Moments

A moment passes and we sit wondering where it has gone. A past moment flashes through our mind and a wave emotions sweeps over us. This thing we call life is just a blur of moments all put together.

When we are young we are told not to waste a moment, as we get older we are often told that we won't forget this moment. As a parent we try to capture and hold every moment. And finally we cherish the moments we have had.

As I sit and reflect, as I struggle to find the energy, the strength, that I need to get through I suddenly notice moments slipping past. I realize that in my struggle to find happiness I am actually letting it slip away. Moments are fleeting and our strength becomes just the same. I need to get to my feet, but first I need to take a moment. Now I stop and look around. In my weakness comes my haste, how can I regain my strength, how can I find the answers to get through.

I see now that the answer is in the moments, all the moments around me. I need to take a moment more to love, a moment longer to hold. I need to cherish the moments when I smile, cherish the moments when my loved ones laugh. I start to gather all my moments, hold them close but not lose myself in them. I must embrace the moments I have had and strive to create new memories everyday.

To move forward we must hold what we have, celebrate the moments of love, of laughter and of joy. At the same time we must always move forward, we must search for more love, more laughter and more joy. If we don't see it around us, then create it. Laugh for no reason at all, stand up and dance well after the music has stopped. Scream when you need to scream and cry when you need to cry, but when you are done reflect on a moment that made you smile and carry that forward to make you stronger, not the pain, just the joy. Live in the moment, for the moment!

Motivate, inspire and find your focus.

Through the trees.

As I climbed the hill I stopped for a moment to look out over the area I had come from. Then I looked straight out. I could see a break in the trees but no matter how hard I looked I could not focus on the trees in the distance. My eyes would not move focus from the trees nearest me. For a moment I found focus half way, but could not clearly see the trees out ahead of me. I turned and started to work the rest of the way up the hill, it was steep and I am out of shape. Nearing the top my heart pounded and my muscles asked for a break. I would not stop, I had to reach the top! Finally I crested, I slowed to a walk and worked through the pain the was washing through me.

This run brought a reminder of clarity to me. No matter how hard we look to the future it is never clear. The more that is currently around us the harder it is to understand what the future will hold. Though there was beauty around me, I didn't want to see it, I wanted to move forward and see what was beyond the trees. At these moments we need to remember, we will get there. The trees, the noise around us it where we are, we must see it, slow and recognize what is around us. Focus on the leaves, see the branches. This help make the path more clear. Push forward and in time we will get to where we want to be.

The other point of clarity came in the last steps of the hill. Sometimes life hurts, some times it rips us apart from the inside, sometimes we just want to give in. But we can't we have to push through. There are points that if we stop and feel the pain we will only fall, lose ground and sometimes become lost. If we can keep going, dig deep and find the last bit of strength we will have time to recover, there are breaks, sometime that break is only slowing from a run to a walk, but it is still a break. Look around as you push, find a hand hold, pull with all your strength. Just because you are on your feet, doesn't mean you can't reach out and use your hands. See the trees use them to pull forward.

When we connect the little things when we appreciate what is right beside us, what is just a bit in front of us, we find the strength to get to the next phase. No one ever said it was going to be easy, no one ever said it would be this hard either. But inside we all have strength, around us each of us have trees to lean on. Dig deep, push through, don't forget to look around you, see the trees, and at the same time, keep your head up and know there is a path through the forest. You will come through and you will be scratched, you will hurt and you will be stronger.

Motivate inspire and find your focus!

Strength!

I cry... Sometimes I yell when I am mad. I get scared. At times I don't have the answer. It is not uncommon for me to need help from another. And I have even been known to be outright wrong!

Some have said these are signs of weakness. Some try to hold these things against people. But overtime I have learned that these are signs of being human. Accepting our emotions, knowing our flaws can be our greatest strength. It is funny that in a world of humans, being human can be a strength.

Take control, take your power back and be strong. Know that you are human, trust your feelings, and embrace who you are. Learn to step out and scream to the mountains. Believe in cranking the music and singing your heart you. Release your emotions, once you learn to let them out you can begin to let them out at the right time, you learn to walk away, or to step up.

Our lives are full of too many surprises don't let yourself be one of them. Know you are strong, know those tears are just you letting go of something that need a way out. Express yourself and accept yourself. In a world of surprises surprise everyone with how truly strong you are!

Motivate inspire and find your focus!

Reflection

I stop, I think back and am in awe at the last year of my life. So many changes, so many highlights and many tough days. I wonder how I am still standing? Am I stronger now or weaker? And as I reflect on where I have been I cannot help but try and think where I will be in another year.

The past is a funny thing, it is the road we have traveled, it has given us the scars we have and the joys we know. Without our past we would not be the person we are today, whether we are proud of who we are or ready to change, our past has shaped us. The challenge is, no matter how much we love or hate our past, it is just that, it is our past. We must move on to the present and move toward tomorrow. 

Now as I start to think about tomorrow I begin to drift, to dream of what could be. Thinking of where I want to be, what I want to accomplish. It is so easy in my mind, everything will come along just as it is needed. I can dream a day away without knowing it started. But if I ever want that future to be I have to bring myself back to the present.

In the end we must accept our past, dream of the future but know we live in today. Without our past we are not ourselves, without our future we are but a drone. When we combine the two and live in the moment we can be anything!

Motivate, inspire and find your focus!

Conscious Decisions.

Life is busy right now. We all know that feeling, every time we think we are going to get a moment to breath something new comes down, another challenge another task. Currently I am not only busy but nothing is going as I would expect it, every time I expect something to finish another road block or pitfall presents itself. I am getting exhausted, I just want to reset and find a few moments of salvation.

In life though we will always have challenges, when they pile up the average mind will unconsciously become frustrated, depressed or just angry! But as humans we have the great ability to make conscious decisions, to focus on something and override our unconscious mind. We need to make these decisions every day as to remain strong, to remain positive. As I fight through my current place in life (luckily with some amazing support at home going through the same challenges right by my side) I know I need to find the silver lining, so consciously choose to get through this challenge and remain positive.

As I focus my mind, find the value in getting through the road blocks and jumping over the pit falls I begin to really think about all the conscious decisions we need to make in life. When our mind is tired, when we are suffering from the blues we need to choose to override the natural sensation to feel down and spread our exhaustion to others. If we don't think about our actions we will spread our blues, we will tell others how bad we have it, how poor things are and search for recognition and concurrence.  When we think about things, we can search for positive pieces in life, we can ask for people to reinforce the good.

When we consciously decide to find a silver lining, to focus on the future and reflect on success from the past our current load will become lighter. When we spread this attitude people will rally around us, they will find positive aspects in life and share. We go from unconsciously trudging through the day to unconsciously smiling and laughing. Moments that could have set us off or frustrated begin to role off our back.

Go out today and consciously smile, share a happy story. Today is the day to make a conscious decision and be the positive change. I did! I sat down and wrote, and if this brings a smile to one person I know I have done something right!

Motivate, inspire and find your focus!

Change

I step into a room, all goes silent, I look around, nothing has changed, but my stomach drops, my head whirls. I have to sit down, a tear comes to my eye, if anyone could see me they may thing I was crazy. Nothing in the room had changed, everything is exactly where it has always been, but stepping into this room has knocked the wind out of me, taken me to my knees. A few minutes and I will be fine, but I know now that it is real, change is happening.

Change is one of the most constant things in life and still one of the hardest things to accept. Just the thought of change can send us into a panic attack, make us feel like our world is coming down around us. But the big changes they send us for a roller coaster ride, they play with every emotion we have and they test every limit. We think that some people handle change better, I don't think we do, I think some of us hide it better, some of us know how to avoid the cues that will let reality sink in. But we all have our moment, our break, that moment that our brains begin to reset and flood our body with emotions.

(I still recall losing a loved one, through the funeral and all leading up to it, I had been the rock, never shaking, trying to support everyone. So many tears, so much loss for the family... Then one night I went for a run, out of nowhere it hit me, for no reason, no real cues, my brain just finally let the connection happen, I literally ran off the road and collapsed in the ditch. A few minutes later I got up and finished my run. No one saw it, I still appeared strong, but I had had my break.)

Change comes in so many forms, gaining a loved ones, losing a loved ones, moving, getting a promotion, losing a job or just starting a new routine. Sometime we wake up in the morning, look at ourselves in the mirror and say it is time for change, other times it is forced upon us. No matter the source it is tough. It is a battle we hate to fight and it always means we will lose something. We cannot avoid it, if we choose not to change, then those around us will, and we will lose them. But if we accept change then we can gain so much, we can have some control of the situation and find the new exciting things in our life.  

They say, every time a door closes a new one opens. So as that door closes take control, start small, you can't control everything and never will, but find a constant and hold on to it. Then look around, find something new to move toward, take the memories and lessons of your past, don't let them go because your changing, embrace them and let them guide you to the new door. Open your mind, open your heart and scream to the hills. The sun will always rise, and when that light hits your face take it in, let it warm your sole. So change hurts, it always will, and it will always hurt everyone. But those that can accept it will grow, and become more then they ever knew they could be. Let your memories guide you, accept your future and become new everyday!

Motivate, inspire and find your focus.

Becoming Happy!

In the world today there is an expectation of happiness. An expectation for us to all waltz around with a smile on our face appreciating everything we have. Anything less is looked upon as troublesome or sorrow-some. So when we are not happy many of us put up a mask, sometime that mask is not enough so we build walls. We create a persona for everyone to see that is at least content. This way no one asks questions and we don't have to admit that we are not happy.

Sometimes we wear this mask for a weak, sometimes a month or sometimes for years. If we wear this mask to long we begin to lose ourselves, we lose sight of the good things in life and start taking a dark view on so much. We squirrel ourselves away from the world and avoid true contact, true emotion because the slightest crack in our mask, in our walls, may let someone see who we really are and the reality is we don't know ourselves, we are scared to look in the mirror.

As time goes though we get a taste of happiness, we see joy around us and we want that for ourselves. We reach for it but realize this will create a crack in the mask, it will be out of character, outside of the persona of contentment we have created, so we retreat. People mock us, or chastise us for being out of character and we retreat further. As this moment build we start to see only one escape from the mask we have built. For each of us this escape will be different, but the impact will be similar.

To escape we will risk losing everything we know, we will risk being banished by those we love, we may lose everything for our own happiness. Until you have felt this weight you cannot understand its intensity, this weight will crush many, consume them and they loose themselves. Some find the strength, they step out and make the change to find happiness. Those around are shocked, they are scarred, they are confused, the content person they knew is spreading their wings, they are not just working in the background now they are shining brighter then they ever have.

The challenge with shining when we were dull is we have felt pain, we have been the support system for many, so though we are shining, we are extremely tender. We feel pain extremely deep, we know we have hurt people as we have been hurt ourselves. We are wearers of masks, so to be truly happy we have to truly feel pain, we cannot show this pain, but have to shine, we cannot show the fear of what we may lose, we have to smile and focus on what we are gaining. At any moment when we hear we have hurt someone we will be crushed, hopefully only for a moment as the brightest light can be extinguished with such a time bit of darkness. So we keep shining, push to be the brightest light and focus on what we are gaining.

When we have been a dull glow to come out and shine is a shock to the system, it is a shock to our own system and a shock to those around us. We will be stupid in moment of happiness, when it has been so long since we have felt this joy. We will see so much of what we had as a dull light and may even fear it as we cannot go back, we will look down on it for a time, as we cannot afford to go back there. The mask we had is one we cannot put back on, so it becomes ugly. As time goes and we settle into our new light we will look back on that mask and see some of the beauty, we will recognize the good that came from it, we will not put it back on but we will accept it.

So I ask, when you see someone shining, see someone happy. Know that they deserve to be happy, that they are probably still hurting, but are trying to embrace the light. If they leave you behind, just keep being positive and they will find you again. Don't be the dark cloud, but the strength to help people shine, as we all know it is tougher to be happy then to fade into the shadows. Today be a light!!

Motivate, inspire and find your focus!