Tag Archives: Life

Jun22

Happy?

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When I was 5 years old my mother told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them they didn’t understand life.
John Lennon

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Today’s assignment is to sit on the beach and think about what makes me happy and how to get to a place that I can be useful and still be me. I’ll let you know if I figure anything out. Happy Friday!

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the only one who’ll decide where you’ll go.
Dr. Seuss

Jun8

Groundhog Day

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Thank you to Genie Speaks for nominating me for the Illuminating Blog Award.  Yesterday started with an award and ended with an award. There were all kind of great happenings in between too. If I had to pick a “groundhog day”, yesterday would be high on the list.

The best part of these awards are that I get to possibly introduce people that read my blog to some other really wonderful writers such as Genie Speaks. She is one of those writers who always has something interesting to say and says it in a way that you want to just pull up a chair and have a cup of coffee with her. Please take a look at her blog.

Okay, now I have to share one random thing. I am not one of those people with a clear path, my life seems to be the stringing together of random things, but I’ll give you just one.

  1. Share one random thing

I have had many jobs in my life but the one that I am most proud of, enjoyed the most, and did for free, was as area coordinator for an organization that brought children, ages 7-12, to the United States from Northern Ireland, mostly Belfast and Derry, for six weeks in the summer. These kids came from rough circumstances during the most recent worst of the “Troubles”. I raised the funds, placed them with host families and coordinated events and did a lot of promoting. I was even featured on the World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. Most importantly, this experience allowed my family to bring the same girl, Sarah, from Belfast back each summer for 10 years. She has become a lovely young woman and works with a community development organization in Belfast. She always told me one day she would do something to pay me back for bringing her to the U.S. each summer. I always told her to pay it forward. Now she does, everyday.

Okay, now for the really fun part. I get to share five bloggers whose blogs I consider illuminating. To illuminate is defined as to provide intellectual or spiritual enlightenment and understanding. The following people do that on a regular basis:

  1. Nominate 5 Blogs:

             http://zenandgenki.com/

             http://joyfulonpurpose.com/

             http://somethingville.com/

             http://positiveway.wordpress.com/

             http://400daystil40.wordpress.com/

My wish  today is that you have a day exactly like I had yesterday and that you all keep writing!

Jun4

What do you want now?

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“You can’t ask for what you want unless you know what it is. A lot of people don’t know what they want or they want much less than they deserve. First you have figure out what you want. Second, you have to decide that you deserve it. Third, you have to believe you can get it. And, fourth, you have to have the guts to ask for it.”- Barbara De Angelis

How many of us really know what we want? Do you have a clear picture? Do you know you deserve it? Do you believe you can have it? Well then, go ahead, ask for it! Seriously…louder…there ya go! Keep asking until you get it.

I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life.  The problem is that I can’t find anybody who can tell me what they want.  ~Mark Twain

Jun2

Choices and Courage

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Whatever you are not changing,
you are choosing.
 — Laurie Buchanan

As with most questions in life, if you pay very careful attention, the answer presents itself. First subtly, which is why those most ‘in tune’ get the message right way. Then, with a little more force. Perhaps the stain on the ceiling is growing and it’s time to check out the reason for that? If we ignore that message we often get a full-blown catastrophe. The ceiling stain becomes the roof that leaks, which becomes the roof that falls in on your head.  The final answer is now given in a way that we just can’t ignore.

I have always aspired to be the person who got the message at the first whisper. Unfortunately, the reality is that I’ve often been the girl who stayed too long at the party; stuck out the bad relationship hoping it would change and when it did it was for the worse; worked at the stressful job until it made me ill; held the hand of the incredibly needy friend until they sucked the last bit of energy out of me and then were nowhere to be found when I needed them.  I’ve almost always known what I should do, but instead I stayed. Maybe I was always worried that I’d leave right before things got good. Maybe I just afraid to be wrong. 

I hope I have finally learned that staying beyond the usefulness of anything, whether it is a roof or a relationship, is not healthy. It is also not a failure to choose to change your circumstances when those circumstances conflict with what is beneficial to your overall self-worth, self-image, health, or aspirations. Choosing to surround your self with healthy, supportive people and rewarding work is how we love ourselves and it is impossible to create a fulfilling life, in my opinion, if you don’t first love  and care for yourself. Many things, both good and bad, are wonderful learning experiences.  It’s important to know when to let go and move on.

So as I step in to a new phase in my own life I am focusing on trusting my intuition. I am also  trying to remind myself that sometimes even when you’re scared, for whatever reason, that’s not enough of a reason to stop going forward. The safety of the familiar, the hope that sticking it out will be rewarded, or just the fear of regrets, are not enough to of a reason to ignore needed change or prolong the inevitable.

Courage is being scared to death… and saddling up anyway. – John Wayne