Sprinkles A Must ..............

                                  It Starts With A Dream.........

Recently had a great conversation with a friend! I explained my theory of filling parts of your days/ nights/ weekends, whenever you can.... with things that feed your soul and adds purpose!

As a result it makes the things you don't want to be doing....work, errands, housework, you name it, a bit more do able.  For example while at work and wanting to be doing something else, I have started shifting my thoughts and taking a portion of my earnings and designating it for goals. Gives more meaning to putting in time at work, knowing a piece of it has a bigger meaning than just paying bills of now.

So for me, of late, it has been daydreaming and goal setting my future filled with a bit of entrepreneurship, touching lives and artful endeavors with my live in artist in residence, I love calling my husband!

My thought is this...whatever I want to do with my life needs to start with desire...sprinkled with daydreaming, believing, planning and a notebook to capture it all. From magazine clippings, to spewing ideas and capturing them in words, to saving money along the way....I'll get there...and either way, the process is a whole lot of fun and more what it is about!!! 

So get to sprinkling Dear Readers. It's a great way to Connect With Your Life! 

Get Lost...............

       Make it a point to get lost in the clouds ........

Lost in a dance....

Lost in a kiss......

    Because when we get lost......we can really find ourselves!

Patio Pleasures..............

Getting unstuck this morning!

My previous post spoke of getting stuck in our lives! In order to "snap out of it" we need to make conscious choices. Now I'm not talking overhauls...that's a whole other direction (that I mentally play around with and will write about at another time). 

I'm talking about small tweaks to our day that makes us smile, adds levity to the mundane and brings a bit of joy to both ourselves and others....we are just more pleasant to be around. 

Today I made a choice to get up a bit earlier to sit on the patio (after smiling in bed with my eyes closed and committing to making an effort today...which only makes sense if you read my previous post) 

That 15 minutes on the patio, feeling the coolness of the day (expected to hit 90 degrees today) watching a tiny brown squirrel jump from tree to tree and a bunny eat my perennials (REALLY bunny??? ok....happy place....happy place) allowed me to be in the moment and provide something for me to draw from later in the day.

Find your little somethings, Dear Readers! Feel the moments of joy they can bring...The choice is yours!

Finding Change.......

Taking a ride..to change the scenery

There are many ways to get stuck! In mud, in a situation, in traffic or how about stuck in a zippered dress in a store changing room that you really thought you could squeeze into?!... No! me neither on that last one!

The STUCK I am talking about today is..... in Life! That's me every once in a while! Hadn't originally realized it on my own, but in fact I was.... stuck in the routine of my days, just going along and not hearing the whispers. The whispers of gratitude and inspiration go missing, so I had thought....in fact they were there all along!

During one of these times a Dear Friend said to me "you're stuck"! and it resonated a big 'ole Cher in Moonstruck moment..."Snap Out Of It"!!! (see that clip here)

Dear Readers, we all get stuck and I believe we all have the ability to ease those times....I have found incorporating simple tips into my day, the stuck times are less frequent and the less stress is greater! Worth a try?   Here's one I like... smile upon waking in the morning (ideally before opening your eyes) feel that quick moment of silliness and commit to making an effort to approach things differently today! 

Throughout the day, allow yourself to take four seconds to decide before something bothers you. Consciously decide... is it worth it?? Letting it go will deposit "change" into your emotional bank to draw from. The more you deposit clearly the more you have!

In my next few posts I will share suggestions for you to consider adding to your Life! Together we've got this ~  Connect With Your Life!

Cheers!
Maria

The choice is yours.....the beauty in doing so?....it comes back to you and you want to do it more!

Pursue Your Aspirations............

"It is about you living with a sense of greater freedom to express your voice and pursue your aspirations!"  ~ Author Tara Mohr 

The above sentence jumped off the page while reading Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission, Your Message. I felt an immediate connection and empowerment!

There is a cautiousness, that comes along with expressing yourself! It is in the letting go of the notion that others need to approve, understand or accept, that allows for a sense of true freedom to ring. For me, if my choices come from a place which includes, consideration and compassion towards others, I will be on the right path for me.

I share the sentence with you Dear Readers, in the hopes that you too find freedom to express yourself and pursue your aspirations. And remember, it is the questioning, discovering and trying new paths, that we truly grow and find our voice and aspirations! It doesn't happen overnight, it doesn't happen easily and it certainly doesn't always look pretty....but what IT DOES, is come from a genuine place within..... and following your heart is the best place to start.

Stronger for doing so  ~ Happier for doing so ~

Found....

Yesterday at 6:18 AM I found myself and thought I should reveal my location since I haven't been posting lately.

Being out of sorts, due to "Life coming at me", at what feels like rapid fire, I have felt overwhelmed....functioning certainly, but feeling lost just the same. Flipping through a book I randomly picked up off my bookshelf, I found a folded photocopy of a book page, tucked between the pages....just waiting to be discovered!

The first two paragraphs provided me insight and comfort as I interpreted the words in front of me. I share them now, with certainty that others can relate and perhaps find comfort in them too.

"You may know about riptides or rip currents. These are strong currents (1 to 5 miles per hour) near the shore and near the surface of the water. Rip currents pull you out to sea. People do not usually drown from rip currents, if they do not try to fight it by swimming directly toward shore. If you do try to fight it, you will tire because a rip current is much stronger than you are. Once you are exhausted you sink (you are not pulled) under the water...End of story.

So if fighting a rip current is not the smart thing to do, what is? Lifeguards would tell you to relax when a rip current catches you because you can keep yourself afloat easily - you dog paddle for a while, you do the backstroke for a while, you tread water for a while - and you wait. A rip current does not pull you under, it only pulls you out for a bit. So you are safe as long as you float. Soon the current will die out and you are free to swim to shore."

So at the moment Dear Readers I will enjoy floating along, as I heal this body and mind for a few more weeks. And quite honestly....it is the being out to sea in rocky waters that reminds me how amazing things are back on shore and so glad that is the direction I am going in. 

~ Be kind to yourself ~ the current will pass & on solid ground you will be!