Dear blog(s),
I’m writing you this letter to let you know exactly how I feel about you. This has been a long time in coming. We’ve been together for years-7 to be exact! Seven years of an outpouring of emotions, writing to you about everything that’s been going on in my life. read more »
I have a confession to make. One of my favorite indulgences is diving into old diaries. I flip through pages like I’m reading a best-selling novel, staying up late at night to finish them. Once I grew so desperate and frustrated, I took a pair of scissors and cut open the front cover of one of my diaries because I didn’t have the patience to find the diary key.
There’s a jewel in there. It’s the troubled, lost, girl who was trying to find her way through heartbreak, identity-crisis and confusion, or in other words life. When I read about her first love and then break-up, I have compassion there. I want her to succeed. I want her to love herself more than some dumb guy. I want this time to be different. And somehow I keep reading hoping to find that ray of sunshine-the courage, certainty and confidence I’m happy to wear now.
Although I’m usually disappointed and know how this story ends, I still read and reread, hoping to find some nugget of “me.” Maybe this time she’ll do what’s right for her. Maybe this time she’ll realize that she deserves more.
I think about who that girl was. I look through old photographs and see her smile. Think about how beautiful she was and how she didn’t know it.
I know she’s me. But she’s a me I’ve long forgotten. When I reread old diaries, I reconnect with her. I have compassion for her and love her. I’m grateful because it’s her shoes that got me here.
It’s weird and yet so true.
Thought back to who you used to be and what you used to believe.
One thing that rereading my diaries has taught me is that all so-called problems have happy endings. If you are patient enough and if you are kind to yourself, work hard on being more of you, you’ll get there. I only had a handful of pages to wait until my prayers were eventually answered.
The next time you’re feeling despair, remember how far you’ve already come, how much you’ve already endured. When you turn around and look back, you’ll see that you’ve already climbed that mountain and survived it. You just need to remember and have the courage to meet it once again.
photo via incurable_hippie
Since this week is showing itself to be a busy one, I decided to feed two birds with one bread (a.k.a. kill two birds with one stone). I’m taking up a suggestion from one 2inspired reader Bridget by keeping this one short and sweet and by following an friend’s email challenge she sent today. So here goes:
In honor of World Gratitude day, I’m taking part in my friend Lea’s Gratitude Challenge. This means for 21 days I’m going to take note of all the things in my life that I have to be grateful for (something tells me that there will be a lot). You can download the Gratitude Challenge calendar on the website or be like Oprah and write about it in a daily gratitude journal. I’m opting for the latter.
Anyway, in honor of World Gratitude Day, what do YOU have to be grateful for?
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Dream chasing can be exhausting. For one, it’s like going after that unattainable pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The faster you run, the farther away it gets until it’s out of reach. The one big worry when you attempt to fulfill your dreams? You’ll run out of gas, right before you get to the end.
To prevent dream burn out, read these helpful remedies.
There will always be challenges in front of us, more projects to tackle and people to compete with who want the same things. The best thing we can do for our dreams? Invest in ourselves.
Sometimes you know where you want to be but you just can’t get there yet. You might be working at a job you hate or in a relationship that’s not working. That’s okay. You can still get to your dream and live in the moment now, no matter how sucky that now might be.
The time between now and then may seem like eons away. When you’re staring at the gold at the end of the rainbow but you’re standing under some gray clouds and rain, your present moment may not seem as dreamy as you’d wish it to be.
So what do you do to stay focused on your far away dreams?
Stay positive. Watch funny movies. Call your funny friends. And remember to surround yourself with as much positivity as you can stand. It’s going to be rough in the meantime, so at least have some fun along the way.
Stay present but remain focused on the goal. Some days may be harder than others to get through the day. When I was feeling stuck at my 9-5 job, I used my lunch hour to read books on following my dreams and strategized how I would get there. I had a plan and a timeline. This helped me to stay focus on my future goals and prevented me from getting overwhelmed by the difficulties of daily life.
Try to find the silver lining. Maybe your job, relationship, etc. isn’t the greatest, but you’re going through it for a reason. Try to figure out what this situation is trying to teach you so that you can learn from the situation.
In the meantimes are always rough. I know because I’ve had my share. Remember to be kind to yourself during this time and know that like everything else, “this too shall pass.”
Facing Fears, How to, Inspirational Stories, Life, Stories of Gratitude, work | 
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Sometimes I hear voices in my head and no I’m not psychotic. Listen up cause you might be hearing them too. They’re the voices that tell you what to do. But I’m not talking devil on one shoulder and angel on the other (although they might look like that to you).
I’m actually talking about the voices that sound like this, “What makes you think you’re talented enough?” versus “You need to go for it now!” They both may sound like your voice but they definitely have different personalities. Let me explain.
When you have a strong inclination to do something whether it’s to quit a job or leave a relationship, the voice is bold, confident and all-knowing. It’s like the side of you that’s not afraid of anything, that truly believes in yourself, that is unwavering.
However, there’s another side that often comes out when we try to follow our dreams. It’s the voice that’s a bit shaky, anxious and desperate that says, “Don’t do it” out of fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear that we’re not good enough. Fear that we don’t have what it takes, so why even try. It’s this guy, small, insecure and powerless that tends to end up with all the power because we often let it. We give in to our fear and ignore our instincts and eventually he runs our lives.
There’s another alternative, however. I’ve learned that whatever voice you begin listening to, the stronger that voice becomes. If you continue to question yourself, allow doubt and fear to control your decision, the easier it will be for fear to creep into your life. On the other hand, when you face that fear, go with your instincts and listen to that voice, the easier it will be to follow your dreams and your heart.
So the next time you’re faced with a difficult decision or a fork in a road, remember to tune into who’s talking. Then, make a conscious decision to listen to the voice that’ll lead you to your dreams.
Facing Fears, Inspirational Stories, Stories of Gratitude | 2 Comments »
I’m always amazed by what life can teach us. When we’re up, we’re up but when we’re down, it seems life kicks it up a notch and the lesson becomes that much richer.
While I was sick this week, I realized how much I really needed it. Most people wouldn’t pray for sickness, but I think inside I was in dire need of time to rest and recuperate. Instead, getting my blogs up to par, my queries out and articles written seemed way more important than me or my health.
I sacrificed much needed idle time where inspiration is created and sleep for time to write outside of my day job and for what? After a handful of days doing nothing, I got an epiphany when I realized that nothing was loss or gain.
In fact, today while I was still at home recovering I felt sublimely happy and not because I received any accolades, got a great new job, or won me a plum writing contract, but I realized that all of that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I rested, relaxed and read when I felt like it.
I’m hoping this new lesson will stay with me as my fever dies so that I can bring new appreciation to my life, one that’s not about trying to “make it” in this crazy world of ours. All I know is that feeling unsick is the best feeling ever and if I can remember how important THAT is, everything else will go by the wayside…
I’ve been out sick, out of commission for two days now, drinking my 7-up, OJ and chicken noodle soup, hoping to get back to being inspired. And it got me thinking…why is it so hard for us to listen and take care of ourselves when we’re healthy and especially when we get sick?
In between resting and blowing my nose, I started thinking about how smart our bodies are in telling us when we need to take a break. I, for example, began feeling tired from last weekend but I kept forcing myself to work my day job, go to the gym and then come home and start writing at night. The effects left my wrist sore, my eyes red and me feverish by Thursday evening.
Spending time at home doing nothing, I realized that there will always be more things to do at the top of my to do list, but that taking time to relax should be a priority. So my challenge for you is to take some time whether it’s 5 minutes or 15, to spend time doing nothing. Get comfortable sitting in silence and see what kinds of things come up for you.
I think we need to disconnect and tune out from the technological world we live in today and take some time to just be. You might find it uncomfortable or you may find that it brings you peace. Just try and see. Who knows? It might become a part of your routine and prevent you from getting a full blown sickness like me.
