Two Roads Diverged

“You know how every now and then you have a moment where your whole life stretches out ahead of you like a forked road and even as you choose one gritty path you’ve got your eyes on the other the whole time, certain that you’re making a mistake.”

Sometimes my life feels as if I’m constantly faced with two roads diverged. I am always looking for the sunnier, and brighter path. It seems it starts out sunny and bright, but as I progress through it, its endless storms and bundles of troubles. Which makes me often wonder, what if we chose the harder, stormy path? We will have to initially bare the cold of winter, but perhaps a few steps down the road is our haven.  Does it even matter which road we chose? Are we always going to weigh down on ourselves thinking we are making a mistake? I think if we make our choice confidently and don’t look beside at the opposite path, we will gain strength in our choices. But for now, perhaps as Robert Frost says, we should choose the road less traveled.

The Fear Of The Unknown

There are things in life that are so mysterious, yet are so beautiful. We don’t really have to understand it. We don’t really have to understand everything. We just let it be. That’s just how it is. That’s how life is supposed to be.

-MakatangLakwatsera

I came across this quote and just felt it was a piece of the puzzle I was searching for.  I always pay so much attention to every little detail in every aspect of my life. There is not a moment in my life that I haven’t just experienced and let it be. I over think, and analyze every emotion, every pain, every moment. I often wonder how many people like myself, are afraid of the unknown. How many moments do we really allow ourselves to just “let it be?”  Instead of trying to constantly understand the entire world, what if we all just enjoyed the sense of mystery? Sometimes we just need to leave room for mystery, because really, not everything needs to make sense.

Why do you write?

“I write about the power of trying, because I want to be okay with failing. I write about generosity because I battle selfishness. I write about joy because I know sorrow. I write about faith because I almost lost mine, and I know what it is to be broken and in need of redemption. I write about gratitude because I am thankful – for all of it.” – Kristin Armstrong

 

I began to ponder before I found this quote, why do I write? At first the answer was simple, it is a place where I can freely write anything, without being judged. But then I let the question sit with me, deep in my thoughts, and paused again, and did not find the same answer. I write not only because I can write anything freely, but because I am called to do so. I write in good times and in bad, I write on sunny summer days, and on cloudy winter days. I write because it helps me understand things which don’t make sense, and require rereading to understand. I write to remember all the moments so vividly, and precisely as if I were re-experiencing them again. I write so I can recall my growth and remember my struggles, for it is those moments who made me who I am today. But most importantly, I write in hopes that my story will somehow, someway, help someone feel at ease. Why do you write?

Your writing voice is the deepest possible reflection of who you are. The job of your voice is not to seduce or flatter or make well-shaped sentences. In your voice, your readers should be able to hear the contents of your mind, your heart,your soul.”
-Meg Rosoff

Capture the Moment

“I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots.” – Albert Einstein 

I think about all the moments in life I would have loved to capture, not in photos, but on video. Not only would I like to have captured them, I wish I would have been more engulfed in them. I wish I would have set aside my phone, set aside the days calendar, and just really felt those moments. We only get so much time, and we should chose wisely what we allow ourselves to do with it. Its clear to me that I need to start setting time to put my phone away, and really be and live. For some reason, my phone has become an accessory to my outfit, never leaving my right palm. I am constantly connected, and never detached. I want to build this film reel in my head, vividly imaging all the moments I’ve experienced in life, and looking into my right palm is something I wish not to include. I find I am only absorbing half of the moments because i’m preoccupied with my notifications, and flashing screen. I need to learn to power down, interact and fully engage. So much we are missing out on, by only catching half the moment. So find time today to just fully enjoy moments happening right in front of you. You won’t get this same moment again, and you will wish you would have captured it. 

Regroup, and Recharge. . .

“People who do a job that claims to be creative have to be alone to recharge their batteries. You can’t live 24 hours a day in the spotlight and remain creative. For people like me, solitude is a victory.”  -Karl Lagerfeld

Ever feel like you give and give and give more, but always give and take nothing in return? It’s draining and can leave you feeling down, and depleted. Energy is something you are, not necessarily something you have. You need to take time to regroup, and recharge yourself. Most people find taking a break as a waste of time, but it is almost essential for our creative function. You can find yourself accomplishing so much more and see yourself going so much further if you just give back to yourself. Read a book, take a walk, watch a sappy movie, listen to a song that moves you, take a hot bath with a cup of soothing tea. Just do something that speaks to you, something that will energize you. For me, I will put everything aside today, for the World Cup! I am very ecstatic for opening ceremonies and the first game! Hope you find the time today to give back to yourself and just regroup and recharge.

Who are we?

Sometimes we live our lives like puzzle pieces turned upside down – only showing the world our gray sides. Then along comes life, and it starts flipping them over, showing to us and the world more than just the outline of who we are – it shows us the colors. If we can start to turn more over and put them together, we can see the picture of who we really are emerge.

– Manifest

I’ve thought time and time again about the things I post as being a reflection of me. Although we have not yet met, some how there is a strange connection between reading these blogs, and knowing the person behind them. I thought of listing things you don’t know about me, but then I realized that you don’t need to see my driver license to know me. You know what’s deep down inside of me, and you see my depth daily.  It is these blogs and you, who help me turn my gray puzzle pieces around. Your understanding, your caring souls, and your inspiring stories. I am grateful for each and every one of you who take the time to read, and I am so thankful to have you in my life. You are just as important as the friends I text daily, and I hope that in return I give you half of what you’ve given me!

Unfold Your Wings

“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.”
― C. JoyBell C

So often we stay at a standstill, because the fear of looking ahead into something new scares us. But there is some freedom in just unraveling your wings, having no direction of where to go, but jumping anyway. So many of us get fixated on loss, things we are at fault for, and things that were taken away from us. We focus on pain, and tragic events, and we are so afraid to just set ourselves free and instead believe in life. We are afraid because we have lost, and the idea of losing more, scares us. Believing in life allows transformation, it allows for change, and it allows us to find our greater purpose in this life. We have to trust ourselves, trust our thoughts, trust that once we spread our wings fully we will be carried to our next place of our true purpose. Believe in life for it means we accept what was, but are hopeful for what is in store. Shake off your baggage, and unfold your wings and don’t be afraid to soar high.

To Judge And Be Judged

“In order to get rid of your slippers, you have to admit they are yours, and if you do, then they will get rid of themselves…The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don’t. If you keep saying your slippers aren’t yours, then you’ll die searching, you’ll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny.”  -Abraham Verghese

This quote rather intrigued me because I don’t know of many people who can completely “own” who they are. I find that there are far more people who would rather judge instead of reflecting their own energy inwards. Everybody can be judged for something they did, but if we spend all our energy focusing on that, then we’ll waste all our time. I found myself from time to time dividing the world into good and bad, right and wrong, and I thought by doing this, I would steer myself in a direction away from the bad and wrong. But I find now that I just placed myself into the judging category, when in fact it was not my job to do so. It was almost a fear, and being afraid to just love who I am, and own that I am who I am, and it doesn’t matter who I come in contact with. When I judge others, I am also judging myself. Judging limits us and hold us back. You need to set yourself free, and others as well. You have to learn to look inward and be in love with yourself, where you are right now, where you have already been, and who you are. Own your slipper, and embrace the inner beauty of your inner self.

Happy June!

“Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it.” – Buddha

Welcome to June!  With each month that passes I feel like we get a renewal card, like here you go start fresh! We all deal with crazy situations and really it is all about how we look at the situation. At first it seems unbearable, but when we really allow ourselves to work through the motion of it, we find we are stronger than we give ourselves credit for. Whether it’s starting a new diet, a new exercise routine, or getting over a bad situation, try to find the good in it, and let that lead you, and motivate you to push on! Here’s your fresh start, your new chance, to start over! Let’s bring in June with a bang!