Want It More

"Decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it." - Bill Cosby

What do you want?  Do you want to learn new skills?  Do you want to change a habit?   do you want to meet someone? Do you want to try something you have never tried before?  Do you want to buy something?  Do you want to go somewhere?  Do you want to change employment?  Do you want to start your own business?  Do you want to share with someone? 

We all have wants.  Wants may appear in many forms.  We may get an idea, have a dream, feel a yearning, make a wish or see something we hadn't noticed or thought about before.  Some days they wait patiently to be acknowledged.  Other days they demand to be noticed, felt or acted upon.  Rarely, once acknowledged, if not acted upon, they will slip away and be replaced by a new want. More often, if not acted upon, wants have a tendency to make us feel uneasy, unhappy or uncomfortable with what we presently have or what we are presently doing. They push us to try, experiment, move, reach out, expand, learn and grow.

There may be many reasons we do not act to fulfill our wants and wishes.  One of the biggest reasons I have heard from people I know, and I face myself, is fear.  I have heard fear defined as "False Evidence Appearing Real".  My Merriam Webster Dictionary defines fear as "an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat". However you define pain, it is something that often gets in our way of acting on or fulfilling our wants and wishes to have, to be, to improve or to accomplish something of worth, value or excellence.  

The advice above has come to mind many times over the past year as I have been faced with challenges and decisions.  I wanted a new home of our own.  My biggest fear was that I would get locked into a mortgage and then be unable to pay for it in the future because of a change in income.  I had to decide that I wanted a home we could call our own more than I was afraid of the possibility of change of employment or means of supporting my family.  As a result we were blessed to find a wonderful home we all enjoy.   Just this month I had to decide joining a local writing group and learning from other writers was more important to me than the fear of rejection or misunderstanding. 
As a result I enjoyed a wonderful writer's conference and met some people I am eager to have more contact with. 

I encourage you today to empower yourself. Look at the things you want, decide what is most important to you right now and then push through the wall of fear that has blocked your way.  Want it more than you are afraid. You deserve to enjoy the pleasures, growth and excitement that will come your way.  . 

Starting the Next Chapter

"You can't start the next chapter in your life if you keep re-reading the last one." Unknown

There are so many ways of interpreting this, but today is a good day to think about what it could mean for you. 

Picture attribution: Pixaby free images

Life is all about growing, learning and changing.  Each of these words imply a sense of moving.  Generally it involves moving toward something new, something different or something unexpected.  Occasionally it may mean repeating something in order to make a better decision or find a better solution to a situation.  One thing about life is for sure, it goes on, with or without your permission, all around you.  The next day, the next chapter, or the next experience is waiting for you.

The last chapter of your life happened. You may have laughed or you may have cried. You may have been alone or had someone important to you supporting or loving you through. You may have failed or you may have succeeded.  You may have found some rest or worked your hardest.  You may have forgotten or you may have remembered something or someone that made a difference for you.  You may have learned something new or remembered you already knew what you needed to make it through this chapter.  Whatever happened or wherever you ended up, you finished.  Congratulations.

Like the student who just graduated, you are at a new starting point.  You have been coached, taught and encouraged. You have been presented with a myriad of lessons and experiences which assisted you in learning the skills, gaining the knowledge or improving your abilities needed to begin the next chapter or next phase of life. You have been prepared.  Just like the student you may feel uneasy about what the future holds.  Like the student, you may want to just remain as you are.  You like who you are at this moment.  Facing the unknown holds the possibility of events or experiences which may change you.  Like the student, you may want to hold tightly to the relationships of friends and teachers and the security of structured/planned days.  Instead of moving on you try to keep what you have, or re-read the last chapter hoping to find all the answers instead of turning the page.

Today is the beginning of your next chapter.  It might be only a new day or it may be a new month. Perhaps you are at a crossroad, ready to make a choice of which new path to take.  Perhaps you have experienced a recent life event such as marriage, the birth of a new child and you now have someone new to share joys and sorrows with.  You may have just experience the loss of a companion through divorce or death and now must move forward without the thought of including them in decisions.  Are you the one starting a new job or a facing an opportunity you thought would never come your way?   Whoever you are, what ever your circumstances and wherever you are at this moment, now is your time to turn the page.  It is time to start a new chapter only you can write.  

It's A New Year- Evaluate Where You Are

As I have said before, I am no better than you.  I am a regular human being with strengths and weaknesses.   I experience success and failure. I stumble.  I fall.  I have to pick myself up, rush off the dust and begin again.  I have to pause to reevaluate life and the choices I made or can make now.  I have moments of joy and other moments of sorrow or regret.  There are days when things go well and more days when things seem overwhelming and impossible to get through.  Like you, I have times when responsibilities seem to overtake everything and the things I enjoy or feel passionate about get set on the back burner to simmer or cool while I put out the fires, provide or support others, deal with unexpected setbacks or emergencies or juggle increasing demands for my time. 

Putting my interests and passions on the back burner is a good way of describing what happened the past months with this blog.  I was enjoying sharing some quotes and thoughts which I hoped would lift someone's spirit or give encouragement.  I was able to share on a fairly regular schedule for several months last year.  I loved what I was doing and wanted to do more.   Life events changed, just as they do in yours, and demands on my time, energy and focus shifted.  This blog, unfortunately for all of us, got neglected.  My thoughts were still here and I often wrote in various places, such as a journal or sticky notes something I thought valuable to share with others, yet choices were made to spend my time in other activities, meeting the needs and requests of others, working and struggling to make ends meet. I even took the leap from renting back to owning a home, including packing and unpacking (which is still proceeding gradually), changing schools and all the inherent expected and unexpected differences in time management and priorities which go along with such a decision.

A new year is beginning.  Like you, I am looking forward to not only what 2017 will offer me but what I can do (or wish to) to make this year one of the best, not only for myself but also for others I care about, which includes you.    So just as I encourage you to forgive yourself, I ask you to forgive me for not sharing more these past months.  I pray I will be able to reach back out to you regularly, touch your spirit and support you through whatever experiences come your way during this new year. 

I thank you for your patience and understanding.  I hope that something I say may be of benefit to  you or someone you know.  None of us live life alone.  There is always someone near or in our thoughts.  So feel free to take anything of value you find in these pages, pass them on or encourage someone you know with your own experiences or thoughts.  

So join me in this new year.  Begin something new or go back to something you put on hold for awhile.  Realign your priorities, demands and interests.  Use this year to improve your own or touch someone else with your talents, abilities, hopes, dreams and strength.   Between us, we have the possibility to make this year one to be remembered.