TO SUSAN

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear Susan. Happy Birthday to you!!!! And many more....................................... Gee, I thought I'd be nervous to sing in public. LOL Hope you're having a great day!

Happy Holidays!!

Susan says: Loving greetings Readers during this holiday season. Clearly Jennifer and I are on a break! Baking and eating and working and writing and hanging with the kids and watching movies and meditating and planning and running and tidying and clearing out and more baking and having birthdays and celebrating the New Year and going to the beach and enjoying the sunshine and the little bit of cold and gathering with friends old and new and giving and receiving gifts and generally making merriment and getting on with it!! Why not???

So Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and Happy Kwanza and Blessed Holidays or whatever applies! May the New Year bring all good surprises and more new and exciting adventure!!! Tomorrow's my birthday!!! Booya!!

So look for more new and exciting reports of adventure in the New Year, as well as some introspection and observation.

Monday's Quote

Photo By Jennifer Campbell

"Ideas without action are just dreams."

Chris Guillebeau

Monday's Quote

Photo by Jennifer Campbell

"Happiness lies in the passions we pursue and the pressures we decline. Happiness is not automatic but must be wisely pursued."

Alexandra Stoddard

Goals

Photo by Jennifer Campbell

Jennifer says: Aside from acknowledging that you aren’t living the life you want, I think the next step is setting goals to help create that ideal path. Goals and the process of setting them, is an important part of creating your life and not just sitting by while life happens around you.

So how do you go about deciding what your goals are? One popular exercise that I’ve tried, several times, is to write what your “perfect” day would be. It has to be specific. Like, I wake up in my own home and have coffee in my backyard surrounded by flowers. Think about how you spend your time, beyond spa treatments and driving your Lexus. Although I think you should include them, if that’s what you want. I know I dream of daily spa visits. But what I mean is to define your work. What do you want to be doing? Event planner, clothing designer, landscape artist? This is the crux of it.

Also think about how you want to dress; business suits, jeans and a t-shirt or pajamas. What causes, charities or organizations do you want to support? Personally, I think this is important. I believe if everyone donated even a little bit of time or money to something they believe in, the world would be in a much better state.

Ok, you have your detailed idea of a perfect day. Now stop thinking of it as a dream and look at it as a blue print of what your life could be like. Now try taking making a list of each point in your blue print. Like this: have my own home, backyard gardens, spa treatments, landscape artist, wear jeans and T-shirt with my company logo, donate $10.00 a month to St. Judes Children’s Hospital, spend one hour a month working in the soup kitchen at church, etc.

How many of these things can you do right now, there’s always at least one. From the list above, I would say planting some flowers in your backyard or even a window box is do-able. Donating $10.00 to charity and spending an hour volunteering for a cause is probably do-able. Wearing jeans and t-shirts on your time off is do-able. Designing a logo is do-able. Maybe scheduling one spa treatment a month, to start, is do-able. That’s six things off the top that could be done right now.

What’s left? Have my own home and landscape artist. Two major goals. Not overwhelming. Ok, now begin to break these down into smaller and smaller steps. For instance becoming a landscape artist could involve taking some courses, learning about different types of plants, developing a design style, purchasing tools, gaining experience, getting clients, etc. The point is to think of such small steps that it’s easy to make some progress every week, or month, like purchasing one tool or one book. Now make the commitment to invest the time.

A word of caution here, don’t let yourself get so caught up in the planning of your goals that you never actually start or can’t maintain the schedule you’ve set for yourself beyond a week or a month. This has been my downfall. I would also limit my choices to two or three big things, more than that can be too much to devote enough time to. Major goals take major time, in most cases. But starting and committing to taking small steps everyday will yield success.

It is possible to create your dream life!

Monday's Quote

Photo by: Jennifer Campbell

"What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

Jane Goodall

I'm back

Photo by: Jennifer Campbell

Jennifer says: For the last week I’ve been in a major “funk”. I don’t know exactly what triggered it but I’m glad it’s over. It seems to have ended as quickly as it began. Thanks to Susan for posting the Monday Quote for me. I couldn’t seem to make myself to anything – beyond dragging myself to my job every day.

During the black days, I kept reading my Angel cards, which had finally arrived. I thought it was really interesting that I kept drawing the same or similar themed cards. Yes, I did shuffle… And no, I don’t base my life on astrology or which way the wind is blowing. Although, I do admit to believing in a higher power. I also believe we manifest a lot of the circumstances in our lives, positive and negative, by our thoughts and actions. I think there are “signs” or influences, whatever you wish to call them, that come along to help us – if we pay attention.

Pre-funk, I was invited out by three friends. Normally I would've made up some excuse to sit home and veg out, my usual routine. "Thanks, but I'm really tired." "I've already got something planned" Whatever generic reason to stay home. But instead, I accepted all three invitations and had a fabulous time on each of them. Two of the invitations were from friends I'd never gone out with. Great conversation, great food, great time. The third outing was with an old friend and involved my first yoga class and my first meal of black beans and rice. Fabulous! So I choose to see these invitations as a sign. It's time for me try new things and meet new people. Become an active participant in the life I feel like I've been missing.

Given that I kept drawing, and continue to draw, cards along the lines of positive major life changes, I choose to take that as a sign too. Just as this blog is a starting point for my writing and photography, kind of another sign that the timing is right. So I’ve decided to accept all of the invitations that come my way, unless it’s something I know I absolutely do not want to do. I’ve also decided to take better care of myself and try new things. And I’m going to open a “store” on ETSY.com. I’ve been talking about trying to sell my photos, and other things I make, online for over a year. So I have been reading how to set up on that site and decided on a name: Jenn’s Photos & Crafts. I still have to learn how to use Pay Pal and a few other details, but I’m doing it!

I guess I can describe the last week as finding the light at the end of the tunnel. Sorry to be so cliché, but there it is.

Namaste

Monday's Quote

Life is not about finding yourself.

Life is about creating yourself.

Susan says: "To be healthy, we should shift our focus from what we need to do to be healthy to who we must become. Too often we treat our physical health as if it were something external to us that can be perfected by popping enough pills, consuming enough low-calorie drinks, or eating enough cholesterol free foods. This “Cartesian” approach to physical health, as Dr. Weil aptly puts it, is limiting because it encourages a fragmented approach to wellness. It tricks us into thinking we can be healthy— whole— by simply attending to our physiological needs. This is tantamount to cutting off the roots of a plant and watering it with the purest water. Clearly, a plant has other needs. It needs sunshine and it needs to be rooted in adequate soil. If we ignore the plant’s need for sunshine it will eventually wither away and die. Likewise, if the plant is planted in shallow soil, it will dry up. The plant’s need for water cannot be separated from its need for sunshine and soil. These needs, though specific and distinct, serve one purpose: the health of the plant. We see then, that our health is not served simply by attending to the needs of the body. Certainly the body may survive for a period if it receives sufficient nourishment and adequate exercise, but survival does not constitute health. We are not healthy until we are happy. To be happy, the human mind must be illumined by the light of spiritual truth. Our entire beings—body, mind, and soul—must be rooted to the spiritual source that brought us into being." - Deshon Fox

This is an excerpt from Deshon's latest book "The Middle Theory, a guide to balance". Find it here http://www.themiddletheory.com/index.htm.

I appreciate the concept that health is multi-faceted - it's not just about my physical body. If I am happy, it is contributing to my good health, rather than thinking I will be happy when I am healthy, or 30 pounds lighter, or have those blonde highlights, or quit smoking.

Monday's Quote

Photo by: Jennifer Campbell

"I would like to learn, or remember, how to live."

Annie Dillard

I am so stoked!

Susan says: Aaahhh, the leading lady in my own life. Well said Jennifer. I love that. I am the leading lady, my husband is the leading man and our kids are the best supporting actor and actress. (They get to be the leading man and leading lady in their own lives)

In true leading lady fashion, I am so stoked! I’m having the best time in my forties. I’ve decided to try all these things I’ve never tried before this decade – sort of a jump start on my bucket list, right? So I’ve recently joined “Team Ripped Chix” (just the name sounds so cool, I think…) and I am training for a marathon! Team Ripped Chix is a group of women, awesome women who started out as friends and acquaintances. Some of them are real sports aficionados and some are just beginners like me. The more seasoned ones are helping the beginners and we are making a great team. This is my first marathon. Since I’ve never done it before, I will be part of a relay team that divides up the miles. Since the race is 24 (or so) miles, 6 of us run four miles. That’s not so bad. In fact, it’s just perfect. I have a great gradual program that I will do over the next 12 weeks to get up to comfortably running a 10K, so 4 miles will be a piece of cake. So far I love the early morning hours; I get my dogs and we go for a walk/run.

But the really cool thing about this group of running ripped chix is that we have decided to use our marathon running to raise money for charities. Frankly, the idea of doing it for money never even occurred to me. But some of the women had done this for previous runs, so we all decided “why not?” I quite like the idea. It makes it about more than just myself, serves as a motivator (and at 6:00 a.m. when that alarm goes off, I can use all the motivators I can get!) and helps out some great causes. So I need a charity! Any great ideas? Each woman is making suggestions and we will be coming up with the best way to do it. Some of the suggestions have been for various disease/cure related causes, other suggestions have been for creating awareness about certain health and or social issues. Some suggested the charity be a local one. The Williams Syndrome Foundation is one that is near and dear to my heart, but there doesn’t seem to be a local chapter. So I am taking suggestions – make a comment and name anything at all and why and I will consider it. I will let you know what I come up with.

Yay Team Ripped Chix!!

You ought to be the leading lady in your own life...

Jennifer says: That’s a line from one of my favorite movies “The Holiday”. It stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, who is one of my favorite actresses. Basically, both women are unhappy with their lives and they decide to switch homes over the Christmas holiday. While in each other’s homes and very different environments, they open up to new possibilities. One learns to let go of trying to control everything and one learns to take control of her life.

There’s one scene where Kate Winslet’s character, Iris, has dinner with an elderly man she’d just met named Arthur. They talk about why Iris has decided to go on vacation alone during the holidays, which partly has to do with a man she’s devoted years to but is a putz who treats her like he’s doing her a favor. During the course of their conversation, Arthur tells her that she ought to be the leading lady in her own life. Essentially to take control, choose her own destiny and stop sitting in the background allowing things to happen to her.

This scene really strikes me. I can relate to devoting years to a man who really doesn’t devote himself to me. Sitting back, going through the motions of an unsatisfying life while waiting for some divine inspiration to fall from the sky and signal me that my life has begun. My life began some forty years ago and I feel like I’m missing it.

So at the “midway” point it’s time to formulate a plan and head towards a deliberate course. Climb out of the rut that has been my life for so long.

I think a lot of us go through the motions. Settle on a job that is practical but holds no passion. Stay with someone who really doesn’t fulfill us but being with that person is better than being alone. Risk nothing and play things safe.

I also think a lot of us get these sparks of inspiration. Be it a movie or a book, whatever the source, which shows us it’s possible for something better. Something truer. The trick is to keep that feeling and figure out what it is that you really want your life to be. And in doing so, truly becoming the leading lady in your life.

Monday's Quote

Photo by: Jennifer Campbell

"It's never too late to be who you might have been."

George Eliot

Reinvention

Photo by: Jennifer Campbell

“How do we begin to come into ourselves fully, in all our imperfect glory? By letting go of who we thought we had to be, to make way for who we might become.” Oprah

Jennifer says: For quite a long time I’ve felt like I’m faking it, dissatisfied with my life. Somehow missing my own life by waiting for something to happen, signaling the beginning of the kind of life I want to be living.

As a single mother: now fat, frumpy and forty (something) I feel stuck. Maybe it’s a midlife crisis. Maybe I’m tired of having to “do everything” on my own. I don’t know, it’s probably a combination of everything. I do know that I’m tired of being last on my own list.

Mind you, I don’t regret the life choices I’ve made. Although frequently frustrating, I adore my children and am so lucky to have three healthy sons. It’s been a challenge and a joy watching them become the young men they now are. I’m also lucky to live on such a beautiful island. Though I confess that I rarely do any of things anymore that drew me here.

Over the last twenty years or so, I suppose I thought I had to be perfect at everything: mother, spouse, employee… Now I see where my attempts to portray this image of myself has caused me to stray, at least somewhat, from what I wanted my life to be. This has really been my own doing, no one ever said I had to be a certain way or have a certain job. It’s the pressure I put on myself because I thought I had to present a certain picture.

Just last night, as I was with a couple of my friends, I was bitching about how frustrated and run-down I feel. I said I want to reinvent myself. That’s the crux of it I think: That I need to reinvent myself to live an authentic life.

So what does that mean? For me, I believe it means I have to look at how I use my time and rethink what my priorities are. I need to make my goals important enough to find sufficient time to work towards them. It also means that I have to give up expecting everything to be perfect. What are my goals? I’ve already written about one; being self employed. Some of my others are to improve my health, to have more adventures and excitement, to own my own house with lots of flowers and fruit trees in the yard, take better care of myself (this means I don’t feel guilty or deny myself a pedicure or cappuccino if I want it) and travel. This is my authentic life.

So, I guess my new project is “me”.

Cookie Thief

A Poem by Valerie Cox

Cookie Thief

A woman was waiting at the airport one night,

With several long hours before her flight.

She hunted for a book in the airport shop,

Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book, but happened to see,

That the man beside her, as bold as could be,

Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag between,

Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene

She read, munched cookies, and watched the clock,

As the gutsy "cookie thief" diminished her stock

She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,

Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!"

With each cookie she took, he took one too.

When only one was left, she wondered what he'd do.

with a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,

He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, and he ate the other.

She snatched it from him and thought, "Oh brother,

This guy has some nerve, and he's also so rude,

Why, he didn't even show any gratitude!"

She had never known when she had been so galled,

And sighed with relief when her flight was called.

She gathered her belongings and headed for the gate,

Refusing to look at the "thieving ingrate".

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,

Then sought her book, which was almost complete.

As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise.

There were her bag of cookies in front of her eyes!

"If mine are here," she moaned with despair.

"Then the others were his and he tried to share!"

Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,

That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief!!!!

Valerie Cox

Susan says: Has this ever happened to you? I have to say that it has happened to me more than once, when I was so sure about something, I had assumed and drawn conclusions and been absolutely positive about my position, only to be proven completely wrong. I always feel shame and despair, especially if I don't have the chance to apologize. I agonize and feel like a failure and lapse into self loathing. So for me, this story is about humility - how important it is to be humble and unassuming. It is better to be humble than right. Because you may be wrong! And even if you are right, presented on a plate of humility, rightness is true wisdom. Humility keeps us focused on our own growth rather than the faults of others - like the "thieving ingrate" in the poem - and enables us to learn from our mistakes.

On my quest for spiritual growth and development, instead of being so quick to be vexed by supposition, I will ask a simple question. And keep praying. So dear God, please help me to be more humble today! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Monday's Quote

Photo by Jennifer Campbell

"Life is not the amount of breaths you take. It's the moments that take your breath away..."

From the movie "Hitch"

Trinity and the Violin

Susan says: Have you seen the movie "The Matrix" where Trinity and Neo are trapped on the top of this building with nothing but a helicopter to escape with and Trinity dials home and says "I need the program to fly this helicopter" and they download it in about 7 seconds and bam, she can fly the helicopter and they are saved?

Ok, so picture this: When I was just a little kid, a toddler really, I had this teddy bear. My favorite teddy bear; it was yellow with pink and green and white flowers on its belly and it had a wind up music box in it that played Brahms Lullaby. I lost it somehow. I don't know how. I loved it so much, that my mom bought me a new one, but it was never really the same and I don't even remember if the new one had a music box, but the feel of the old teddy and the sound of that lullaby tinkling away to me every night as I went to sleep is indelible in my brain. It engenders such a feeling of nostalgia so as to lapse me into melancholy over my lost bear. But in a good way. In the way that one pines for a memory that is both dear and sad; dear because it was a lovely time and sad because it is gone forever.

Fast forward to 1973. Third grade with my favorite teacher in the world, Mrs. Moody. When you reached third grade, you were allowed to take an instrument and the school system provided lessons, so as to build their little orchestra. I chose the violin. My violin teacher, a man (Mr. Somebody with red wavy hair and a decidedly evil beak nose) was not the lovely Ms. Honeychurch I had hoped for. He rubbed me the wrong way ergo my violin lessons lasted only 2 months before I began to ditch.

Right. So, fast forward again to 2009. I am in the middle of a treatment with a client who has very graciously provided the music. A collection of melodies that soothe the savage beast. Among them - yes, of course, was Brahms Lullaby. This time, it was played on the lonely violin, with a humble piano back up. It was lucid and graceful and even haunting (played as it was on his Ipod with a Bose speaker...) and it transported me immediately back to my childhood, in my bedroom, on the top bunk, with my old teddy tinkling away with his music box voice as I drifted off. I had not heard the lullaby in years, and certainly not played so

beautifully - a simple violin solo. It nearly brought me to tears. It was all I could do to refrain from bursting into humming with my client right there on the table.

And it was at that moment that Trinity downloaded the "how to play Brahms Lullaby on the violin" program into my brain (thank you, Trinity).

Only problem - no violin. So in typical Intentional Living convention, dear Readers, as I surfed on Amazon one sleepless night, I impetuously purchased a violin. I thought to myself, "why not?" And I didn't have to ask my mom. (I am so loving being grown up!!!) I just did it. And I am going to be able to play it. You can wait for the video. I will keep you posted...

Monday's Quote

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Albert Einstein

Our Story for Today

Susan says: Ditto what Jennifer said - thank you everyone! And I also want to thank all my friends (you know who you are) who have been so supportive and encouraging to all my new endeavors and ideas - everyone has such great ideas to help me along, it is ... wonderful. Our Story for Today: There was once a man who had great faith in God. He knew in his heart that no harm would come to him because if he ever found himself in peril, God would save him. So it came to pass that in the village that the man lived, the wet season brought about torrential rains and the small creek became a river which soon overcame the banks and flooded the village. Most people had fled to higher ground but the man did not act because he knew that God would save him. Soon, even his little house was filled with water and the current took him out the window. He was floating down with the rushing water when a boat came by. The man on the boat thrust out his hand and said "grab my hand I will save you." The man calmly shook his head and said, "no no, God will save me". Soon, someone floated by on a chest of drawers. He thrust out his hand to the man saying "take my hand, I will help you." "No no," replied the man. "God will save me." After an afternoon of this, finally the man could stay up no longer and the waters engulfed him. When he arrived in heaven and stood before God, he was in despair. "Why didn't you save me??" he cried. And God replied "I sent several people to help you, but you would not take the help and so you drowned." The moral of this story is that if you need help, and the help comes - you should take it!! (Even if it comes from your daughter.) I believe that God uses everything in the universe to give us what we need - what we are asking for. We don't need to worry ourselves with how help comes - what form it takes. When the help comes - be grateful! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I have experienced help that I really needed coming in a way I was not expecting and would not have chosen at all, but I felt I had to take it because I had asked for it in a very focused way. And of course it turned out wonderful for everyone. I felt I had to allow the other person to be of service - which was of great benefit to them as well, so everyone grew from the experience. If I had been proud (which I could have done) we all would have lost. So thank you, thank you, thank you! And let that be a lesson to you.

An encouraging start

Photo by: Jennifer Campbell

Jennifer says: Even though our blog has only been up and running for a couple weeks, I'm excited with the start we're off to. Two followers! Doesn't sound like much, but I'm thankful for both of them.

I also admit to getting a little rush when I check in everyday and see higher numbers in the little rating boxes and comments. People are reading! I thank everyone who has posted a comment. It's really encouraging. And to the person who wrote that they don't agree with everything we write - that's OK. We're expressing our opinions, hopes and experiences. We wouldn't expect everyone to agree with us and we appreciate other's views. That's part of what makes it interesting.

For me, this blog is a venue to get my work "out there" and to hopefully make significant progress towards my goals. Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted to be a professional writer and photographer. I have a few projects in various stages; possibly writing about them will give me the much needed push to launch them.

This October marks the fourth year on my current job. I have one year left on my contract. I'm grateful to have this job, especially when so many others have lost theirs. In a year, I may also be in that situation. Now seems like a really good time to get serious about my own goals.

So thanks again for the encouragement and please keep reading!!!

Monday's Quote

Photo by: Jennifer Campbell

"The world is a vast adventure

waiting to be had."

Karen Marie Monning

Getting Past The Blank Page

Jennifer writes: I’m currently reading a book called “the WAR of ART” by Steven Pressfield. I love books! This particular book was written mainly for writers and artists, but I think the main focus is applicable to many situations that have a person scratching their head in frustration, wondering where to begin.

The book is a compilation of short essays based on the author’s thought within a theme for each section in the book. An easy read that reminds me of a thought for the day relevant to the type of life I’m trying to create for myself.

What’s the difference between a professional and one who has a hobby? The professional works at his craft every day; inspired or not, yielding “success” or not, producing the masterpiece or not. This is the main focus of the book, at least for me.

No excuses, no waiting for inspiration – just do it. I want to be a writer, so I face the blank page and write. Write anything: random words, thoughts, just fill the page and eventually it’ll make sense. It doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to be done.

Pressfield also writes that “Creative work is a gift to the world… Don’t cheat us of your contribution.” For me, this means to stop worrying if everyone else will think my work is brilliant. And if it’s not, then it’s not worth writing. Who is “everyone” anyway? It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I’ve made the effort.

I think this is so important, to any venture: writing, painting, even beginning a new health program. Don’t wait for the perfect time because it’ll never come. Don’t expect a masterpiece and don’t expect everyone’s admiration or approval. You don’t need it. What you do need is to make a commitment, today, to begin. And to spend time every day doing a little more and a little more. Success will come.

So right now, on this once blank page, I commit to my craft. I will write.

Angel Card Express

Susan says: Angel Card for today - well, actually, it was from a few days ago. But I chose it because I had had a very distressing evening with friends at a gathering. The gathering, which was supposed to be uplifting and spiritually rejuvenating turned out to be quite a downer. I had a lot of angst and questions about why tempers flared the way they did. Of course, I realized that it had nothing to do with me, it was induced by one of my friends being under intense stress in her own life and, really, taking it out on everyone present that night. She has a big personality, to say the very least.

So... I prayed about it. And I asked the question of "what should I do about my friend. How should I respond to her and this crazy wrong behavior?" and then I picked an angel card.

Truth & Integrity - "you are guided to be very honest with yourself, and to be true to yourself in all of your activities and actions." At first I thought - what the heck? Honest with myself??? I'm not the problem here. But then I went a little deeper... I began thinking about all this, feeling angry and irritated that her behavior affected my evening. I thought about turning it around on myself and examining why I was angry about her behavior and why I was letting it affect me so. After all, I am in charge of my own feelings, right? I can choose to be angry and irritated, or not. And really, when a friend is in such stress, my anger is certainly not a helpful response. I thought that the actions of hers that I didn't like might be some actions that I might do - things I don't like about myself. I guess the reality is that I might see a lot of what I don't like about myself in her. We're all just mirrors, right?

Looking at it that way really helped to settle and resolve my feelings, calm me down. I was able to move on and not dwell on it. I was able to go back to her and give a much more loving response and offer help that she needed. I was reminded to "not be content to show friendship in words alone. Let your heart beat with loving kindness for all who may cross your path," which is my truth.

I would not have thought to look at it that way if I had not chosen that card, I don't think. I just love those angel cards. It's like God talking right to me. Giving me fatherly advice. Awesome!

Monday's Quote

Photo by: Jennifer Campbell

"I can be changed by what happens to me.

But I refuse to be reduced by it."

Maya Angelou

What's Your Best?

Jennifer says: “Success is working hard, living right, dreaming big, and being the best we can be.” A. Tennille

I find that quote so inspiring, for many different reasons. First, to me it implies that success isn’t the finish line, but instead it’s a lifelong process. Something to strive for and then something to maintain. For me, breaking the sentence down into each component really makes me think about the kind of life I want to strive for and the goals I have set for myself.

Working hard: I don’t think that necessarily means working physically hard. Although, I’m not condoning laziness here. My feeling is that God, The Source, The Universe - whatever your belief is, put all of us here with unique talents and strengths. The trick is to figure out what those are. I’ve finally figured out mine. But I don’t think I’m working hard at them, or at least not as hard as I could be. And that’s the thing, working hard at our unique talents, our calling. When we work at what we’re meant to do, then it really isn’t working hard. If we were to follow our calling, I’m sure we’d be happier and more productive individuals. At least, I’m sure the majority of us would be.

Living right: For me this also can be broken down. The first thing that comes to mind is “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. I’m a strong believer in “what goes around comes around”. I may not always succeed and others may not agree, but I try to be honest and fair with people. And I hope they treat me in the same way, although I don’t think always it works out this way.

I think the other part of living right is taking care of oneself physically and emotionally. Treating yourself well and with respect, keeping yourself in good health. I’ve read so many times that if we do not treat ourselves well, how can we expect anyone one else to? Makes sense.

Dreaming big: Beyond the huge bank accounts, what do you dream for? Your own house with a nice yard filled with flowers and fruit trees? Exciting adventures traveling the world? Running your own business? Without big dreams, it’s unlikely to have big accomplishments. Don’t settle for mediocrity. Even if you don’t have a clue how to make your dreams happen, don’t give them up. Giving up means staying in the rut and what’s the point of that?

Being the best we can be: I think this encompasses all of the three points: working hard – at what we are meant to do, living right – treating ourselves and others well and dreaming big – not settling for less.

If we were all striving to be the best we could be, imagine what accomplishments we could make! And how much happier we’d be… Now that’s my idea of success!