Moving on

These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised, and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant, wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman. 

(Abigail Adams, 1744-1818, wife of John Adams,

 2nd president of the U.S.,

 and mother of John Quincy Adams,

 6th president.)

My "drifting in the wind" routine has changed and I'm feeling as though something is missing since I have taken a break from blogging.
Writing had become a part of my life that I didn't realize was so important until I started a few articles and it all came to me like a comforting gentle breeze on a hot day. Most of my blogs are now private and I'll have to start shuffling things around again. I will never again write a "write for hire" blog . . . it totally disrupted several of my blogs and now I have to start over again.

It has been a month or so of extreme changes in my life. For one thing, I'm seriously engaged in a weight loss program to rid myself of the extra weight I gained when I quit smoking over two years ago. I can't allow it to be a permanent thing, so I've made up my mind to take it off for me.

Yes, I have also made the decision that it is time to have a man in my life . . . not one who lives in my computer and on my phone, but one who can hold me and wake up next to me in the morning.

It is finally time to truly move on with my life.

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Wisdom in waiting

Man, like a bridge was designed to carry the load of the moment, 

not the combined load of a year all at once. 

(William A. Ward)

Still going through a period of adjustment . . . or so it seems. I'm restless as hell and my anxiety level is staying at an all time high. I'm bored, still unemployed, eBay sales are non-existent and I have a long distance love who can't hold me and wipe my tears away. 

I've embraced my solitude to the point to where I know I want a companion . . . there is a difference between want and need . . . I want, don't NEED. Some people enjoy going through life without someone at their side, but it is what brought me the greatest joy in life was sharing my life with another human being that I loved with all my heart and soul. I want that again.

Patience, patience, patience!

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Beyond Words

If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt,

it means you never take any chances. 

 (Julia Sorel)

It doesn't happen often, but I'm at a loss of words and taking some down time from blogging . . . need to absorb the changes in my life and not even try to put anything into words. 

Sometimes life is awesome and beyond words . . . yes, I'm scared!

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All Time High

It is official . . . there is someone new in my life. He could potentially be my "Robert" (you know, Clint Eastwood in The Bridges of Madison County) . . . 

New and blossoming love is one of the most beautiful things in the world . . . it unfolds with anticipation and breathless excitement that is like nothing else . . . a rush not found in any drug. It is in itself a drug . . .

All Time High | Rita Coolidge
Lyrics

All I wanted was a sweet distraction for an hour or two.
Had no intention to do the things we've done.
Funny how it always goes with love, when you don't look, you find.
But then we're two of a kind, we move as one.

We're an all time high,
We'll change all that's gone before.
Doing so much more than falling in love.
On an all time high,
We'll take on the world and wait.
So hold on tight, let the flight begin.

I don't want to waste a waking moment; I don't want to sleep.
I'm in so strong and so deep, and so are you.
In my time I've said these words before, but now I realize
My heart was telling me lies, for you they're true.

We're an all time high,
We'll change all that's gone before.
Doing so much more than falling in love.
On an all time high,
We'll take on the world and wait.
So hold on tight, let the flight begin.

So hold on tight, let the flight begin.
We're an all time high.

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Dreams are renewable

Dreams are renewable.
No matter what our age or condition, there
are still untapped possibilities within us and
new beauty waiting to be born.

Dale E. Turner

I’ve often been accused of living in a dream world,
but who are we without our dreams?

Dreams are just dreams if we only talk about them.
Action behind the talk makes them more than dreams.

Success is the result 
of a dream in action!

Remember these words the next time someone calls you a dreamer

As I wrote in my personal grateful blog this morning, the realization came of reaching the end of a couple bad phases in my life. It seems to me that dreams and inspirations are somewhat put aside during a bad phase . . . now it is time to renew those dreams and ponder new inspirations.

My dreams have always been in bright colors and the inspirations occasionally a bit bizarre . . . and I have even gone after those bizarre dreams . . . don’t you have to get them out of your system?

I’ve written about Walt Disney and his bizarre dream of a cartoon mouse as my inspiration . . . his friends laughed at him. Who is laughing now?

Dreams are invigorating and add to the spice of life . . . discovering those untapped possibilities within us can be an exciting adventure that need to be explored.

There is a saying that I recently found that I think about every morning when I wake up to start off my day . . .

“What new and exciting

thing will happen today?

Anticipating a beautiful day prepares the inner child within me for something new and exciting. Of course something new and exciting doesn’t happen every day, however, the possibility and anticipation helps to create the atmosphere and attitude. That in itself does not make one a dreamer . . . it makes one open to the possibilities with a positive attitude toward life.

I know what you guys have been thinking about my recent “happy attitude” . . . nope, there is not a new man in my life . . . or maybe there is . . . could be!  I'll just say that things are looking up :)


Update a couple of years later . . .

My intuition didn't steer me wrong . . . I had met "the one" and after a long distance relationship and lots of emails, telephone calls, plane trips, train trips and a couple of years later, we are now married.

Never give up your dreams, no matter how bad things look . . . keep the faith!

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Runaway

There are only two places that I see,
One is strong, and the other one feels so weak,
And this plan feels so strange to me,
It’s all I see, baby

Lyrics from the song
Runaway ~ Nelly Furtado

Life is a series of phases, changes and transitions . . . what makes the difference is our attitude towards life in general and how we approach these changes, whether they be pleasant or unpleasant ones. As I am reorganizing my blog posts around and going through old posts, I can see the different changes in my attitude, my reactions to what is going on in my life and how it affects how I am feeling.

At the time I wrote the following post, August 2007, I realized I was running away from my problems, just waiting to die . . . and since then I started to face them head on, tackling them one at a time.

I have the plan, working on it one day at a time
. . . no more running away!

Just one little change makes such a difference. I have proved it to myself many times, only to return to negative and warped thinking. How many times do we have to slip and fall, make the same mistakes over and over again before we learn?

Hopefully I have and this is a permanent change!

Runaway is one of my favorite songs of all time by one of my favorite singers, Nelly Furtado. This song has had different meaning at various stages in recent past. A powerful song can do that for me . . .

This post was originally written
 and published on August 2007

Running away . . . isn’t that what I’ve been doing? Sure, it’s true that I’ve not gone anywhere . . . in fact, I’ve locked myself in my self-imposed prison and have not left my house since last week. It is what I’ve wanted.

But haven’t I been running away from progress?

“And I know you wanna,

Let it go,

And I know you wanna,

Go with the flow,

But you can’t”

Many forces have been at work
 in the midst of my inner struggle.

Disappointments and disagreements with people in my life . . . my birthday came and went and I never admitted that being one year older has scared the hell out of me . . . future uncertainty with a sketchy plan . . . no real purpose in my life . . . and I’ve recently made a realization that scared me more than anything has scared me in a very long time . . . 

I’m just sitting around waiting to die.

Have I fallen down so many times that even though I go through the motions, in actuality, I’ve given up on life? Like the songs says . . . “and I know you wanna” . . . sure, I wanna this and I wanna that, but I don’t do it. I can’t.

Powerful words . . . “I can’t” . . . tell yourself this enough times and you never will. More than anything, I wanna go with the flow, my mind goes with the flow. It is like I described in another blog and I keep thinking about this analogy . . . it is not a merry-go-round that I can’t get off of that never stops . . .no, I am in the middle of it, the part that doesn’t move, yet the merry-go-round spins around the middle . . . and I can’t get on.

An awesome friend told me tonight that I’m not giving myself permission to move on . . . whatever force it is that is keeping me from doing so . . . guilt . . . fear . . . I’ve been thinking about it since he brought it to my attention. So I run away . . . no wonder this is one of my favorite songs. I can so relate to it . . . I live it daily. But who or what am I running away from? hmmmmm myself? And why? I can almost feel the wings beneath my feet.

The way I write, think and become inspired is very strange. Since I listen to music 24/7, I relate to song lyrics, I can get lost in them . . . but it is also my musical background as a songwriter that takes me to that point of inspiration. Song lyrics are about life, love . . . a tear in someone’s beer.

Tonight I was listening to my Nelly Furtado playlist and this song, Runaway, came on and I thought of the many times that I’ve gotten different meanings from this song. At this moment I’m not facing the things that I need to be doing and running away.

More progress
just from listening to a song
in my bizarre, analytical way 

Runaway | Nelly Furtado

Lyrics:

There are only two places I could go

One is dark, and it feels so hollow

And it lets me in only to swallow

Too much water until i drown, baby

And the other place is calm and sweet

I can almost feel wings beneath my feet

And i don’t care if it feels too deep

I like it, I like it

And I know you wanna

Take a chance

And I know you wanna

Understand me and

Let me in

But you, runaway from what you know

And you, runaway from what you don’t

I don’t wanna wait for you

To change your mind

Don’t take the time

Show me your love tonight

There are only two places that I see

One is strong, and the other one feels so weak

And this plan feels so strange to me

It’s all I see, baby

And i know you wanna

Let it go

And i know you wanna

Flow this love

But you can’t

So you, runaway from what you know

And you, runaway from what you don’t

I don’t wanna wait for you

To change your mind

Don’t take the time

Show me your love tonight, oh yeah, tonight.

All the angels know what i know

You’re an angel that sings to me

It’s the greatest secret of all

I am free from thinking

But you, runaway from what you know

And you, runaway from what you don’t

I don’t wanna wait for you

To change your mind

Don’t take the time

Let’s make love

Don’t runaway from what you know

Don’t runaway, just let it go

I don’t wanna wait for you

To tell me what’s right

Don’t fight it

Let’s make love tonight

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In search of peace

Are you continually struggling to
accomplish what is expected of you?

If so, stop to think for a moment:

Who holds those expectations?

In many ways, I am grateful for my dad’s strict rules and high standards . . . it made me personally strive to set goals and work hard to reach them. To this day, the satisfaction of a job well done is very important to me . . . more important than the money earned for the job, although money is a measurement of the success.

One of my former bosses was very influential in my life. He was a professor who freelanced as a management consultant/motivational speaker . . . a dynamic man who really enjoyed his life since he had a passion for his work that seamlessly flowed into his personal life.

The greatest lesson he taught me . . . you must love what you do for a living or else it is not a life that is worth living . . . you must be smiling while you work. He also taught me about appreciation.

He was an awesome boss . . . very much like my dad as far as setting high standards and expected near perfection from me, but there was a difference in his approach. Work was fun and he constantly nominated me for awards, bonuses and extra pay raises . . . there was a reward for the hard work. In turn, I expected more from myself than he did because I wanted to be worthy of those rewards that represented a job well done.

In retrospect, he and my dad expected the same high standards, but took a different approach, producing totally opposite results from me. One approach motivated me to achieve, the other approach turned me into a resentful and rebellious young lady, yet very ambitious and driven.

I’ve written about my dad before and how we never made peace . . . he was nasty to me even on his last days on earth . . . he was just a miserable man and obviously resented my presence in his life. It has taken me a long time to realize that I didn’t do anything wrong, I wasn’t a failure . . . it was my dad who miserably failed at life.

Set your own standards,
take pride in everything you do
and be true to yourself.

Don’t allow someone else to raise the bar
and make you feel like a failure.

This is what I wish I learned as a
little girl, but learned as an adult.

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