Step Inside.

Parameters, fences, walls, locks, barriers..they all exist for a reason. We naturally have an understanding of the lines that we are to stay in, we naturally have a respect for it. It creates order and security. Within all of us lies a sense of gratitude for the rules and boundaries that are placed in our lives while at the same time, there is a crusader dying to get out and challenge those lines, wanting to break free and start a revolution. I know that balance well for I enjoy the order of life while always wanting to push the status quo. 

However, what if we were to just for a moment step into the center of the box we are all placed in and take it in. What could be we learn, what could we all see if we were to truly sit back and experience the status quo that comes naturally with each of our situations before tearing down the walls of revolution? 

Progress is not a luxury but rather a dire necessity for the evolution of our lives and the lives of others however, before elevating and stretching the boundaries, we all must first have mastered the status quo. Learned all there is to learn at an elementary level. There are skills for us to learn emotionally, mentally, spiritually and practical in the training grounds of the status quo. 

Celebrate your status quo. Step inside those walls. Master them.. Have reverence for them. Then push them, elevate your world and the world around you. 

Step Inside. 

Hang Ups.

We all have them. We all disguise them. We all skirt around them. Hang ups. Our hang ups are so deeply rooted within ourselves that it can define our every action all in an effort to bypass the way it makes us feel to face our hang up or display it for the world to see.

So what if rather than hiding your hang ups from yourself and others, you embraced them? You nurtured that they are a part of who you are in this moment and you set it free, in turn beginning to set your self free.

Today, take that one thing that you are battling and end the battle. Raise the white flag and surrender to your hang ups.

Hang Ups.

Make My Move.

Stagnancy is a choice. Sit with that statement for a moment and digest it. That is right, stagnancy is something that comes from within you. It is something that you have complete control and direction over. It is so easy to place the blame on your environment and circumstances and yet all the time, within you lies the keys to release you from your stagnancy while all the time falling back in love and honoring where you are today.

Look within yourself, find the spark that once was there. Is it your job, your location, your relationships, the way you take care of yourself? Rather than looking at the faults that are so easy to magnify within those things, challenge yourself to find the good and wonderful in them. Find an inner peace and adoration within your place in this world and where you are today.

Now that you have appreciation, make your move. Take where you are at and what life has given to you in this moment and build upon it. Give your life all you have and give your surroundings and situations respect and positivity. Contribute. Not only to your own life but the life that surrounds you.

With appreciating who you are and where you are today and striving to be your full potential within that foundation, stagnancy will be a thing of the past and you will be ever present and an active participant in creating your future.

Make Your Move.

Small Moves.

Each day, we can move ourselves a little step forward, stay in place or move ourselves a step backward. Much like a board game, each challenge card you pick up will either enhance your experience with free moves, more tools to add in our bag of tricks or hold you down and set you back a few notches.

Over the past year, I have truly tried my best to make a conscious decision that I would remain a good person through my ups..which is incredibly easy and then in turn remain a good person in my challenges. We all have them..challenges is the professional word for it but let's get gritty..the real turn of phrase is "Things or actions that just piss you off". Staying above the negativity that surfaces within you while your patience is being tested. Not one of us is exempt from this experience.

I have been successful in this focus this year and I have had set backs. So, right here, right now. All challenges, all items that test patience, all things that seduce us to fall into the quicksand of negativity I will stop in the moment and decide to rise above.

No matter what challenge card we pick up..one that moves us forward or one that moves us back. Make the most of each step and stay a good person to the core.

Small Moves.

Advance The Plot.

Life is a story and as just as writers have complete control over the plot they write and the way the characters move and interact, we as well have complete control on the way that our story develops and grows in the story lines we are handed.

Many people believe that we are the masters of our own destiny while many others believe that our destiny masters us. Why not believe that we are equal partners with our destiny if we so choose to be.

Today, find yourself at what point in the plot you are. Look at the scenery and the things that you can not control in your story line and then partner with your destiny and control your character's place within the plot to benefit you and the others around you best.

Advance The Plot.

Signs.

We are always looking for signs. Promptings, affirmations, confirmations in the decisions we are to make and in the ones we have already made. Some people go so far as to find a sign in almost anything they can just to feel a boost of confidence in what they are doing when all along the sign is in you.

You know, deep down if the path you are on and the decisions you are making are for your greater good. You already know how you effect the people around you. You just have to listen and be open to what you hear.

We all have been on a path that was not right for us and did not effect ourselves or the others around us in the way that was best and we have listened, didn't like the answer so continued doing what was not right for us. So this year I am struggling and trying to gain back not only the inner voice that keeps me on track but the same one that makes me a better person and for me listening is not as much of the problem as me doing what the voice is telling me.

Staying positive in negative situations, not being consumed by my environment but being the change in the environment around me. This is my challenge this year and there are days where I truly am the change that I want to see in the world and then there are days that I am not the change but rather a product and driving force in all that is wrong with my environment. 

So here is my mantra this year..in the inspiration of Gandhi.
1. Change yourself.
2. You are in control.
3. Forgive & let go.
4. Without action, you aren't going anywhere.
5. Take care of this moment.
6. Everyone is human.
7. PERSIST.
8. See the good in people & help them.
9. Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.
10. Continue to grow & evolve.

Signs.

Boomerang Effect.

Unintended causes and effects. For every thing that we decide or do, there is in turn an effect whether it be positive or negative. We are living in a constant ricochet. Whatever you put out there comes back to you, we have all heard that but never were words so true.

Think of all of the good things you put out there and all of the things that really make a difference in your life and the lives of others. Think of how you make a difference. Now, think of times when you made less than positive decisions and how it truly not only effects you but the environment around you. You can't help but notice that the negativity travels with force far greater than positivity.

I have been challenged as of late to do things that will benefit myself and others in situations that are frustrating. It has truly make me want to take the easy way out and give into negativity. Today I must try my best to take a moment to stop what I am doing and think. Let go. Solve. Think about the effect that my attitude and my decisions make in my life and in others. I may not have all the answers and all the solutions but in this moment, I know I do not want to throw any more boomerangs out that I don't want to come back and hit me. Make the choice. Stop the negativity.