Imagine you have to get on stage dressed as a giant carrot and get chased around by a guy dressed as a rabbit.

You’ve got a job. You pay the bills. You just don’t do stuff like this. It’s ridiculous. It feels silly and wrong. 

But, not only do you need to run around with this rabbit, you’ve got to do it as seriously as possible.

Usually to be serious at something, we try and be good at it, or at least try hard to get it right. We roll up our sleeves, ‘focus’ or might screw up our face in concentration. We take things seriously if they are important to us, or when we care about the result.

It may be easy to think you’re being serious, but being serious is more serious than you think.

Let’s go back to the carrot suit. Have you put it on yet? Great.

It’s going to be difficult to take something this silly and make it serious.

But. What if:

You’ve been doing this carrot – rabbit thing for 50 years. It’s not just a one off stunt. It’s been the career of your lifetime.

It’s been your livelihood too. It’s got your kids through college and made a nest egg for retirement.

It’s also been passed down your family line. Your father did it before you, and his father, and so on, further back than anyone knows.

Over the years it’s helped you through your own struggles. Addictions. Mistakes. It’s taught you things. You might not even be standing here if it wasn’t for this Carrot suit.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, you enjoy it. You see the benefit not only for yourself, but you want to share it with others who might benefit too.

Now, when you think of all those things at once, as you’re dressed as a carrot, I think you’re getting a bit closer to what serious looks and feels like.

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And I think we’d all be better off if we did things more seriously. 

Like singing, for example.

I’ve always disliked karaoke, because I’m not very good at singing and I feel uncomfortable looking and sounding bad in front of other people.

But I’ve found the more seriously I sing, the better I sound and the less uncomfortable I feel.

To do something seriously, means to do it totally. You can’t have one foot in and one foot out. That carrot guy isn’t hesitating or doing it half-heartedly is he? Why would he?

It’s a bit like a dog chasing a ball. There’s not much inner conflict, umming and erring or hesitation when a dog chases a ball. The dog is not divided. It just does.

Totally, and seriously.

Also published on Substack