Life Without Change

 Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change ~ Jim Rohn

Earlier this year, my partner, Thomas, started "lobbying" my mom and dad to come to Kansas City for Christmas, instead of us going to Nebraska.  Back in June and July, I have to admit, it was a bit against our tradition to plan for Mom and Dad to come to town and host them.  But now that the time is here, it sure has been wonderful that we didn't have to go anywhere this year!

I was able to have my traditional Christmas.  We eat no later than 1:00 PM on Christmas Eve, clean up the kitchen, then open presents.  After presents, we continue to hang out, usually watch a movie together and just generally enjoy the time together.

And then, since it's our first Christmas in Kansas City, we got to start some new traditions.  First of all, we got attend Christmas Eve service at Central Presbyterian Church.  Our sanctuary was so beautiful in the early evening and the service was amazing.  On our way home from church, we saw the luminarias lit in the 36th and Broadway neighborhood, a thirty-some year Kansas City tradition.  And we took my parents and grandparents through the Plaza and down Ward Parkway to see the Christmas lights.

So as much I hesitated at the beginning of year, I thoroughly enjoyed having everyone here this year.  Life certainly has gotten better this year by change!

I wish all my readers Happy Holidays and wish you a Joyous, and productive, and New Year!

Here's to the Initial Feeling of Stepping into a Sauna



Here's to the initial feeling of stepping into a sauna ~ Jill Badonsky

I can't tell you the last time I got to sit in a sauna.  But this toast resonates with me because instead of thinking of stepping into a sauna, I love to visualize living my life in our dream house.

A couple of years ago, we found a rough floor plan of our dream home in a magazine while waiting at a doctor's appointment.  I tore the sheet from the magazine and we've had it hanging on our bulletins board ever since. My dad has even started working the blueprints and we have drawing of what it should look Ike that hangs above the mantel.

Visualizing your success at the end of your Dream journey is important.  So whether it's the materials things you might be able to realize at the end of your dream journey or the intangible rewards, visualize yourself reaching your goals and living the dream.

Be Patient With Yourself

When going through changes, be patient with yourself. Things usually take longer than we hope or plan, so when that happens just lighten up and trust the process ~ Jill Badonsky

It's been a crazy couple of months again. At the work job, I've launched five new clients within my group. Slowly but surely the novel is getting finished. I didn't participate in NaNoWriMo (again), but like I posted on Facebook, I'll get November figured out one year so I can.

And yes, every time I go to Safari on my iPad, I feel a bit guilty about not posting. And I feel a bit guilty for not getting up in the morning to work on A Place to Call Their Own. But I just have to be patient with myself and understand that this will take a bit longer than I really want.

So hang in there, on whatever dream journey you're working on. If you're in sales, the next couple of weeks should be a great time for your business. If you're in a more creative journey, do your best to balance the business of the season with driven to meet your goals.

Have a great week everyone!

Perseverance is Failing Nineteen Times and Succeeding on the Twentieth

Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding on the twentieth ~ Julie Andrews

In the last week, my Facebook feed has been "littered" with funny little pictures. Back in the 90s, I received these in emails and just deleted them. On Facebook, it seems I can only remove all pictures or all posts from the friends posting them or hiding each post individually (if you know a different method, please leave your comment below to educate me).

Even though I mentioned I usually delete this kind of email, there is one picture that has caught my attention. Wouldn't it be my luck I cannot find it right now to post on here, so bear with me. On the left side of the picture is a perfect arrow rising at a perfect forty-five degree angle. The caption under this line is, "Most people's definition of success." On the right side if the picture is an arrow that is a seriously squiggly line that eventually rises ton the top right corner of the picture. The caption under this arrow is something like, "the real path to success."

This is a great illustration of Julie Andrews' quote. I might amend it a bit and say perseverance is failing a million times and getting it right on the millionth and first.

So whatever success journey you're on, keep at it. Success is rarely a straight and easy path to follow.

Have a great week everyone!

Here's to Acknowledging our Moments of Willpower

Here's to acknowledging our moments of willpower ~ Jill Badonsky

Don't you just love it when your day starts with accomplishing small goals that help you make your dreams come true? Not only does it feel good to make small steps towards the big dream, the vision, but the rest of day just seems to continue to be a good day, no matter what obstacles might come up.

I actually wrote that introduction last Sunday morning after accomplishing my writing goals early in the morning. How fitting that it is so timely for me this Saturday morning as well. I've been working third shift the last. I decided to get back into the normal weekday routine I'd like, I would get up at 5:30 AM on Saturday and Sunday. I am hoping that come Monday, rolling out of bed at 5:30 am to work out and write before work starts to become old hat.

After psyching myself up all day on Friday to get to bed at 9 PM and reminding myself how good it feels to work out and write before work, my hopes and dreams were dashed when I was woke up at 11 PM. When I was still awake at 1 AM, I turned off the alarm and decided getting some good rest was more important. I had only slept and shout and a half after working a thirteen hour shift on Friday morning.

But it must have been in the cards for me to start this routine. I woke up naturally right before 5:30 AM, just as I had planned. I tried to roll over and go back to bed, but the cat was determined to get his breakfast so I went ahead and got up.

So even though I am behind in my week day routine, it does feel nice to be up and have both my exercise and writing goals done for the day. It took quite a bit of willpower to get up and get going, but I feel great!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Try to be Better than Yourself

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do. Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself ~ William Faulkner

I hope that you've been continuing on your success journey. I've been quietly and slowly working on my novel and really am hoping to have the first draft done by the end of October so I can participate in National Novel Writing Month in November. Then my plan is to start the New Year editing.

This quote resonates with me this morning because I can be a very competitive person. Although a bit of healthy competition can be good, no matter what you're trying to accomplish, it's also important to remember to just try to be better than yourself.

What do you want to be better than yourself at this week?

Have a great week!

Are You Chasing Your Dream, Living It, or Both?

My j-o-b that pays the bills has been hectic again for the last two weeks.  But I just realized, I am living that dream.  I left a retail job last year to return to a call center and I love it.  I have been managing a new department since   February; we started from the ground up and everything is going pretty smooth.

Although I don't always have the energy to work on my writing and blogging like I should, my writing career is still on my horizon.  I am still chasing that dream.  No matter how tired and exhausted I am, I manage to get some reading done.  That's a writing activity, right?

So I hope that you're either living a dream or chasing a dream.  I happen to be doing both.

Have a great weekend!