Life has been quite the roller coaster for me over the last few years. There have been highs, lows and of course, the coaster broke down a few times. Given everything I’ve been through, it’s safe to say that my body is in need of great rejuvenation. I took a short vacation at the beginning of March, but I desperately need another. I’ll be leaving again at the end of May for a week and will be spending a lot of my time on the beach. Thank God because this crazy Ohio weather is sucking the life out of me.
Just to be clear, the lows I mentioned isn’t just about me. I‘ve been mostly concerned about the people in my inner circle. I’ve had nothing but happiness come to me since the day I moved to Ohio and I’ve made a lot of excellent choices. Sometimes I pinch myself to make sure I’m really alive. Yes, this is my life and it’s everything I never planned for. I think that just might be the key to true happiness. Don’t plan a damn thing.
A few years ago I had a conversation with someone and told them, “I don’t believe in the 5-year plan. What if the Universe has a better idea?” That’s the one thing I stuck with throughout my life and I’m so glad I did because it turned out to be reality. The only thing I do plan for are fairly immediate personal goals (like moving, for example) and that’s worked out well.
To be honest, I didn’t always feel this way. My faith has been tested many times and I didn’t have much confidence in myself, my choices or my environment. I wasn’t able to get a firm grasp on what I really wanted and I couldn’t figure out why. I was so emotional about my circumstances that I wasn’t able to tap into my higher self or intuition.
In hindsight, I recognize that I was given the answers, but I was too afraid to take that flying leap into the unknown. What made me finally do it, you ask? I think it was the fact that everyone around me had sped off with their dreams in hand and I was left in the dust. In actuality I had the vehicle, the gas and the directions. I just kept my foot firmly pressed on the brake. How silly, right?
As children we want our way all the time and when it doesn’t happen we yell to our parents, “That’s not fair!“ Every time I got in trouble or didn’t like how I was treated my mother always responded with, “Well, you did it to yourself”. I hated that phrase with a passion, but guess what? It was the truth. I did it to myself…every single time.
As adults we’re faced with the same choices we had while growing up. The only difference is now we have more pressing responsibilities, we’re held accountable for our actions and are solely responsible for the outcome. When things don’t seem to go our way, our internal reflex kicks in and it can transport us right back to being 10 years old. We want to scream, cry, blame and run away. We want to ignore what’s staring us in the face. We don’t want to be wrong and we certainly don’t want to start over. That takes way too much work, right?
Some say that life is all about “action and reaction” and I say “everything happens for a reason”. Now that I think about it, both are true and both require accountability. It’s always nice to find the silver lining in situations gone wrong, but if we’re not accountable for our actions, we won’t learn anything and will repeat the same pattern until we get it. In this case we can’t use other people to motivate change. We have to take the bull by the horns, get off our butts and make it happen.
Being fearful of the unknown is a distraction. It enables denial and it prevents us from achieving our dreams. Keeping your foot on the brake is your own doing, as it was mine. The most important lesson I received over the years is this:
Withholding who you truly are and what you really want will only make you a liar.
Just to be clear, the lows I mentioned isn’t just about me. I‘ve been mostly concerned about the people in my inner circle. I’ve had nothing but happiness come to me since the day I moved to Ohio and I’ve made a lot of excellent choices. Sometimes I pinch myself to make sure I’m really alive. Yes, this is my life and it’s everything I never planned for. I think that just might be the key to true happiness. Don’t plan a damn thing.
A few years ago I had a conversation with someone and told them, “I don’t believe in the 5-year plan. What if the Universe has a better idea?” That’s the one thing I stuck with throughout my life and I’m so glad I did because it turned out to be reality. The only thing I do plan for are fairly immediate personal goals (like moving, for example) and that’s worked out well.
To be honest, I didn’t always feel this way. My faith has been tested many times and I didn’t have much confidence in myself, my choices or my environment. I wasn’t able to get a firm grasp on what I really wanted and I couldn’t figure out why. I was so emotional about my circumstances that I wasn’t able to tap into my higher self or intuition.
In hindsight, I recognize that I was given the answers, but I was too afraid to take that flying leap into the unknown. What made me finally do it, you ask? I think it was the fact that everyone around me had sped off with their dreams in hand and I was left in the dust. In actuality I had the vehicle, the gas and the directions. I just kept my foot firmly pressed on the brake. How silly, right?
As children we want our way all the time and when it doesn’t happen we yell to our parents, “That’s not fair!“ Every time I got in trouble or didn’t like how I was treated my mother always responded with, “Well, you did it to yourself”. I hated that phrase with a passion, but guess what? It was the truth. I did it to myself…every single time.
As adults we’re faced with the same choices we had while growing up. The only difference is now we have more pressing responsibilities, we’re held accountable for our actions and are solely responsible for the outcome. When things don’t seem to go our way, our internal reflex kicks in and it can transport us right back to being 10 years old. We want to scream, cry, blame and run away. We want to ignore what’s staring us in the face. We don’t want to be wrong and we certainly don’t want to start over. That takes way too much work, right?
Some say that life is all about “action and reaction” and I say “everything happens for a reason”. Now that I think about it, both are true and both require accountability. It’s always nice to find the silver lining in situations gone wrong, but if we’re not accountable for our actions, we won’t learn anything and will repeat the same pattern until we get it. In this case we can’t use other people to motivate change. We have to take the bull by the horns, get off our butts and make it happen.
Being fearful of the unknown is a distraction. It enables denial and it prevents us from achieving our dreams. Keeping your foot on the brake is your own doing, as it was mine. The most important lesson I received over the years is this:
Withholding who you truly are and what you really want will only make you a liar.
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