Archive for ‘Inspirational Stories’

May 22nd, 2009

God Wink or Guy Wink?

I don’t know if this is more about signs or that I have a thoughtful husband.  Maybe it’s a little bit of both.  Anyhow, today while I was humdrumming at work, my hubby sent me an email with a photo taken from his iPhone.  I have to admit that it took me several looks to get it, but I finally realized just what it was.  While on his lunch break, he randomly saw a sign that read “Not Too Shabby,” the same title as my sister blog and decided to send it to me.  It lifted my spirits, was great confirmation for what I was doing and oh so sweet.  What do you guys think?  God wink or guy wink?

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May 21st, 2009

Positively Positive

I used to think that you either were or weren’t a positive person. (Spoken like a true pessimist!) But, after reading an email newsletter sent from Beliefnet.com and written by Chris Widener, I realized that anyone can transform negative thinking by focusing on positive thoughts. And in light of the stress and worries brought on my today’s economy, I thought we could certainly use a bit of positivity.  

Widener’s article discussed ways to redirect negativity by focusing on solutions instead of problems and by “keeping your eye on the goal.”  What a simple yet somewhat daunting task.  It’s easy to get sucked in to the way we wish things were instead of how they really are.  Common reactions, “Why me?  This couldn’t/shouldn’t have happened.”  But it’s often that resistance that breeds more negativity.  Instead, remember this moment because you might be grateful for that challenge one day.  Learning to focus our attention on what we can do now to get through it, will help make that day come sooner.

So what do you do to stay positive when life is making it hard to do so?  Some use prayer or meditation, listen to happy music, take a walk, talk with friends or spend moments thinking about what they are grateful for.  Watching Oprah always lifts me up and I also read positive quotes and inspirational stories in books and on websites to keep my positive meter running high.  Either way, I’d say, have fun and do all of them.  After all, life is short, why not choose to be positively positive!

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May 19th, 2009

See Your Life Unfold Like a Movie

Maybe I haven’t entirely let go of my favorite TV show Scrubs yet, because today I thought about another poignant piece featured in the last episode.  J.D. was watching his life as if it were a movie.  Specifically, imagining all the amazing possibilities his future could bring like getting married, having more kids, and making memories with his closest friends.  That image gave me goose bumps not because I was vicariously living through his character, but because it hit close to home.  

It got me thinking about the importance of dreaming and visualizing fantasies of our own future.  Obviously, no ones life turns out exactly the way we want them to be (unless you’re psychic), but it’s dreaming that helps motivate us and leads us to our goals.  

The best part?  You’re totally free to be the producer of your own movie without the fear of being judged or criticized for what you want. That means in my dreams, I can be a successful Carrie Bradshaw wannabe making enough money to buy tons of clothes not to mention shoes and enough time to hang out with my friends on a daily basis and still come up with witty, intelligent copy on a daily basis.  Aw, to dream.  It may not automatically make me a star but it’ll surely give me the chance to be the star in my own future movie.  And that kind of reaction, well that can inspire real dreams to unfold gradually.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=War9m52LrV4&hl=en&fs=1]

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May 19th, 2009

Endings Breed New Beginnings

1 fort mason at night 003The last episode of one of my favorite TV shows “Scrubs” came to its final end recently.  I was oh so sad to see this comedy show say its good-byes and it was a reminder to me about how hard it is to let things go.  And it doesn’t have to be the big goodbyes that are the hardest. Whether we are saying goodbye to a TV show or a friend, ends are hard because it is an awakening of consciousness that life is short with its own inevitable finale.  Some of us avoid ends like the plague by resorting to isolation, not connecting with others, or just by resisting change. I know I’ve been guilty of all three at least once in my life.  So how do we learn to accept endings in the most graceful, beneficial way possible?  By first grieving the lost of whatever that end brings.  Whether it is a saying goodbye to your single self or to your married one, it’s important to fully respect what that ending means to you and represents in your life.  The main thing to know is that change will come no matter how hard we try to avoid it.  But when we can have the courage to accept it, that’s when we gain the most benefit for ourselves and for others.  

The best thing about endings?  There’s always a new beginning around the corner.  Saying goodbye to your older self, means that there is a new you waiting to bloom.  And isn’t that what self-growth is all about?  Facing the tough growing pains in order to be a stronger, more authentic you?  Though no one voluntarily wants to feel pain, it’s comforting to know that through dealing with it, there is a beautiful light at the dark end of the tunnel.  And it’s called hope.  Hope for being a better, stronger, more compassionate and authentic you.  It’s a lot like the quote by Robertson Davies that I received today from Beliefnet.com,

“Extraordinary people survive under the most terrible circumstances and they become more extraordinary because of it.”

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May 16th, 2009

Faith Keeps One Foot in Front of the Other

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I had a lightbulb moment when I realized that ALL people regardless of social status and class, go through moments of uncertainty.  

Though it’s easy to get lost in the familiar tunes of “woe is me,” it also doesn’t really suit your cause.  If your cause is to fulfill your dreams.  I just got this a few days ago as I was typing away thinking about how that BIG space in front of me that points to my future was still empty and I still didn’t understand how I would get from where I was standing to where I wanted to be.  I started to fantasize about all of the successful people in my life and the ones on TV and thought about how they were so lucky that they had life figured out and didn’t need to think about these things like me.  And then it hit me!  They still had challenges like everyone else but maybe that mountain in front of them is that much bigger because they had already climbed all those bunny slopes before then.  What a wake up call that was.  

I thought about Oprah’s story the one that she tells of not knowing whether she could make it on TV and the funny moment when she pronounced Canada CON-YA-DA and started laughing live on camera.  That’s when they put her on a morning talking show and in an instance she knew that that’s what she was meant to do.  It reminds me a lot of hiking.  When you see that mountain up ahead, sometimes it’s hard to struggle and put in the effort especially when there are days you doubt whether you’ll make it.  But I realized that all you need to do when your in moments of self-doubt and uncertainty, is do what Finding Nemo’s Dory says, “Just keep swimming…” and somehow that blank empty space in front of you will transform into steps, tiny at first, but then it’ll become clearer and more certain and soon you’ll be there-right at your goal!

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May 11th, 2009

Riding the Roller Coaster of Life

DSC04751I was off on another mini adventure this weekend, and this time it was with my favorite mouse.  Yes me and the hubs headed to one of our favorite destinations, Disneyland, for the upteenth time.  Though we had tons of fun riding my all time faves like Pirates and Big Thunder, it was a different kind of magic that befell me and that inspires me to write this entry.

It all starts with my love of roller coasters.  Let’s just say though I can’t get enough of them, they scare me to death.  Even though I’ve ridden Matterhorn and Big Thunder Mountain a hundred times, I always get stricken with fear right before I get on.  My husband thinks it’s funny that, for example, I always look down when approaching the gigantic mechanical snake in Indiana Jones because I’m too scared to look at it, or that I get so nervous before any ride even though I’ve been on it a thousand times.  But here’s what’s so magical about it.  I realized that these “rides” were symbolic of CHANGE in my life.  Right before I get on, there’s a lot of waiting which leaves time for anticipation.  And questions such as, “Can I handle this?  What if I don’t like it?” make my palms sweat and my heart beat faster.  I start to question whether or not I’m prepared for it.  Then, I began to doubt myself.  Wouldn’t it be easier, for example, if I just stuck with something safe like, “It’s a Small World”?  Sure, it may be a big bore, but at least I know what I’m in for.  Yet, though there are enough excuses not to try, there’s only one reason why you should.  Because life isn’t supposed to be about predictability and safety.  Life is about living.  It is hard and it is challenging but it is meant to be fully lived.

And so in the end, I always take the plunge.  Although I’m afraid of the challenge, I can’t risk what I’d be missing.  And the result?  Well it’s a lot like life.  You feel the fear and adrenaline as you climb, but when you let go and move with the flow, it produces the most awesome kind of ride.  The kind where you feel alive.  While I was racing through the dark in sharp turns and unexpected dips, I screamed until my voice was hoarse but I was laughing at the same time, and I realized that this joy I was experiencing was not just the magic of Disney’s Magic Kingdom but that it was also about that magical little gift that we call life.

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May 7th, 2009

A Wink in the Right Direction

I first began tracking my “signs” when I read a book called When GOD Winks on Love: Let the Power of Coincidence Lead You to Love by SQuire Rushnell.  It was a tiny little book with a BIG message!  It’s all about observing signs from God which Rushness calls a “wink” that tells you when you’re heading in the right direction.  I actually began taking notice of these signs as far back as 2004 and notated everything from having a water bottle almost hit me on the head when I was extremely thirsty to finding a Masters program in a topic I was interested in while perusing a newspaper.  Five years later, I’ll admit that I haven’t really been dedicated to my search for signs.  That’s why when I had a “Godwink” moment today, I couldn’t wait to share it here.

Recently, I’ve been feeling the effects of modern day busyness.  I often feel like my body can’t quite catch up with my mind.  And the end result?  I get sick and need to take time off to recuperate.  And I know I’m not the only one.  Lot of women feel the pressures to “have it all”: great relationship, successful career, perfect family life.  And as Cher would say in my favorite 90’s movie Clueless, “As if!”  

Recently, I wondered how I was going to continue to work full-time, exercise, write new articles and keep up with two of my blogs.  Then, I got it!  Literally.  I got the answer to my prayers in a package that came from Amazon.com that I wasn’t expecting.  And the title?  The Life Organizer: A Woman’s Guide to a Mindful Year.  The book is all about how to obtain your dreams and written for the busy woman.  I know I must have ordered it, but I honestly don’t remember doing so.  All I know is that I’m grateful to have received the right book at the right time in a Godwink and am SO looking forward to receiving more!

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April 27th, 2009

Taking the Big Leap

John and Sherry did it when they decided to go from advertising copywriters of a well-known ad agency to Sherry working full-time on their delicious blog This Young House.  David Wroblewski nailed it when he went from successful software programmer to first time best-selling novelist of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle.  What do they have in common?  They took that big leap into the world of the unknown.  

At every fork in the road, we have two choices: we can either take the easy road and save our dreams for a rainy day or we can venture out even before we feel ready to meet fear head on and take that leap.  Before I started writing again, I thought that I had to wait for something, for permission, a sign, anything, to make sure I was on the right path.  What I learned was that to do something you want to do…you actually have to do it!  What a concept.  The difficult part, however, is to deal with the fears that starts to come up when you want your dream to be more than something that happens when you’re asleep.  Questions like, “Will I be good enough?” start to creep up.  Right now, I’m working on an article that hopefully will get published.  It’s exciting yet scary.  It’s easier to stay where you are then to take that big leap into the unknown.  But whenever I get to that scary place, I remember that millions of people have already done what I’m doing, and they survived…even better than that is that they lived!

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March 25th, 2009

Hope in a House Plant

We live in a stressful society. Today, the possibility that anything is possible, good or bad, can often be overwhelming. Keeping up with the Jones for example, has now turned into, “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and how can anyone keep up with them. Where opportunities abound and so does imbalance and instability, having hope these days may feel like a second job. That’s why today’s post is of a simpler nature.

It’s the story of a “little house plant that could.” I’ve killed probably every single house plant I’ve ever own, along with my fish. Thank goodness my other pets are still alive. So when I asked the clerk at Trader Joe’s if this plant would be easy, I really wanted to know if it was worth the investment. Would this $6 flower plant last longer than a bouquet of fresh flowers? Well surprisingly enough, I’ve had it now for about a year. This little miracle has inspired me to never give up on my dreams. It’s a survivor. Every once in awhile, it looks like it has taken its last breath, but then it starts growing new leaves. I think it’s a simple reminder of the importance of hope. That when all seems lost, you never know the treasures waiting to bloom, just around the corner.
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