if you need some inspiration....

...here's something for you to contemplate.

everyone has bad days. everyone second guesses their decisions occasionally. everyone gets down. but if you ever truly wonder why you are here, if you battle depression, if you find yourself really struggling, just remember: of all the possibilities for life at your inception, you were the one who made it. this may seem like a strange analogy, but honestly, talk about perseverance! the creation of a life is not an easy task...but for some reason, YOU were the outcome. there is no one else exactly like you anywhere on the planet, there never has been, and there never will be again.

so when you struggle, when you fall, when you fail, when you question....just remember that you are a survivor, and you have been since the beginning. whatever your circumstances, it's nothing you can't handle...because there's a fighter within you.

so make the most of this opportunity called life!
the zygote from whence you came would expect nothing less :)

reflection

vacations are wonderful. they allow time for self-examination. time to slow down, listen to your heart and contemplate what's important. time for reflecting about what you really want out of life, and how you can make it happen.

my most recent vacation was no different. for me, something has shifted.

since graduating from college, i've played it rather safe. my life is comfortable. i have what i need: a wonderful network of friends and family, a steady job, food in my fridge, a roof over my head. most would say my life is a good one...and i wouldn't disagree. but something is missing. i am happy, but i want more...nay, i need more.

i need to be challenged. i need new surroundings. i need to be uncomfortable. i need to feel fear. i need to face the fear. i need to fail. i need to learn. i need to grow. i need to conquer.

when we settle into a routine, it's easy to fall victim to complacency and comfort. the problem is that it's also easy to stop challenging yourself, and to halt in the tracks of your potential. when you have been given just one chance to be the only you that will ever exist, it is tragic not to give your all to this life.

so please. do not waste your unlimited potential. contemplate your end of days and reflect upon what you hope will be your life's legacy. think about it NOW. do something about it NOW....so that when the end approaches, you are content in having served your purpose. no regrets.

two closing quotes from a recent book i read:

"such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves."

"to live every day as if it had been stolen from death, that is how i would like to live. to feel the joy of life. to separate oneself from the burden, the angst, the anguish that we all encounter every day. to say i am alive, i am wonderful, i am. i am. that is something to aspire to."

Ben Franklin

Beautiful:

"We all think we’re going to be great and we feel a little bit robbed when our expectations aren’t met. But sometimes our expectations sell us short. Sometimes the expected simply pales in comparison to the unexpected. You have to wonder why we cling to our expectations, because the expected is just what keeps us steady. Standing. Still. The expected's just the beginning, the unexpected is what changes our lives.

A couple of hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that till tomorrow, he said, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity. You think more people would listen to what he had to say. I don't know why we put things off, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of rejection, sometimes the fear is just of making a decision, because what if you're wrong? What if you're making a mistake you can't undo? The early bird catches the worm. A stitch in time saves nine. He who hesitates is lost. We can't pretend we hadn't been told. We've all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time, heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today's possibility under tomorrow's rug until we can't anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin really meant. That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

Give Me That Mushy Stuff

We're not talkin' 'bout love. We're talkin' about the brain. That big ol' pile of mush that sits in your cranium.

Who would have thought that pinkish-gray wrinkly blob would serve a purpose? (Historically, lots of societies thought it was the heart that contained the essentials of life.)

There is a very curious statement in the English language - "What was I thinking?!"

When it's heard, it seems to make sense. On another level; however, it is the essence of the mystery behind that lump of tissue in your noggin - there is clearly a separate me: the one analyzing the thinking, and an it: the one doing the thinking (brain).

How can it be that there is a distinct difference? Aren't our bodies one, coherent, state? We analyze the environment according to our senses, we make our move depending upon the feedback our brain gives us, and we watch to see what happens. All in one, fluid, coherent motion.

But, remember, you can clearly define times in your life where you weren't sure "what you were thinking."

You DO have the power to control the thoughts inside of your head. You can sit down and analyze what's being pumped out. Where are these thoughts coming from? What are they saying? Why did they come about?

Relax, analyze, and make an assessment.

Are you pleased with what your brain is saying? If not, change it. Your brain is not YOU. It is a tool that is available to you.

Used properly, it can change your world.