What if the impossible was possible?

Let me introduce you, yet again, to a person who refused to accept life as it unfolded, but instead fought through adversities to ultimately have the life she wanted!

Liz Murray is a woman who asked herself, what if the impossible was possible? By doing so, she changed her life.

She was raised in a household where doing drugs was as normal as breathing. But of course, this kind of behavior cannot be sustained without consequences. Both her parents contracted HIV, and later, her mother developed full blown Aids. With her mother now extremely sick and her father in a homeless shelter, Liz found herself homeless, sleeping in the streets of New York City. Every night she lay her head on the ground holding tightly to her back-pack that contained her journal and a picture of her mother. Every night she dreamed of a better life, but the longer she remained on the streets the more she felt as though her dreams were fading away.

 

But then, something happened that would change her life forever. To her surprise, the terrible passing of her mother lit up something inside her. She remembered her mother sitting at the edge of her bed, always talking about someday I will do this; someday I will do that, but someday never came for her mother.

At the age of fifteen, Liz Murray then realized one very valuable lesson, if life can change so quickly for the worse, then it can certainly change just as quickly for the better.

With this way of thinking she set her sights on returning to high school. She hit the pavement applying to schools, but received one rejection after another. However, she did not let this stop her, because while she was getting rejected, she had a thought running through her mind, What would happen if I just kept going! What if? Although I am getting “no’s” the possibility of a “yes” is also out there.

And of course, the yes did come, and now with confirmation that if she kept going a "yes" was inevitable, she set one goal after another.  Her first, to get straight A’s—which she got. Then, getting into Harvard University which she got into. Then a scholarship— which she got.   Because her story was so inspirational, it was turned into a movie, From Homeless to Harvard.

Liz Murray learned that no one knows what is possible until they are already doing it, and that every moment is always another chance.  Her wish for all of us is that we all fall in love with possibilities.
 

This is also my wish for you. I hope that you don't let obstacles get in the way of reaching your goals, but instead let those obstacle strengthen you and give you the push that you need to catch up to your destiny. 

Till next time!

Let it Go, or Not!

How about this, “wanting” to do something is simply the act “of not doing” I heard Wayne Dyer say something along those lines.  I don’t know about you but something in these words resonated with me. Read them again, pay close attention to what it is saying. Go ahead I’ll give you a sec…

Jeopardy Theme Song

Okay did you hear it? Think about it this way, we could literally spend our entire lives in the  "wanting” state of mind and never taking action. Somehow we've convinced ourselves that being in the wanting realm is better than nothing at all, but I feel that if we stay in that wanting state of mind too long, we just might end up with nothing.

If you would, think about something that you've been “wanting” for a long time.  So why aren't you doing it, or having it or whatever. What is holding you back? I am not even referring to huge things. For my girls, how many of you say I want to get a mani/pedi, but you don’t do it.  Instead you say it, you talk about it day after day--sometimes even for months, but still you don't go through with it.

I believe, a lot of the times when we say we “want" something, two things are happening.

1. We really don’t want it as much as we think we do; or
2. We want it really bad but we are terrified of getting it

So in either case repeating our “wants” simply keeps it alive for us, regardless of our intentions. I don’t believe we know at the time of our request which option our desire falls under, but the more time passes and the more our “want” remains in the “want world” it becomes clear which option it  belongs in.

I believe that sometimes we think we want something and we state it, we talk about it, we announce it to the world, but then,  it kind of dies out. BUT, because we have made such a huge declaration about this thing that we supposedly wanted, it is impossible for most of us to back out. So, we just keep talking about it, I want, I want, I want, just to keep it alive. But you and I both know that it’s never gonna happen.

You must put a stop to this madness. If you once wanted something and now you no longer do, let it go (la la la la, can anyone ever again really say those words without singing it, Not I) this is your life, you decide what you want and don’t want. If something felt right to you once but it no longer does, don’t feel bad about it, it's okay.

BUT, if however, you find yourself still "wanting" this thing, and you are simply not doing it out of fear or sheer procrastination,  then this too must stop. Trust me, you will never be able to let it go (ha ha I did it again) you must do it. REMOVE it from the “wanting world” and bring it into physical reality.

Know this, we will never stop wanting things, but it's up to you to  make it happen. I have faith you can do it. So go on, think about it, and little by little start checking things off that list.

My List:  Get Paper towel holder, get nail polish remover, hang up photos…..

Till Next time. And just for fun, let's listen shall we.

Let it Go!

Start doing more of what you love and less of the things you don’t!

I took a short break from blogging to catch my breath. I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the million things I had committed to doing, but what I learned from taking this break actually surprised me.

I realized that I stopped doing one of the things that I loved doing—writing my thoughts.  Instead, I held on to the things that I considered “a must do.”

Week after week I mourned the loss of not blogging and what started happening really surprised me, I started losing steam and certain things fell through the cracks.  In the end, all I was left with was my 9 to 5 job, the one thing that makes me least happy. What was that about?

My opinion is this. When you do ONE thing that you love, then  more of the same will follow. In the same token, if you do something that makes you unhappy, more of the same will follow.

Seems pretty simple right? Yeah of course. But, consider your day, or days for a minute. Do you spend most of your days doing what you LOVE or do you spend them doing things you don’t particularly care for.  Ahhh grasshopper, you see what I mean. I bet most of you spend little to no time dedicated to the things you love.

I believe this is not good for you or your soul. If you’ve realized that your days are mostly made-up of things you “have” to do and you spend little to no time on the things you love, then start today making an effort to tip the scale in favor of love!  Make a commitment to yourself that each day you will dedicate some time to pursuing that thing that makes you happy, that thing that seems to make time speed by. I love that feeling. I find it funny how when I am writing for an hour it feels like five minutes, but when I am at my 9 to 5, one hour feels like an eternity. That is what I am working so hard for, to change my time.

I suggest you keep a journal. Start writing down all the things that you like doing that make you happy, then write down what you’re going to do each day to make sure, one day soon, your days are mostly filled by these things.  

Some people misunderstand this type of philosophy, they think that this refers to sitting around eating pizza and chips all day, “well that makes me happy” they say. If this is what you’re thinking, then you’ve missed the boat entirely. As you can see I referred to my time passing by while I was writing, in other words working… You can work, earn a living, provide for your family and still be doing what you love. Doing what you love is not just about quitting your job and watching TV all day. Doing what you love could mean, wanting to be a stay at home mom, or traveling, or writing.

So go for it. Start doing more of what you love and less of the things you don’t!

Till Next Time!

You CAN do it!

So yeah, I couldn’t stay away for too long, I missed writing down my thoughts.

For weeks now I have been watching the--oh so popular--Dancing with the Stars. And for weeks I have been falling in love with Amy Purdy-a contestant on the show that has been shocking the American audience for weeks now. What is so special about her? So what! You say? Well let me tell you what makes her so special. Aside from being a fantastic dancer, her resume reads:  A US Paralympic Team Snowboarder, Para-Snowboarder, athlete, actor, Motivational Speaker, Amazing Race Contestant Season 21; all this ladies and gentlemen with being a double amputee.  Her unfortunate story is that she contracted bacterial meningitis at the age of 19 which nearly caused her life.  But she did not die, she survived! But she did not just survive people, she has lived!!

In the short time I’ve gotten to know this inspirational person (via TV and the web) one thing is clear to me, Amy Purdy does not know what the word CAN’T means. This word cannot exist in her vocabulary, for if it did, she would not have been able to do all the things that she has done.

Every single time she steps onto the dance floor she literally brings tears to my eyes, not because I feel sorry for her in any way, but because she moves me. She inspires me. She reminds me that we can do and have anything we desire. We just have to know that we CAN. Eliminate the thought of CAN’T from of your head.

Below is my favorite dance of the season, a dance between this captivating human being and Derek Hough. I hope you enjoy and hope that she moves you and inspires you as she has done me. I encourage you to have her same attitude, have a goal, work toward achieving it and live!

Till Next Time!

Goodbye For Now...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I know the news I am about to share with you will break your little hearts, but I have no choice. This is officially my last post. 

Well not forever, just for now. I hate to do this but at this time I just can't commit to weekly blogs anymore. Let me provide the reasons why.

I work fulltime
I go to school fulltime
I am writing a TV serires
I am writing a novel (on the side)
I am enrolling in TWO screenwriting workshops
AND MOST OF ALL, I am starting to do short films

The short film project is what I am so excited about. This is an awesome opportunity and a chance for me to start venturing into the industry. I will share with all of you the films once they are completed.

As you can see I have a lot on my plate, and although I love sharing and I probably will still share sometimes, I won't be doing it every tuesday.  So, if you have been following my blogs, I just encourage you stay positive, to keep reaching for your dreams and be sure to keep reading uplifting material.

Until next time :)

Intellect vs. Intuition

You cannot be anything you want to be!! WHAT? I was ready to pounce when I first read these words in Steven Pressfield's The War of Art.

But then he completed the sentence by saying you are supposed to be the person you came on earth to be. You are here to do a specific thing. If you are following, you can see that when people say you can be "anything" you want to be, the operative word is not "anything" but rather "that you want to be." In other words, anything that is in your heart is exactly what you should do or be.

Now, don't be discouraged by these words. Don't think, well I want to paint, what if that's not what I'm supposed to do?  Don't worry. The fact that this is what is in your heart to do means that this is the very thing you are supposed to do.

We are here to experience many different things and every time you do something--anything that feels right in your bones, then you know you are on the right track. Don't be afraid of trying things that appeal to you, if you want to paint, ski, write or go to medical school then you should.

You see, you're not going to have a desire to write if what you really are supposed to do with your life is be a brain surgeon. If what you want is to be a doctor and if you listen to your intuition, then you will be drawn to medical everything. You will be guided to the right schools, to articles, or even to television shows that have to do with medicine. And, if you don't let fear come between you and your intuition then a brain surgeon you shall be.

Remember you are who you are and you can fight it all you want, suppress it as much as you like, but deep inside you know the truth and until you set it free there will be aspects of your life that won't work, that won't line up.

Don't get trapped by the web of life, follow your heart and your world as a whole will be better. Your family life, your career and your finances will all blossom as a result of your courage.

Till Next Time!

Doubting yourself is detrimental to humanity

After doing a lot of work on myself, I am on my way to accepting that I do have pretty creative ideas. Ideas that I don’t have to keep putting down, ideas that I can accept as providing value to the world, ideas that are just as important as the next guy.

This being said, this all began when I started to contemplate one of my major blocks, which is, telling myself that my ideas aren't good enough.  Any time I have an idea it is immediately followed by that little voice telling me “it’s already been done.” For most people, this is actually one of the toughest things to get past. But in my opinion, this is the dumbest block of all.  After all, is there only ONE mall, ONE fast food restaurant, ONE style of purse, ONE style of shoe? What if we only had ONE option for everything in this world—no variety? That would not be cool. And although I see this clearly now, this was a major block to overcome.

So to this major AND annoying block I say this; we all play an important role in this world, and with our own individuality, we add color to this otherwise plain world.  No one can do “it” like you can; this is what makes you so unique. For example, you can get a burger from many different places; however, each place does it a little differently. Even if the recipes were the same, the fact that a different person is behind the wheel, this in itself will make that burger taste differently.

This mirrors everything in your life, especially when it comes to your career. At times you may think, what’s the point of doing this or doing that because it’s already been done; or, how so-and-so down the street is already doing what you want to do, but this doesn't matter.  Remember they can NEVER--no matter how successful they are--DO IT LIKE YOU.

So take a chance and believe in yourself, believe in your uniqueness and the amazing qualities that come with being you. To get yourself in motion, I believe Oprah said it best “believe, set the vision, and then achieve it.”

 Here’s to overcoming our blocks!

Till Next Time!