To Live

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

Marcus Aurelius

What does it mean to live? How do we even begin to live?

What makes me feel alive is:

  • making my own life choices; big and small.
  • diving into different things that have added American culture and cultures around the world.
  • finding new creatives that make my whole brain light up!
  • finding anything that will light up my whole brain.
  • Annnd people who are excited about their own inspirations
  • spontaneous trips!
  • surprises
  • working out and the post workout pains

I Want to Be Here

I want to be here on this blog. I want to write thought provoking posts. In order to do that, I have to provoke my own thoughts. In order to provoke my own thoughts, I have to set aside time when I have enough energy to think so that I can be intentional about my thinking. Not just free flow (though I need time for that too), I’m talking inspired thought that makes me open a million tabs.

Confession: It is hard for me right now to stay focused long enough or to have free time long enough to even begin exploring.

How can I make sure there’s time in my day to inspire myself? Side note: It really should be everyday.

Faith

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Here’s the scoop, faith doesn’t have to be scary. It can be but it doesn’t have to be. As a kid, I’d go with the flow with everything. I’d let it all flow to me. I’d leave the worrying to my mother. That’s how it’s supposed to be. As an adult we are not only taught but expected to be worried about everything. I think a little worry is important. And I also think it’s important to be proactive. The difference is constant worry about everything literally destroys our health. High levels of anxiety can have a negative effect on basic decision making skills.

I think we should focus less on worry and more on faith. Faith in God the universe a higher power and faith in humanity. Faith is sharing your burdens.

Imagine being the person someone had faith in by showing up and doing your best. You lifted their burden by showing up.

So faith, what do you think about it?

Connection

Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.

John F. Kennedy

Connecting with others is great. It’s something that’s important to me for many reasons. One that comes to mind first is that I remember how alone I felt. I had a great job with an amazing baby girl. I had my own place and dreams for the future. But even with all those things, I felt so alone. I felt sad and ashamed even though I had amazing accomplishments. When I felt alone, conversations with strangers that cared about how I really felt were rare. Even so, every time these positive conversations happened, my hope for the future grew. I felt inspired. I felt like maybe I could make it a bit longer. They way that you connect with those around is more valuable than you will ever know. So if you’re ever wondering how you can connect to others, start with basics. It’s always more valuable than you think.

Success

“Failure is not the opposite of success, it is part of success.”

This quote is for the perfectionist in me! I gotta make sure I’m standing up and taking risks even when there’s a chance of failure. There are times I will pass on opportunities because I’m afraid I’ll fail. It’s not as much these days. As a kid, I was super quiet and always afraid of speaking my mind. As an adult, I’d rather not speak my mind but I realize that sometimes I have to. And just think all those times I thought I said the wrong thing, it was part of my success all along.

Self Care

Self care is a popular thing to talk about these days but it’s trending at a time when self care is at it’s highest need. We are all still surviving a global pandemic.

What is self care?
Self care is when you do things to soothe yourself, find peace in yourself, comfort yourself in healthy ways. It could be saying no to an event. It could be an extra shower or long bath with candles. It could be ordering that new set of pens you think are pretty nifty. There’s so many ways to part take in self care.

When is self care important?
Self care is important when you feel the weight of life bearing down on you. It’s important when you’re well. It’s especially important when you’re suffering a loss. It should be scheduled into your routine but surprise self care dates are great too!

Benefits of self care?
Self care has many benefits. It lowers stress, improves well-being, increases feelings of joy, makes it easier to deal with yourself. All these benefits are great but what’s even better is when you part take in self care, it gives those around you permission to also find joy in their own self-care journey. Self care for you is self care for those around you.

What do you do for self care?

Live Life

I don’t wait for the calendar to figure out when I should live life.

Gene Simmons

I appreciate a good clear plan but not so much that I forget to live. It’s funny, I say that but I do sometimes get obsessed with dates or events, and I don’t do anything until the date arrives. I sort of freeze up and wait for some magical extension of time in a 24 hour period. The truth is that things just shift around and I’m still left with the same amount of time as I had before. These thoughts are a great reminder for me.

What do you do to make sure you’re thriving in your life?

Thirsty Thursday

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.

Zig Ziglar
TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR LIFE – Motivational Speech

Some days I need a little extra motivation. So I type “motivation” in the youtube search bar and click enter. I scroll through and pick my favorite one out of about three. It’s great! I don’t watch motivational clips as much as I used to but they still improve my mindset when I do listen to them. I think motivational videos can be a great tool in life. Over the years I’ve learned that I can lean on these videos too much and forget how to motivate myself independently but at the same time I had to learn how to motivate myself from somewhere.

How do you motivate yourself?

Questions I Ask My Teen

My mom taught me that you have to ask teens specific questions about their day. So in today’s post, I’m going to answer a few of those questions. I forget how important it is to share sometimes.

Favorite parts of my day: There’s three things. 1. Driving my oldest to school. 2. Getting to work with my current coffee obsession Green Mountain Dark Magic. 3. Getting home from work and seeing my family!

What did I have for lunch: Grinder and fries from the VFW (Thanks work bestie)

What will I do different tomorrow: Take some time to meditate.