Aug 292012
 

“Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself.  Be bold. 
When you embark for strange places, don’t ever leave any of yourself on the shore.
Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory”.    -Alan Alda

 

Today’s lesson for day #3 in the book is to look at some of the dreams that you have.  Pick one.  Ask yourself, what can I do to today to boldly move toward that dream?  Even though stepping out of our comfort zone may be really scary and you don’t know what’s going to happen if you make that step.  It is hard sometimes to take a leap of faith and step out onto the ledge!

I have wrote down a lot of dreams in my notebook, and for some of those dreams to be a reality, I will have to step out of my comfort zone.  I have gotten so used to living day to day life and have put my dreams on the back burner.  The dream that I picked to go ‘boldly‘ toward is starting my own crafting business.  Really it would be mine and my sister(s) dream.  One of many dreams.

Years ago when our children were little, we crafted a lot.  Most of the things we created were used for our own homes.  During that period when we were crafting we used to talk about selling our crafts and my paintings.  We would even sit around day dreaming about it.  We talked about it a lot, but we never actually did anything to leap toward that dream.

My mother brought it up to me again a couple of weeks ago.  She said, “why don’t you paint anymore?”  She went on to say after that, “your sisters and me have been thinking about crafting again, what do you think?”  I answered with a “I don’t know.”  Over the last couple of weeks I have been thinking a lot about it.  So yesterday I went and bought:

  • Paint brushes (which cost more than they used to).
  • Medium sized canvases
  • Acrylic paint

I am going to start with painting, which is something I haven’t done since my children were 7 and 10.  That was a really long time ago!  You know the old saying, ‘if you don’t us it, you will lose it?’  I will soon find out.  The crafting will come in later.  I am going to start painting this weekend.  I have been wanting a large picture of a rooster in my kitchen, and that is going to be the first thing that I paint.  I will let you know ow it goes.

I know to some of you it may not seem like crafting & painting again is ‘going boldly‘ toward my dream, but for me it is a big step!  I scares me to death, because “What if I start to paint and it looks awful?’  What then, do I just give up and forget it?  No I don’t think I will, because after all if I give up that will make me a quitter.  Dreams are only achieved it you’re persistent, and keep on trying even if you fail the first time.  You may fail many times, but never give up.  Right?

What dream do you have that you can do something to move boldly towards?  Have you heard the saying “Go Bold or Go Home”?   I think that any step that you take toward making your dream a reality is a bold one.  After all your putting your fear aside and moving forward.  Is fear of failure holding you back from achieving something you really want to do?

 

(1st picture is by hrwilcox)


Jun 062012
 

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”  

— J. K. Rowling

Do you believe that things in our lives happen by chance, or that they happen because of the choices that we make?  Do you feel like the victim when things happen or don’t happen to you, or do you take responsibility for your choices that got you there?

Whether we have made good or bad choices (or decisions) they are always ours, no one can make them for you.  The decisions that we make will affect our today and our future.  Now I am not talking about the things that you or me can not control or do anything about.  We can however do something about the choices we make in our lives. 

I have made a few bad choices in my life thinking that the outcome would be different.  Only to find out that I should have listened to my intuition and I would have been better off.  Now that I look back on some of the choices I have made, I think myself  ‘would I make the same choices today.’  The answer to that is a definite NO !  I would like to think that I would’nt.  I try to use my experiences in life to guide me today. Hopefully we all do. 

Sometimes when reflecting on the past I think to myself, if I had finished college, would my life be different?  Of course it would!  I would be working for myself or a firm as a Commercial Artist and my finances would be in better shape.  I made the choice to quit going to college, and that wasn’t a very good decision.  That is the reason I am not a Commercial Artist today.  Not finishing college though does not make me a lesser person and what ever career or job I have chosen does not define who I am.

There are different choices I could have made in my previous marriage that would have made my children’s lives a whole lot easier.  I have tried to quit thinking about would’ve, should’ve and could’ve.  After all there is not any benefit in it for myself, my children nor my husband.  I just have to make better choices from now on.

Then we make a decision about something we have to think to ourselves (I have learned this the hard way):

     *How will my decision affect my future?

     *What are the benefits for me (and my family)?

     *Am I making this decision for me or because someone wants me to?

     *Is this what is best for me right now at this time?

The exercise for today from the bookAchieve Anything In Just One Year: Be Inspired Daily to Live Your Dreams and Accomplish Your Goals was to observe the choices that I made throughout  the day and determine if those choices were limiting me or nurturing me.

I can say with all honesty some of the choices I made today are limiting me.  I noticed as I have for a while now, that I emotional eat.  I didn’t do this before, but in the last year I have gained about 10 lbs.  Not a good thing at all.  I was eating healthy before, no cokes, sugar or white flour.  I was eating more vegetables and fruit and happy about it.  I also noticed that I tell myself that it is ok I will eat healthier tomorrow and start an exercise program.  Tomorrow hasn’t come yet.  Excuses!

When I tell myself that I will do better tomorrow and then do not, I am letting myself down.  It is not healthy for my emotional or physical well being.  I don’t sit around and beat myself up all the time.  Well, let me be honest I do beat myself up about it on occasion.  I need to get healthier for myself first and then for my family.  I would feel a whole lot better.  Then I would feel better emotionally and more confident about myself.  

To accomplish this I can make wiser food choices and exercise as we know makes you feel better.  I always feel better when I am outside walking or doing something.  So if another year passes and I gain another 10 lbs then that would be the result of the decision that I have made.

What choices have you made today?  Do you believe that those choices are limiting you or nurturing you?  If so what are those choice that are limiting you and what can you do to change? 

Til Next Time!

Mar 222012
 

 


‘Washing Out the Old…For A New Day’

I picked up this great book “Achieve Anything In Just One Year: Be Inspired Daily to Live Your Dreams and Accomplish Your Goals.”  This book is free at Amazon.com right now, but I am not sure for how long .  I haven’t read a self help book in a long time.  I think it is because I thought I was perfect and didn’t need any help.  (uh uhm :) )  I used to read them a lot when I my children were younger.

This book has 365 exercises, one for each day of the year.  Each exercise makes you think about you, your future and improving yourself & your life.  To achieve your hopes and dreams you must dream, plan & act.  Act being the key word.

The exercise for day one is to carry a notebook around with you for a week and write down dreams you have for your future.  No matter how big or small they may be!

 


‘Dream Big…Nothing Is Out Of Your Reach’


I have many hopes and dreams, but I have put them in the back of my mind and forgot about them for a while.  I guess that is because I was thinking they would never happen, or were too big to actually ever achieve.  I am not talking about ‘dreaming of one day having enough money to never have to worry again.’  Although that would be very nice!

This week I have actually started thinking about some of those dreams again.  I used to want to write a novel.  Yes, don’t laugh.  I started it about 12 years ago and worked on it for a while and things happened and I put it away.  I took it out of a box in the closet yesterday and started reading it.  I believe that it could actually be good.  I know everyone usually thinks that about their own writing.


‘Create Your Own Happy Ever After’

 

You know they say if you ‘don’t use it, you’ll lose it.’  I believe that to be true.  I may start working on it again.  It has lite a tiny spark under my rear anyway.  A spark can turn into a flame right?

I used to want to be an artist, a Commercial Artist to be exact.  I even went to college for it after high school, a University in Tennessee.  Guess what?  Things started happening in my life about the 2nd semester.  I finished one year and never went back.

I know that I can not be a commercial artist, because my drawing skills are not what they used to be.  That was 24 years ago.  There goes that ‘use it or lose it’ thing again.  I have wanted to start painting again, but have not took the steps to go to the craft store and buy the paint, canvas and brushes. That is something that I am going to do soon!  I will let you know how it goes.



‘Achieving Your Dreams Requires Action…Run Don’t Walk’


Having dreams are fun, exciting and make you feel alive!  If you want to achieve those dreams, you have to take action.  You can’t just want to become a doctor and do nothing and expect a magic wand to pop out of the sky, and ‘BAM’ your a doctor.

I am a procrastinator by nature.  I will find 100 reasons why I should do something later.  I have been slowly making changes in myself lately.  They are small changes, but ones that have big results in the long run.  Those changes are motivating me to follow my dreams no matter how big or small.  So what if I am not a Commercial Artist or my novel doesn’t get on the New York Best Seller List!  

If I follow my dreams then my paintings will bring joy to me, and my family and friends.  My apartment may look happier with a new painting or 2 on its walls.  If my book never gets published or read, at least I can say I finished what I started, and of course write another.

You can be your own worst enemy, and I know that from experience.  You have to really be motivated to follow your dreams, because with out ACTION they will never happen!  It’s not enough to just want something, you have to go after it.  You have to take steps, even if they’re small ones, to see your dreams become reality.

I need some work in this area.  I am sometimes afraid to go after what I want and sometimes assume I will fail before I even start.  I am working on that as I said above.  Small changes can make big difference in how you see and feel about yourself and following your dreams.

I hope to get to read about your hopes and dreams for your future soon.  Try carrying around a notebook for a few days and write down your dreams for the future.  Go BIG or small, and see how you feel about those dreams.  I bet many come back to you and you start wondering why you let them go.  Do you have a dream that you are making a reality at this time.  I would love to hear about those too.

If you would like to take that journey with me, I will be posting each step and exercise from the book on every Wednesday and Friday of each week.

 

**I am updating this post, because I started day 1 and 2 and then I just quit.  A lot of things were going on and I just put it to the side.  I am starting this book again and will be posting each day about my journey.  I have big hopes and dreams and it is time I start living them, and what better way to be reminded than to write about it everyday!

 

 

Dream Big!


Picture 1-Ray of Hope by h. koppedelaney,
Picture 2-Impossible dream by h. koppedelaney,
Picture 3-Pen to Paper by mbgriby

Picture 4-Passageway To the Treasure by Stuck in Customs)

 



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