Be the change

Many of us are familiar with the saying: Be the change you wish to see in your world. It coincides with my Dress for success post because, if you want (more of) something, you seek to attract that very thing. Consequently, if you want more love in your life, be more loving. If you want more peace, be more peaceful. If you want to see more compassion from others, you’ll be more compassionate. Feeling misunderstood? Be more understanding. So often it is another person we wish to change, but we may as well beat our heads against a brick wall for the good that will do. If we can only change ourselves and our circumstances, then it is up to each of us to become magnets for the change we desire within our small frames of influence. The more we focus on being what we want, the more we’ll bring about lasting, positive transformation in and around us.

What change do you wish to experience in your life?

[Image credit Stuart Miles and freedigitalphotos.net]

Creating our own luck

Balance—that elusive entity that twists and turns and topples more than it should with a name like balance. It seems to always be out of my grasp; however, I recently learned you cannot find balance, but rather you must create it. And out of the same thing we all begin with—1,440 minutes, or 24 hours—in a single day. Yet it appears my quest for a balanced life in 2015 looks more like a hodgepodge of personal development classes and “how to” be fitter, happier, healthier, etc. To that end, I’ve been taking dance lessons, practicing more yoga, decluttering and decrapifying my home, playing in a brass worship ensemble, attending volunteer seminars and author readings. Most recently, I participated in a workshop called “lucky in life,” which centered on the law of attraction and how to consciously create the lives we desire, crafting vision boards to jump start our dreams—even if they just begin with balance.

What’s your secret to living a lucky, balanced life?

[Image credit Iamnee and freedigitalphotos.net]

Wanting and doing are two different things

The saying, “It’s not about having the time, it’s about making the time,” is not a new idea. As I focus on the concept of balance this year and what it means for my life as far as work, play, fitness, relationship with self and others, as well as the pursuit of my dreams, I’m reminded that if I want to do something, it takes more than desire; it requires deliberate planning. When I don’t set aside time to tackle the task at hand, something else is bound to be more appealing or easier or convenient. Just like I make a regular commitment to practice the yoga, which can fill up 2½ hours of my day including the commute, I must pencil in time for the other priorities in my life—whether it’s journaling, deepening my connections with family and friends or decluttering and decrapifying my home and my life (see https://miscellany14.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/the-40-bags-in-40-days-challenge/). If it’s important enough, I will make the time.

What will you make time for today?

[Image credit Stuart Miles and FreeDigitalPhotos.net]

My starting point begins now

 

[Image credit: pixtawan]

The starting point of all achievement is desire…
Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount
of fire makes a small amount of heat.
~ Napoleon Hill

A few years ago, I started this blog to chronicle my journey as a “non-traditional” undergraduate student, then as I changed careers mid-life after graduating from college. Next it became a forum to ramble about anything and nothing. Over the past several months—years even, I’ve felt restless, like I was on the cusp of a big change, a new season—the butterfly awaiting its metamorphosis. This feeling grew into an idea, followed by desire to embark on a different journey. I invite readers to join me as I work toward getting accepted into grad school, and whatever happens beyond, while I juggle this thing called life. I’m ready to put the old adage and my belief to the test that “it’s always the write time to teach an old dog new tricks.”

When does your starting point begin?

I can’t get no satisfaction

[Image credit: digitalart]

What does not satisfy when we find it,
was not the thing we were desiring. ~ C.S. Lewis

During one of my recent sessions at the gym, my trainer and I discussed our dissatisfaction with our bodies. Armando commented on the muscle he’d lost, while I lamented the excess skin on my hips (you’re a woman, you will always have that). He went on to say that no matter how much someone weighs, whether 300 pounds or 90 pounds (or somewhere in between), they’re still not happy. I recently wrote an article about body image for In With Skin magazine and touched on the topic of being comfortable in our skin. However, I think it goes even deeper than that. I’ve had friends who say they’ll be happy as soon as they get a) a new dishwasher, b) a different job, c) more money or d) whatever “the” thing may be. But then, like what happens with lost weight — the appliance is in place, they’re working for a new boss doing what they enjoy and they’re making more money — they’re still not happy. Instead, they’re looking for the next “fix” guaranteed to satisfy. Perhaps C.S. Lewis had it right: maybe we just haven’t found what it is we’ve desired all along. But once we do, we will know beyond a doubt.

Are you easily satisfied, or are you always seeking more?