My Yes is My Yes and My No is My No.

Do exactly what you say you're going to do every time. You build a reputation of consistency. Someone once told me that they operate soley on consistency of their word- they took such a dogmatic stance on the issue even so much so that they were short on patience with people who weren't as committed to their words. Let me say this: when you set a high bar for people, you better be perfect because it will bite you so hard in the rear end if you're not. When you are true to your word, you bring honor to yourself. Honoring our word also shows respect to those whom we've made promises to.

What do you really want?

The other day, Im in one of my deep daydream type life analysis moods. Of course I'm evaluating my current career progress and where I'd like to go...I started to get frustrated with the incompleteness of my imaginative visions because the end result is forever unclear...I can't ever determine what the next chapter should look like-every dream is different. Then the thought came to me "what do you want?" Honestly as simple as it sounds, I had never answered that question for myself in terms of my career. Once I started to construct dreams based on my honest desires-stress immediately dissipated and things became instantly clear. What I learned in that moment was to think and exist as if my desires are possible. I'm making the conscious effort not to cancel out great possibilities with limited vision. So for now I'm going to reach for the furthest galaxy and if I only land on the moon and stars then I would have still achieved greatness.

Please, Please Don't Eat My Lunch! 😱

So I know someone who makes a "warning sticker" for their lunch every day...it reads: "touch you die". There are vent exclamation points and a scull with cross bones in case you were still confused about whether or not it was a good idea to eat stolen lunch. Luckily for me I don't have the worry of someone taking my lunch for a number if reasons, the primary one being that I seldom pack lunch and when I do it's nothing my one would want...heck I don't even want it half the time...moral of the story: don't eat a lunch that doesn't belong to you, just fast or go to subway...a tuna sandwich is not worth loosing your life. 

Consistency: the maker of all dreams

How many times have I told myself "this time I'm really going to do it" only to quit before I accomplish what ever flavor of the month goal I attempted to tackle. How is it that even when we know that we are the door way between our today and our destiny that we still remain motionless; stricken with fear and soaked in excuses!? I don't want that life anymore. Have you ever been somewhere and heard or saw someone do something and think "I could have done that" and it honestly be true? Until you actually follow through with what you want to do, your dreams will never develop into reality and you'll forever be left saying "that should be me up there" you're right, it should be you! Get up there! 

I'm going to challenge myself to 30 days of consistency in the following 5 things:

1. Pray every morning

2. Eat at least 1 green vegetable per day

3. Submit at least 1 blog entry per day

4. Meditate for at least 5 minutes per day

5. Dedicate at least 5 minutes to something that will help me grow and develop (blog, book, TED talk ect ) per day 

The idea is that we began the process of conditioning ourselves to be consistent in out endeavors no matter the level of difficulty. Consistency is the maker of dreams and I want all of mine to come true.

The Patient Life

So I found this list on pintrest. I liked it, so I printed it out and taped it up in my cube at work for those days when 5:oo seems like forever away. Although I haven't tried all the things on the list yet- it did get me thinking about the fact that maintaining inspiration and focus can be a full time job. think about all of the things that consume our lives daily: family, friendships, relationships...or the lack thereof, work, people at work, our ambitions...I could go on.With all of these things working to detract or focus and deplete our source of inspiration and since of accomplishment; how do we stay grounded? I want to be a champion in more ways than one and sometimes that strong desire is overwhelming...so much so that I become immobile- stricken with fear and stress about the "what ifs" and no matter how much I self calculate my success odds- the desire to be successful somehow always outweighs the means and resources I currently possess. On those days I feel like a tadpole, growth stunted and forever in the pond- while others have already progressed enough to leap on lilly pads. Sound familiar? we constantly measure our progress against that of our peers...I believe its human nature. I was so tired of feeling like I wasn't enough...or running to catch up with where I thought I was supposed to be by now that I simply stopped. Believe me it wasn't easy...how could something so simple be so hard- to just stop running, stop trying to be whatever it is we tell ourselves we must be and just live and exist in wholeness is perhaps the hardest thing I have learned to do to date. What did "stopping" consist of for me? Extended moments of silence...yes silence; no talking to anyone- instead learning to value my own voice by listening to my thoughts and giving them the respect I had long withheld by giving that respect to other peoples voices instead of my own. Aloneness began the process of extracting value from things where value had been misplaced and depositing that value in places it had never been. <--This felt AMAZING, honestly I don't know how I lived before...I don't think I was living..just existing. There is a huge difference. I see life in things that I once took for granted. My body looks better to me because I recognize it as my own masterpiece- that small ounce of respect changed the way I took care of it, dressed it and even expressed gratitude to it- it also changed the way I allow people to treat it. There is also the component of forgiveness...recognizing that we don't do things right all the time- and that's okay...its very okay. What is most important is that we learn from all of our experiences- good and bad- without guilt but with love. Love allows us to see things differently, with more patient eyes...so for now I'm learning to be patient with myself in support of living life at its fullest capacity.

Solitary Inspiration

When I walk alone I see life differently, beautifully as God intended.

Growing Down

At 26, I’m on a serious journey to “grow down” I have spent most of my life filling a mold- whether created by others or myself…it was restrictive. I credit a ton of things for solidifying this “mold” that I so desperately attempted to fill on a daily. Religion is perhaps the first culprit: not my spiritual relationship with God- but the institution of should and shouldn’ts made me afraid to explore the depths of my existence for fear of breaking a cardinal rule. This leads me to the next culprit: other people’s opinions…let me say that again OTHER PEOPLE’s OPINIONS omg this was a serious stronghold for me-caring about what people thought of me robbed me of life literally…I think about all of the opportunities I didn’t take because I was worried about how it would make me look to my parents and all the other “millions” of people who look to me, up to me or at me sheesh…that was exhausting- I just took a huge breath lol stress was building up just thinking about it! In addition to these things were fear of my own success and anxiety surrounding my need to be perfect. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of articles about being 20something and the importance of not pressuring yourself to produce goal induced widgets but to simply live and take it in…do what makes you happy. So that is what I aim to do: what makes me happy- no fear, worries or stress…I’m just gonna do what I do and see what I see. My hypothesis is that this will increase my level of personal accomplishment and overall happiness- ultimately motivating me to produce twice the amount of widgets than I ever would have under the old operating system. So what is “growing down” ? It is simply taking in life and all that is good, which inevitably causes growth with the addition of exploration unhindered by fear and just plain ol slowing down to watch the sun rise and smell the roses. Don’t be so quick to rush the day with all of these imaginary molds that we create for ourselves…instead be intentional about expressing gratitude and ingesting the miraculous things in this life we are so blessed to live.