This is your life. Do what you love.

I saw this today on Facebook; maybe you have seen it too. I think it's been making the rounds of blogs and such. I love it! The only thing I disagree with is "Some opportunities only come once." I believe the Universe is constantly sending us great opportunities. The question is, Are you open to receiving them?

This is your LIFE. Do what you love and do it often. If you don’t like something, change it. If you don’t like your job, quit. If you don’t have enough time, stop watching TV. If you are looking for the love of your life, stop; they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you love. Stop over analyzing. All emotions are beautiful. When you eat, appreciate every last bite. Life is simple. Open your mind, arms, and heart to new things and people. We are united in our differences. Ask the next person you see what their passion is and share your inspiring dream with them. Travel often; getting lost will help you find yourself. Some opportunities only come once. Seize them. Life is about the people you meet and the things you create with them. So go out and start creating. Life is short. Live your dream and share your passion.

Take the Foundation of Rock Bottom & Build Your Dream Life

Today I'm sharing something I wrote one year ago after seeing JK Rowling on Oprah. I hope it gives your spirit a little boost and helps your start the week off on a positive note. Let me know what you think!
~

Friday, October 1, 2010

Take the Foundation of Rock Bottom & Build Your Dream Life

I happened to catch the last 30 minutes of Oprah’s interview with JK Rowling today, and it really made an impression on me. Ms. Rowling has faced many challenges in her life, but to hear her talk about how she went from depressed and broke to becoming the author of one of the best-selling book series in recent memory – not to mention a massive fortune and a marriage with the love of her life – was truly inspiring. She mentioned the commencement speech she gave at Harvard in 2008, and the phrase that stuck with me was this: Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

Who among us hasn’t felt like we’ve hit rock bottom at one time or another? Perhaps you’ve weathered the demise of a relationship or the death of a parent. Maybe you’ve been challenged by life with an unhappy child or a demanding boss. Possibly your own inner demons have sent your scurrying to find relief in drugs or alcohol. Whatever struggles you’ve endured – or perhaps are enduring even as you read this – isn’t it good to know that others have gone through tough times, possibly even very similar experiences as those you’re living, and come out of them not just well and happy but truly living the life of their dreams?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t find mediocre acceptable. I didn’t come to this planet to live a mediocre life. I want to see my personal dreams of success and happiness become reality. But how to begin?

I think the path to living our dream life starts with hope. And you can have hope today if you want it. You don’t need money, you don’t need education, you don’t even need to have a job or a home to have hope. However, it is helpful to know, or know of, someone who has overcome adversity so you can use them as a role model. Someone like JK Rowling. Or even Oprah herself, who, from all accounts, had a childhood comprised of poverty and abuse. Is there someone in your own life who’s known tough times yet never given up? Use these folks as your role models and, more importantly, as reminders that change – positive, uplifting, dramatic change – is always possible. Always and without exception.

 
Pick someone to be your role model, and learn all you can about that person. Pin up quotes from him. Cut out pictures of her. Make a vision board depicting your role model and their accomplishments. Remember that this person at one time also hit rock bottom. But they didn’t crash and burn – they bounced. It took guts. It took focus. And it took no small amount of hope. But they did it and they went on to live amazing lives. And if you are determined to make the best of things, you can take your rock bottom – with underpinnings of hope and faith – and build your dream life, too. You’ve got the foundation. The question now is: How high will your dreams take you?

I Look Up and I Dream

I look up into the leaves and I dream, I dream –
Of another time, another scene;
Another life, another way,
Another night, another day.
I look up into the leaves and I dream
Of what was and what might have been.

Dreaming & Doing ~ July 11th

It's Sunday, a good day for dreaming and doing. Today, for the first time, I am going to take part in Illustration Friday. My friend Silke at Metamorphosis has been participating for awhile now, and I think it looks like fun. This week's theme is diary. As soon as I saw that, I thought of a series of photos of my journal that I had taken last year. I've posted one above.



Keeping a diary, or journal, means different things to different people. For me, it is a tool I use to focus. I don't place any pressure on myself to write in my journal on a daily basis. Rather, I wait for the inspiration, or in some cases, the need, to come. Then I pick up my journal and my pen and begin letting the thoughts, dreams, and words flow. I've found that it is a way to open a door to my deeper self and to explore whatever is waiting for me there.



I know that lots of folks resist the idea of writing in a journal or diary. But there are unexpected gifts to be gotten from this process. If you haven't considered writing down your thoughts, dreams, and hopes, I encourage you to give it a try. You might be surprised at what you find waiting for you, deep within yourself.

Edgar Allan Poe's birthday

Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809. One of my favorite poems is his Dream Wtihin a Dream, and so to celebrate Poe's birthday and his writing talents, I am sharing his words with you today.

A Dream Within a Dream
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?


[Photo: Reid State Park, Maine]