The subject of today’s post is taken from a pin I stumbled across this morning while eh-em perusing Pinterest in a state of shameless procrastination. No worries, though. I’ll jump right back on that word count goal later on today. I had to take a moment to stop and reflect on the power in these few simple words: “She designed a life she Loves”
How many times during the day do we stop and focus on the negative? If you’re like me then it’s too many to count, which probably means life has become a bit off balance for you.
In the past few weeks, I’ve had every major frustration thrown at me: unexpected car repairs, finding out I wouldn’t be able to attend a book convention I’d been looking forward to, teenager woes, job issues, air conditioning problems. Yikes, right?!?!! So naturally, I found myself slipping into a constant state of responsiveness. But it wasn’t the kind I wanted or needed to be focused on. The negative stuff was slowly wrapping itself around me like a new lover… the wrong kind, the one who whispers sweet nothings in my ear while sucking up every last drop of my life energy. More of the good stuff, aka my anchors to sanity, started to slip away to a place in the recesses of my mind as my phantom lover (aka problems) whispered more words of discouragement into my little ears.
But I’m a fighter damn it! I don’t believe in quitting.
Failure isn’t an option!
Um… keep calm, right?
On a less dramatic note, I sat down over the holiday weekend and spent a day to re-energize and refocus. What did I discover? The dream guy, aka positive thoughts, was still hanging around in the background waiting for me to get over this fascination with the bad boy and his intriguing thoughts of negativity. I took time to reflect on all the things I’d done over the past decade: bought a house, fixed my credit woes (even though that one is still a work in progress) earned both my BS in Biz Management and MFA in creative writing, sold close to 80,000 books on my own self-pubbed esteem (a big phew! on that one) and most importantly, raised 2 wonderful teens in a world designed to shatter even the most simple of dreams. I’m a single mom and no, that isn’t a four-letter word.
There’s still much more to come for me. You see, I had to take time to review the life design I’d subconsciously created. Sometimes you have to sit down and visualize the path you’ve created. I mean, we read about the lives of stars and big-time politicians everyday. Pictures of posh homes and fancy weddings are strewn across the covers of magazines in the supermarket checkout line, tempting us to buy so we can drool over pictures of million dollar homes we may or may not ever own. So why not lay out your own life’s magazine. Seriously, I want you to do as I’ve done throughout this post. Take a moment to add pictures of the things you’ve done and the stuff you’re going to do in the future. Guess what? You’ll discover you don’t need that celebrity lifestyle magazine because you’ve now made your own!
I’ve posted pictures that have inspired or are part of my life design for you to enjoy.
I wanted a house that I could renovate and personalize. Basically, I wanted an Italian villa in the south. So my sons and me got to work and turned what the neighbors had nicknamed the Adams Family house into a little slice of Venice.
Okay. This isn’t an actual picture of my house (that will be in a future post) but it’s the same color we used for the siding and the same pattern we used to create the Mediterranean garden out front. It’s a pleasure to walk outside and see it everyday. I promise to post pics soon.
My future car … and no, I’m not going to do the yellow thing. I’ll be able to buy this baby in 2015. Can you see a love of all things Italian in my life’s design? 😀
One of my upcoming books in the Internationally bestselling Musical Interlude Saga! Little known fact, I designed the cover for this one myself. Recently, I finished editing the 3rd book in my Lost Immortals Saga. I’m on a roll. Woot! These days, the sky is no longer the limit.
“Reach for the stars and rise above the boundaries of imagination!”
Perhaps one of the biggest decisions I’ve made over the last six months is the one where I’ve decided to get certified in teaching English as a foreign language. Yep! That’s right. I’m going to venture out into the world outside my comfort zone now that both my kids are preparing to enter the world of college and adulthood. I already have an academic adviser who’ll be working with me and she has loads of experience. Her name is Cassie Wells and she has taught in classes in Asia and many other places overseas.
I plan to teach English in one of the countries that surrounds the Mediterranean, a lifetime dream of mine.
I could go on and on with my examples; but I’ll stop here. Instead, I’m going to learn how to create a gallery here on WordPress and share actual pics from the life plan I’ve begun and hopefully it will inspire you too. In order for it to work, you have to truly believe you are worthy of everything the plan has to offer. I’m still working on the design for a few areas, namely family and eh-em finances. Cough. Cough. 🙂
In closing, I leave you with one last piece of advice to inspire you:
