to really be there. Appeasing is so phoning it in. While there are things we do not want to do, we have the choice to make. Are we going all in or just phoning it in?
And as I was focused on the garden I guessed I missed missed a part … the people who did not want to be there.
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