I saw this on Facebook and thought I’d share with all of you. I had a family Christmas yesterday and ran out of time to write a post. Sorry about that, but I found this meme inspiring.
Monday Musings
Tag: dreams
Connecting with your Intuition
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’ve had a busy week of editing and a busy week at work. I took a little break from writing my new story because I was editing, and I had to take Christmas decorations down. Boo. I wasn’t happy about that. There’s something about those twinkling lights that cheer me up. But, enough about that, today I’d like to talk about Intuition.
Intuition is your inner guide. That voice in your head that gives you a warning or direction without any evidence that it’s true. There are times in my life when I listened to that voice. It came through loud and clear and I’m glad I did even when it didn’t make any logical sense.
My gut has never let me down yet, and now even more than ever it’s important for us to listen to our inner voice. Why? Because our world is built on creating an image. People create this image for others for many reasons. To get attention. To get validation, or to manipulate.
Advertisements bombard us with celebrities expounding the benefits of exercise equipment or makeup, implying we’ll look like them if we just use this product. It’s not true. We’ll always look like ourselves. We all know this, yet corporations have made millions of dollars by selling us their products based on this implication.
Our politicians create an image, so we’ll vote for them. They work with the media to put a “spin” on an event, or outright lie about something to throw mud at an opponent. So, we the public don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. How do you make a good decision that way?
Look at social media. An individual shares what they want the world to see and keeps the unattractive parts of themselves hidden. When their friends compare that individual’s seemingly “perfect” life with their own, they become disenchanted with their own lives and this creates angst and depression. So, it’s more important than ever to trust our gut.
We need to develop our intuition and make it stronger. So, how do you do that?
Well, it’s quite simple but hard to do.
We need to spend time alone and meditate. Take some quiet time to listen to our inner voice. Have a dialogue with it. It’ll take practice, but once you make that connection, you’ll be able to make decisions that are best for you. When we don’t make that connection and listen to that inner guide, we can travel down the wrong path that leads to unhappiness.
Spend some time in nature. It’s so good for us. I was hiking for years before I knew there were health benefits, just because it calmed me. It will have the same effect on you. I guarantee it. Whether you hike through the woods, or along the beach, you’ll experience health benefits. Both are good for you and quiet your mind, so your inner voice can come through.
Pay attention to your Dreams. That’s right, our sub-conscious talks to us through our dreams and so does our intuition. Try to remember your dreams upon waking and write them down. Think about an issue you’re struggling with before you go to sleep and see what your dreams tell you. I’ve found solutions to problems through my dreams. It’s amazing when that happens.
How about you, do you listen to your intuition? How do you tap into it? Leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
Focus on Your Dreams
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a snow storm this weekend. It started Friday night and hasn’t really stopped snowing or raining since then. We’ve gotten close to nine inches of snow. Perfect time to write and I’ve been doing just that. I’ve finally arrived at the big scene where everything comes together. Finally!!
Photo on VisualHunt.com
But enough about that. Today I want to talk about the meaning of success. Success is different for everyone. Everyone has a different definition based on the goals they have set for themselves. Achieving our goals is an element to achieving our happiness. The problem we run into is when we compare ourselves to others who are on a different path.
Sometimes we get caught up in chasing the competition instead of our dreams. We try to copy or compete with a person instead of focusing on our journey and the steps we need to achieve our goals. I’ve seen this many times and it results in unhappiness. Why? Because we’re trying to be like someone else and who can be better than the original? Right?
So, we need to remember everyone’s journey is different, and not to fall into the trap of comparing our journey to someone else’s. We need to focus on the milestones in our own journey and celebrate them. We need to celebrate each one because they are important. We also need to teach this to our children. It will help them build their resilience when they run into the pot holes of life.
Photo on Visualhunt.com
By focusing on our own journey, we allow others to focus on theirs, and when they achieve their goals, we can be happy for them. This leads to stronger relationships and more happiness, just because we chased our own dreams.
Is it selfish to chase our own dreams? No. We all have a purpose in life and it’s our responsibility to pursue it. We all are responsible for our own happiness and when we take that responsibility seriously, we let our loved ones be responsible for theirs, and we’re all happy chasing our dreams.
Photo on VisualHunt.com
I know what you’re thinking. How simplistic. But it really is that simple, isn’t it?
What are your dreams and aspirations? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
What sets your Soul on Fire?
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. It’s a blustery Wednesday and most of the state of Michigan has closed including the company I work for. So, I’ve been snuggled under my blanket in front of the fire working on my story. That’s when the inspiration hit for this blog post. So, here we go!
Photo credit: paul+photos=moody on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC
Women through out history have been given conflicting messages from society when it comes to their role in life. Dealing with this is exasperating and draining, so here’s my take on that.
Women should decide for themselves what they want to do with their lives.
Don’t ask your partner because most likely he or she will pick what they want, and that may or may not be what’s best for you. Now, this may be uncomfortable for you because we were raised to be nice and think of other people’s feelings first, but it’s okay to be self-focused about this. You have just as much right to pursue happiness as everyone else on the face of the earth. It’s written in the constitution.
Photo on Visualhunt.com
To do this, you have to prioritize your goals. Choose the ones that are most important to you. It may be you want to stay at home and be there for your kids. It may be you want a career because accomplishments are important to you. Whatever the case may be, decide what aspirations are important to you and pursue those goals. Don’t listen to anybody else.
To find the goals that resonate with you, you must know yourself, know what sets your soul on fire. It takes time to do this and sometimes it might be a little uncomfortable, but it’s worth the discomfort. Trust me. Once you know what’s important to you, the setting and following goals part becomes much easier.
Photo credit: David Reber’s Hammer Photography on Visualhunt/ CC BY-SA
As you go through this process, you’ll see not everyone has the same dream and not everyone will understand your journey, and that’s okay. We all have our own paths to take and once we accept that, we’ll be able to allow everyone in our lives to walk their own path. It doesn’t mean we won’t feel pain or discouragement, but maybe we won’t spend so much time wallowing in those painful emotions. We’ll learn our lesson and move on.
Once we do this, things will start to flow. Decisions will be easier to make because we’ll ask ourselves, does this align with my dreams? If the answer is yes, we know what to do, and if the answer is no, we know what to do.
So, take a few minutes, or a few hours, or a few days, months, or years and think about what sets your soul on fire and then go for it!
Photo on VisualHunt.com
Thanks for taking time to read my post. I hope it resonates with you! What are your dreams and aspirations? What steps are you taking to go after them? Leave a comment! I love hearing from you!
Merry Christmas!!
To all my wonderful followers. I’m so grateful for you, and I appreciate all the love you give my blog. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!
Failure is a Stepping Stone to Success
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today with another Slice of Life Post. Today, I’m talking about dealing with failure. In my opinion, failure is just a stepping stone to success, but not everyone feels this way.
The event that brought this subject to light is the Battle of the Books at my son’s school. This is an event, where students read a number of books approved by their librarian. When the students have read ten books from this approved list, they’re eligible to participate in The Battle of the Books. This is where they answer questions on the content they’ve read. I watched it poised with anticipation. I couldn’t wait to see those young eager minds answer questions from the books they’d read.
I watched as these kids nervously picked at their fingernails or bit their lips. I’d forgotten how scary it can be to answer questions in front of a panel of adults and your peers. Not to mention the humiliation they must’ve felt when they didn’t answer correctly. I remembered how intense those emotions can be.
It was a crushing event for one young man and my heart went out to him and that’s when I realized young people need to learn they can survive failing. It’s not the end all drama that they imagine it to be. It’s a painful lesson and we as parents need to remember that as we guide our littles through life.
After all, it took Thomas Edison one thousand attempts before he got the light bulb right. Then there’s J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, who was rejected by twelve different publishers before Bloomsbury Publishing accepted it. This series went on to earn over four hundred million dollars and made Rowling the first female billionaire author.
We’re very fortunate Thomas Edison and J.K. Rowling didn’t give up, they persevered and our world is better for it. We need to teach this to our kids, this belief in their dreams. We need to teach them everyone fails before they get it right. If we don’t, what will the future be like?
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post. If you’re looking for other Slice of Life Posts, click the link below.
Check out Iris Blobel and her Re-Release!
“It’s not the money that makes you rich. It’s the knowledge
that the other person loves you and is always there for you, no
matter what. That makes you content and, therefore, rich.”
Journey to Her Dreams
by Iris Blobel
I’m excited to tell you all about the re-release of JOURNEY TO HER DREAMS,
which I suppose was the start of my journey to my dreams as well.
Honestly, yes I was nervous going back re-visiting the story, nervous about the editing process for the new edition. I can’t believe how much I’ve learnt and how much I’ve -hopefully- grown as a writer.
JOURNEY TO HER DREAMS has enjoyed another full edit and an awesome new cover.
I hope you’ll give Hollie and Sam’s story a chance.
THANK YOU
♥♦♥ ~ OUT NOW ~ ♥♦♥
AMAZON US: http://amzn.to/1UbJqZ8
AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/1LUz251
AMAZON AU: http://bit.ly/1JVfTeM
♥♦♥ SYNOPSIS ♥♦♥
Would you travel around the world to uncover the reason for your dreams?
Hollie Anderson does.
A young woman from Tasmania who lives on a farm just outside Launceston, she has got good looks, likes her job and loves to hang out with her friends. She should be happy, right?
But it’s a recurrent dream that throws her daily life into chaos and takes her on a journey to Ireland. While on her quest for answers she meets Sam in Dublin under unusual circumstances and both women, so different in many ways, find out they have one thing in common – and it changes their lives forever.
♥♦♥ MEET THE AUTHOR ♥♦♥
IRIS BLOBEL
Iris Blobel was born and raised in Germany and only immigrated to Australia in the late 1990s. Having had the travel bug most of her life, Iris spent quite some time living in Scotland, London as well as Canada where she her husband. Her love for putting her stories onto paper has only emerged recently, but now her laptop is a constant companion.
Iris resides west of Melbourne with her husband and her two beautiful daughters.
Next to her job at a private school, she also presents a German Program at the local Community Radio.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IrisBlobel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_iris_b
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4067254.Iris_Blobel
Dreams are important to Our Mental Health
Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today and I want to talk about focusing on your dreams. In my opinion, dreams are important to your mental health.
Why, because our goals and aspirations are what get us out of bed in the morning. Your goals can be small or big, but if you have a huge goal, you might want to break it up into a bunch of smaller goals to make it more manageable.
Achieving our dreams provides us that motivation we need to keep doing those small mundane tasks that are boring. However, if we have our goal in sight, we can grit our teeth and get through them.
This is an important part of the process, because every dream has those moments of perfecting our technique. For example, let us say you want to be a professional basketball player. Well, in order to do that you have to be good at making baskets. So what are you going to do? You’re going to perfect your shot. And not just one shot either, you’re going to perfect your jump shot, your layup, your hook, and your free throw shot, just to name a few.
I bet you know where I’m going with this, don’t you? You’re going to have to spend a lot of time in front of the basket, just shooting the ball. If you have your goal in sight, this isn’t going to be a problem for you. You’ll grit your teeth and get through it because it’s important to achieving your goal. You’ll look forward to it.
In addition, the thing you’ll have to remember is, even professional athletes still spend a lot of time practicing their plays and perfecting their shots even after they’ve reached professional status. Because once your there, you have to keep your edge.
Another thing about goals is this, when you’re going through a particular trying time in your life, for example, like me having to do chemo. I have to for my health. However, I’m able to focus on my writing, not as much as I did before, but enough that I feel I’m moving forward with it. So staying focused on my goals is actually helping me get through this period. It helps me to make sure I’m doing what the doctor says because I want to write. I don’t want to spend my time dealing with the side effects.
So if I manage my side effects, I get to work on my next book, or on editing the ones that are coming out soon. My writing goals help me to manage my side effects so that I can work on them. And that’s good for my mental health too. I won’t be slipping into a depression because my side effects have gotten the best of me.
So there you have it. Goals are important for our mental health.
On a side note, I’ve received some awesome news! My next book “Gideon Lee” will be releasing soon! Yay!
It’s the first book in the Starlight Chronicles and once I receive my galleys, it will be set up for preorder. So crossing my fingers that all goes well and I can tell you the release date very soon!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and if you’d like to leave a comment on why goals are important to you, please do. I’d love to hear from you!
