Oh the possibilities.....

We all have times were we doubt ourselves, and we struggle to figure out how and why we should stay on the path we're already on - even if it is something we are truly passionate about. I'm at this point now, and maybe it's been coming for a little while - as I've been really apprehensive about this year with my baby starting school. Even yesterday on a beautiful sunny autumn day I drove past the park we used to hang out at after going for a bike ride - I missed him and I felt a lump in my throat. I stopped the car and walked through that park as a symbol of the new part of the journey I am on.


So, in an effort to help clear my head, I am sharing my thoughts with you, and hope that somehow this will help me with direction. I suppose I'm thinking out loud. I apologize for the lack of clarity in the following - I'm not ready to divulge all of myself yet.


Lately I've felt compelled to follow a path that is so blindingly obvious, that I'm already on it - well for myself anyway! I have felt passionate about this area for as long as I can remember, though the way I relate to this area of interest has changed with the decades. 


I feel drawn to do "big things" and help others in this particular area, as I feel my experiences can help. Yet I look around me and I see that I'm no different to anyone else - what makes me think I'm more "qualified" to follow this path?  


I see more and more people telling the same sorts of stories and sharing similar ideas just with different packaging. Why would I go to the effort of launching myself into a mammoth project just to have it fizzle out? Would it fizzle out? How embarrassing if it did fizzle out? Would I fight to the death to prevent it fizzling out but risk my closest friends and family in the meantime while all of my energy and effort is diverted elsewhere?


Why does sharing just with my friends and family not feel like enough? (besides the fact that they'll probably get sick to death of me, and stop inviting us over!) Why do I feel like I have to help not one, not one hundred, but at least one thousand people?


My brain is answering all of these as I write and I'm not sure I want it to. 
My soul is telling me because I want to leave a legacy - not money, or stuff (because God knows I already have enough clutter - and no - my kids don't want more toys for presents this year! LOL!) - I want to leave a legacy of good health, goodwill and knowledge.


I've always loved books and as a kid I remember feeling anxious when I was in about grade three or four when I visited the library and it was a big deal because it was the first time we were allowed to do something (or maybe it was a the first time they opened it? I can't remember) but I felt anxious because I thought - how will I possibly be able to read my way through all of these books before the end of grade seven???? 


That sums me up to this day. I didn't want to read all of the books in the library because  I wanted to "do it perfectly" - I wanted to read them all because there is SO much out there to learn - and when you're a kid who doesn't have a driver's license or passport and the internet was not yet heard of in the average Australian family home back then (early 90's) then books are the perfect place to start. 


This thirst for knowledge is propelling me forward now. While I enjoy what I'm currently doing and it does change people's lives - my other passion has the power to change so many more lives and I want to help shape a legacy of knowledge and good health - for the generations yet to come. 


I can serve a purpose to help others and to help shape a brighter future.






   

What's your theme song?

So, I got to thinking this morning as I drove home from the school drop off.  
In an effort to find motivation to knuckle down and write another project that I'm working on, I put on one of my favourite positive songs - which wasn't quite the one I was looking for, but it helped lift my mood and made me remember that everything worth having requires hard work and nothing comes easy.


This made me wonder who else has a "theme song?" 


My theme songs change every now and then depending on the goals that I'm working on - for example I remember running a half marathon last May in preparation for a marathon later in the year. This event was a test - the time that I achieved would be used by my mad marathon buddies to calculate a predicted time for big run.


The whole time I was running I could see the 65 year old man who was a training buddy about 1km ahead of me! So I started repeating (in my head) "kick it up another notch" (from the song "Kick it Up" by The McClymonts) to remind me to push through the pain and keep going because before I know it - the race will be over and I wanted to know that I had put everything in.     


This was so powerful!! I didn't catch him - he came in at 1hr 37mins and I came in at 1hr 42! But I had shaved 16 minutes off my previous (and first) half marathon time and I was in the top 10 finishers for females!


As an interesting side note, apparently the man who smashed the then world record for men's 5000m race (Halle Gebrselassie of Eithiopia) said that he won by setting his pace to the beat of that old song from the 90's - "Scatman!"


My current "theme song" is "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield and "Astonishing" by the very talented Natalie Weiss - which I play regularly with my children in the car! These are just beautiful songs with such positive uplifting messages and as I feel like I have such BIG plans for my life - the what is obvious to me, but the how isn't quite apparent yet - so "Unwritten" seems like an obvious choice! Just hearing the song gets me inspired!  


So guess what I'm about to do?  Play my theme songs and write!


What's your "theme song?" I'd love to hear the song titles that you feel help you towards your goal!

Focus - Are you doing what you love?

Are you living a life full of passion? When you wake up in the morning do you have a spring in your step because you are inspired to get out of bed and make the most of your day?

Or do you feel like you're only half way there?

Do you have hidden desires to develop a skill, hone a craft, grow your own vegetables, write a book, travel, or develop your career? Dig down deep and tap into the you that you really desire to be. Find out what you really want to be known for, or labelled as, or having achieved - depending on what is important to you.  I always like to read other people's obituaries, and think about how I would like my own to read - which can sound quite morbid - but it helps me to work backwards and figure out the small steps that I can take everyday towards living the life I dream of. 

I felt like I was only halfway there, and I didn't really have any interests besides reading and food! (and at that stage, singing along to the radio - this was before I went back to uni!) Then I decided to start taking steps towards living a more authentic life - that is, one that truly reflected the person that I believed I could be. When I starting acting on this, it was amazing how much less I wanted to hang in the kitchen at night time!!

Instead of watching TV which was often accompanied by eating as a hobby - I started devoting some time each night after all of the children were in bed to researching my area of interest. Whether it be surfing the net, reading a book, writing down ideas or dreaming big! It was amazing how once I started planting the seeds, they started to grow.

I created a vision board of all of the things I wanted to get eventually and especially of outfits I wanted to wear when I felt fit and healthy! It was amazing to look back at it almost two years later and discover that a long time after looking at it, I had actually accumulated almost all of it and had achieved the picture of health in those pics!

Soon the life that I wanted began to evolve - on the inside and the out! I had started actively pursuing a different road - and it feels so good! 


Of course this is an example on a larger scale. Maybe there are small tweaks that you can make to your life to include some more time to pursue your passions - open your mind and you never know where the journey will take you!

This has a huge effect on your self-esteem and creating a positive outlook, which in turn changes the way you feel about yourself, your health and what you put in your body to nurture your health.

So this week - don't forget to
1. Keep being conscious of what your body is trying to tell you,
2. Create a new ritual - that hopefully replaces a time of the day where you normally choose foods that make you feel yuk!
3. Devote some time in your week to pursue your passions


Have a great week - and enjoy your journey!