Goodbye July

The soft breeze is like a melody that I have known for a long time, but am now just becoming acquainted with. The days that have passed have left me feeling that anything could happen, that my imagination is a powerful tool in the strengthening of my heart. In the past week, I have witnessed the unexpected and had the expected pass me by. I have created new dreams and listened to what they had to tell me. I know that there will be brighter days in August. July has been a strange and unsteady month.

I have the best feelings about August. I know that it will be the month that everything changes and the chaos dies down. Seeing Hanson perform live again will bring a major spark in my heart...I know this from experience. The other pieces of my next journey will unfold themselves accordingly. My good feelings will be restored to the point where the negative ones will be released, at least for a while. I look forward to having a schedule again and pouring all of my heart that I can into life. I’ll be waiting for all those lovely little stars I have missed at night to reappear in the sky again. My friend saw a shooting star the other night in Africa, and this has inspired me to wish to see a shooting star of my own. It would be the perfect way to welcome the magical month that lies ahead of me.  

Time

I’ve never mastered the art of making the most of my time. I feel as though I have come close, but then worry or other interruptions get in my way. All too often, the clichés of living in the moment and spending each day as though it were your last make the most sense. The challenge is to allow yourself to experience the moment without looking to the past or the future. It’s not easy to slow down the thoughts that are racing through our minds every minute. We hold off doing what most excites us because it equally scares us, and even when we least expect it, hesitating can lead to regrets. We convince ourselves for a while that we will take care of what we desire to accomplish someday, believing that we have an unlimited number of days set before us. Then some event or circumstance comes along to remind us that we may not have as much time to wait as we had thought.

When we have a goal, we often want to accomplish it within a certain time frame. There can be distractions and disappointments that occur along the way. I think that what matters most is that even if you give in for a while, you never give up completely. Keep trying, and go for what you want. Time is a gift, but it takes time to accomplish something great. The best you can do is use it to your advantage. Never take for granted those who have been there for you every step of the way, and don’t give any more attention to those who would bring you negativity energy and try and bring you down. Be grateful for the amazing people in your life, and let them know just how amazing they are. The time we have to use our gifts and to love those who surround us with their light is the most precious of all.

Stay True to Yourself

I know that this is a cliché topic to write about, but this week has taught me exactly how important it is to stay true to yourself. I think that the key to succeeding with any type of goal that you may have in your life is stay on track with who you really are. Don’t allow the opinions of others to veer you off of your path. Never be convinced that you can’t achieve something that you are truly passionate about. If you stay long enough with that spark in your heart, eventually it will ignite into something wonderful. No matter what the obstacle, we always have the choice to keep trying.

Learning to trust ourselves can be the hardest part of achieving what we want. I think of it as an adventure in trial and error. It has become a little easier for me the more life experience I have gained. I try to create and to write fearlessly, because I know how important it is to share your truth. I want my words to touch the reader and hopefully inspire them, but I know that in order to do that, I must not hold back. In the past, I have placed restraint on what I wrote for fear that it would be misunderstood. But over the past few years, I have come to realize that even if no one gets the message, at least I have poured all of myself into my art. At the end of the day, the mark I have left on the world will be an honest reflection of my heart, take it or leave it.      

Strength

What it means to be strong can be defined in many different ways. You can’t have courage without strength. Many of us believe ourselves to be weak if we experience any fear or anxiety at all. But feeling this way is how we are propelled to push onward and find our way through a challenging or difficult situation. To be strong can be as simple as holding on when all that’s going on around you suggests that it would be much easier to let go. Each time you’re faced with a new obstacle, you become stronger because you have grown and are able to deal with situations in a way you didn’t know how to do so before. Although it may appear as though you are being knocked down again, more times than not you are actually at an advantage because of the strategies of survival life has taught to you.

I admit that I have dealt with stressful events with a lot of over thinking and emotion. But I noticed that as I have gotten older, I have become more capable of finding my way through the fog and not allowing it to cloud my judgement. In knowing myself better and trusting my heart, I am no longer held down by unnecessary doubt. I still have my bouts with it occasionally; however I am now able to remind myself that it doesn’t do me all that much good in the long run. I’ve had more practice with taking things one day at a time. I still struggle with my patience and have to keep working on trust, but I’m willing to keep trying and moving forward because I know how worthy the rewards can be.         

A Lighter Mind

Last night I loved the sight of the lightening bursting across the sky, my own little show from the night. The perfect storm to send me off into dreams that I hoped would be pleasant and not strange. I forgot most of my dreams anyway, lately they have come back to me in fragments throughout the day, but so far I haven’t recalled any details. I was feeling restless, so I went over to the L.O.V.E. office this afternoon and spent a couple of hours with a few of my favourite youth. I always walk away from those meetings with a smile on my face. I’m grateful to be part of an organization that is involved in so many wonderful projects and it’s a comfort to have them in my life. I’m really looking forward to the fall when I’ll be attending program again.

It was important for me to get out of the apartment this week and refresh my mind so that I have more to write about over the next couple of days. I find that the busier I become, the more relaxed I get, especially when I’m in the company of others. Living in your head for too long a period of time can cause you to become overwhelmed. Sometimes, all that it takes is reaching outside your own front door to discover what could be waiting for you. I hope to come back to my writing with fresh ideas and that I can use my words to release what I hold inside so that I might come away with a lighter mind.

Peace

There is this whisper in my heart that says that living is peace could be so easy. That doesn’t feel true in the world we live in today. I’m saddened by all the senseless violence and hate, the living from a place of fear and distrust. Why does it have to be so complicated to live from a place of good feelings and love? I try to think kind thoughts for at least one person every day, because I want them to have the best that life has to offer them. I try to forgive as long as it doesn’t bring me down...I have this need to know what makes someone say or do something hurtful to another. There are times when I just can’t find the reasoning, so I have to let it go and move on. I want to spend as little of my energy on negativity as possible.

I wish that gratitude was stronger than greed. Family and friends should be the most important part of our lives. Doesn’t that make more sense? The material things that we purchase with that money don’t last forever, but the relationships we build, when strong enough, are with us forever. They help us to carry on through the difficult times; they lift us up, inspire us, and change our lives. Those we love are the reason we are able to release the beautiful works of our spirits and let the best of us shine through.

I dream of a world where we all come together and cherish what we have. In a time where you never know what might happen to you or someone you care about, embrace what they bring to your life and make sure that they know how grateful you are to have them. Support and encourage one another in each and every little dream. Enjoy the moment and try not to focus on tomorrow. Don’t believe that we can’t create that sense of peace around ourselves in some small way each day. The more we give and the more we live from that place, the faster it spreads...