“Each friend represents a world in us…”

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ~ Anais Nin

My dearest readers, the above is one of my absolute favorite quotes with regards to the meaning of friendship. The quote speaks to the extent to which a friendship can ultimately impact the “expression” of a person; how each of our friends in life bring out different aspects of our being. How, by meeting a person, our journey of life is forever impacted in some way. Sometimes this impact is small…at other times the impact is so large that we can hardly phantom how our lives would be without this friend. Friends represent a world in us; they become part of our life story. They become the catalysts of memories and laughs. They become the scaffolding that support us in achieving our dreams. They become the eyes that we learn to read and the shoulders we lean on. They become the mirrors that reflect the beauty in each and every one of us that we can’t sometimes see otherwise. Friends create a world in us…and in light of this end up meaning the world to us.

My dearest readers, treasure your friends, nurture your friendships, and relish in the worlds that each of your friends represent in you! Here’s to beautiful friendships…

In 2015, May we Live for the Moments that Take our Breath Away

My dearest readers,

In 2015, may we live for the moments that take our breath away…the moments that leave us speechless and paralyzed…the moments that blow our minds. For it is in these exact moments, the ones that knock us off our feet, rob us of our breath and stop time, that we are filled with a restorative abundance of emotion, spirit and life.

As the poem by Andrea Gibson beautifully states, “we all have different reasons for forgetting to breath.” What takes your breath away, my dearest reader? Is it a breathtaking sunset or the sight of your soulmate? An exquisitely written line in a novel or the taste of the best piece of dessert you have ever indulged in? Is it running past the finish line with your best time yet or one of those fulfilling moments at work that remind you of why you pursued your chosen career?

I hope that the New Year brings you many such moments. Moments that leave you breathless and speechless and in awe of how beautiful life, your life, really is. These moments are often unexpected, and yet needed. Moments that we cannot fathom and even in living them, still carry an air of surrealism.

I leave you with the words of Steve Maraboli – “Sometimes it’s the same moments that take your breath away that breathe purpose and love back into your life.”

My dearest readers, may 2015 take your breath away…

Post-it Notes for Positivity…Spreading the positivity one post-it note message at a time!

My dearest readers,

There are certain moments in life that allow you to feel as though you are part of a greater purpose, a bigger picture of interconnected lives, paths and experiences. I was blessed to be able to experience this sort of moment today. Along with lovely individuals from the positively profession-elle social media community, I spent my morning writing inspirational quotes and messages on post-it notes and then posting these notes around the city.It was such a beautiful and heart-warming experience.

Life often gives us exactly what we need at the moments we need it most. We cross paths with the right person, at the right time. We hear a meaningful lyric at just the right instance. We read a line in a book when it most relates to us. How beautiful a notion to believe that these simple post-it note messages may end up being discovered in an air of serendipity in someone’s life?

I hope these messages find their way into the hands of the people that need them the most. I hope they make a small difference in the lives of the strangers that discover them. I hope we were able to spread positivity, love and inspiration today.

Have a beautiful weekend my dearest readers! Keep spreading the love and positivity!

Sprinkle yourself a trail of inspiration…the modern version of Hansel & Gretel!

My dearest readers,

Once upon a time, Hansel and Gretel ingeniously left themselves a trail of crumbs in hopes of finding their way home. Today I propose a modern-day twist on this childhood tale…the idea of leaving a trail for when you need it the most can also be applied to sprinkling some extra motivation and inspiration throughout your day to day life.

A good friend of mine bought me a box of “dream cards” as part of my birthday gift this year – small cards that you pop open whenever you are in need of some extra inspiration, each revealing a motivational quote! I instantly became addicted to hiding these little cards everywhere so that I could discover them throughout my day and be inspired. These cards found their way into my purse, in between the pages of my textbooks and into my favorite coffee mug. I was leaving myself a trail of inspiration…each card represented a moment to recharge and re-focus my energy. Each quote presented an opportunity for mindfulness and optimism!

My dearest readers, why not make your very own set of “dream cards”? I think it’s a great way to sneak some extra inspiration into each moment of the day!! Grab some post-its and start writing down your favorite quotes! Sprinkle a trail of dream cards throughout your life! Spread the positive vibe by leaving a trail for a friend or a roommate!

You never know where inspiration may be hiding…ENJOY!

But what if you fly? – The right type of “what if’s”

Good morning my dearest readers,

Life is full of “what if’s”; an inevitable consequence of all the unknowns and uncertainties that we encounter each and every day of our lives. We never truly know what the next moment, day or even year holds. This notion both presents us with endless potential and possibilities for the future but can also be daunting and even frustrating at times. The future can, to a certain extent, be impacted by the choices we make and actions we take in the present…the control we have over the future however is in a way equally limited by all the unknown variables, parameters and unexpected turns of life.

Despite having to come to terms with the inevitable presence of uncertainty, unknowns and essentially “what if’s” of life, we do have the power to dictate the way we handle this unpredictability.

We are all too guilty of quickly reverting to thinking of the worst possible outcome…”what if I fail?”…”what if I’m wrong?”…”what if I lose?”…”what if I fall?”. Perhaps it feels safer to think this way; after all, if we set ourselves up for lower expectations then we can never in fact be utterly disappointed. Is it simply a “glass half full vs. half empty” sort of matter or does it remind us of our vulnerable side in a world full of chances to be taken with unknown results and conclusions? I believe it is a bit of both and so much more. 

What if instead we were to funnel all this unpredictability towards a focus on all the beautiful and exciting potential that the future has to hold? What if we began each chance that we take with thoughts such as “what if I succeed?”…”what if this works?”…”what if I love this?”…”what if I fly?”.

If we really think about it, every single chance we take carries a certain level of uncertainty. If you choose to take the chance and see where it takes you then you owe it to yourself to expect the best possible outcomes. Not everything we do in life will turn out as expected but there is no harm in setting off on a journey, adventure or dream with positive and high expectations.

The following words by Erin Hanson inspired this post …the juxtaposition of failure in “what if I fall?” with the potential for soaring to great heights with “what if you fly?” is beautiful, brilliant and so simply, yet eloquently, put. 

My dearest readers, think of the amazing potential you have within yourselves. Do not sabotage that strength by letting fear stop you from taking a chance on life. Where there is potential to fail there is potential to succeed. Where there is potential to not like something there is potential to absolutely fall in love with it. Where there is potential to “fall” there is this amazing and beautiful potential to not only fly but “soar”. 

There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?”

~Erin Hanson

 

“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”

“You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.” – Jim Carrey

This past week, actor Jim Carrey delivered a moving and extremely inspiring commencement speech for the graduating class of Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. He relayed very personal stories, highlighting life lessons learned through some of the failures that his father had experienced in his own life.

In my opinion, this particular quote extracted from his speech speaks absolute volumes. Sometimes in life, we don’t pursue our dreams or that which we are truly passionate about, because we are fearful of failure. We thus find ourselves settling for endeavors that may be considered to be “safer” alternatives. Jim Carrey eloquently points out that we may very well also fail in life at these “safer” or more “practical” alternatives. Does it then not make sense to at least choose to take the chance at something that we truly love? There is always a chance in life that we may fail at something, that we may face a challenge or hardship on our way to achieving our dreams. I think we owe it to ourselves to choose to struggle for the things that truly make us happiest and that we are most passionate about…then the chance is worth taking…then the struggle becomes worth it…then the journey, no matter what the outcome, becomes that which feeds us.