How can you give that one little dream just a little bit more space in your life?

What is that thing that makes you light up at the idea of doing it?

What kind of activity do you feel that itch-under-your-skin to get done, and done right?

When you’re feeling idle or delayed by some part of the day-to-day, what is it you daydream about accomplishing?

How could you pursue that thing, just a little more?

How could you fit a few more minutes, or perhaps an hour, into your day or week?

How much brighter might your life be with more of your dreams alive in it?

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If at first you don’t succeed, be pleased you’re trying new things.

I spent most of the evening on a new Super Healthy Cupcake Recipe.

It didn’t go well.

Granted, it didn’t go well mostly because of things I did. I over-filled the cupcake cups. I forgot my vanilla is twice as strong as normal, making the vanilla frosting into VANILLA! (frosting).

My little boy was very excited to be part of the cupcake-making process. (The distraction being part of how I lost track of things like that.) He was very much looking forward to enjoying his favorite treat that we made ourselves.

When I got the results into edible-seeming form, he tried it, then tried it again. He was clearly disappointed, but brushed that off and went back to playing. He had been more excited than I at the project, and then I was more disappointed that it didn’t work out.

He did tell me he wants me to keep trying, and that maybe tomorrow or Saturday we can get it right. I told him I’d tweak the recipe a little and do better next time.

After tucking him in, I still kept feeling disappointed the recipe didn’t turn out quite well. It can probably still be a Mostly Healthy Cupcake Recipe, and maybe I can even get it back to Super after I get the hang of it. But I used to be pretty good at making things like this, so it was getting to me.

Finally, I realized that it’s been a long time since I’ve tried this sort of thing. I don’t have the knack anymore, and it took up most of my evening, but I still gave it a good shot. Plus, I’m not planning to give up over it. As discouraging as my time has been lately, that really means something to me.

So as I try to get ready to sleep, I’m reminding myself to take the experience for what it was: I tried something new. Soon, I’m going to try something new in a better way. And I’ll keep at it as I keep getting better.

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Mindfully forgive yourself when you stumble or backtrack on the road of life. You’ll get where you need to be.

You’re not 100% on point every day.

You’ll stammer, you’ll stumble.

Sometimes, you’ll even fall.

So what?

So long as you keep trying every day, both to improve yourself and to mindfully forgive yourself for backsliding, you’ll do all right.

In fact, you’ll do fantastic.

Just keep traveling the road you’re on, resting when you need, and retracing your steps if that time comes.

You’ll get where you need to be.

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When you fall short of your mark, make note of what you did well, and build on that as you try again.

Today, I tried to accomplish a few things. Rather, today I failed to accomplish a few things.

The one thing I accomplished (mostly) well was getting some fresh air, playing with my son.

As I’m wrapping up my day and wondering how I did with it, I’m comforted I at least had my priorities (mostly) straight.

I suppose one of the difficult parts about not getting where you want to go is recognizing what you did well, so you can build on that going forward.

Tomorrow, among other things, I’m going to spend more time with my son.

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Reach for that star. Let the way open up before you.

A star’s reflection
On a clear or icy lake?
Either way, I’ll swim.

 

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Stop Dithering. Start Doing. It’s time.

No more debating.

No more doubting.

No more asking for permission to be yourself.

No more allowing invisible barriers to keep you boxed in.

No more holding back.

Just be.

Just be yourself.

Just be courageous.

Just be free.

That thing you’ve been wondering if you’d ever have what it takes to give it a shot?

Get out there and take the first steps.

It’s time.

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If you could plot your own course for 2016, what Treasures would you put on the map?

The other day, I read “Grab a Pen and Map Out an Epic 2016” by Benjamin Evans III.  It begins:

We have the ability to literally chart out our lives. Every masterpiece, every record breaking hit, every blockbuster was first conceived in thought and then written on paper. Read how I created my dynamic 2015.

After reading about how this Minister drew up a road map for his Epic Year, I thought it would be a great idea to look into what kind of road map I would draw.

I’m still looking. I just can’t seem to write anything down.

At first, I thought that my hold-back on plotting a course was the usual: doubts that I’m not really ready to take the big steps, fear that I wouldn’t have what it takes, uncertainty about what kind of commitments success would bring. That sort of thing.

So I turned to face those inner Funhouse Mirrors, to stare down their distortions and call them out for the illusions they are. But all I found in that Hall of Horrors was one faint reflection asking me, “What if you give it your all, but you’re just a fraud?”

All I could do was (mentally) shrug and ask it in return, “If all I’ve got leaves me a fraud, then who isn’t?”

My subconscious Trepidation didn’t have an answer for that, so it (subconsciously) shrugged back at me, and finished fading away. Leaving me again alone with my questions: What would make 2016 my truly Epic year? Out of all the things I enjoy doing and events I think would be sort of neat, which do I really want to pursue?

So for the first steps in my Truly Epic 2016, I’m writing my future self a note, congratulating me on realizing what concrete goals I most want to pursue, so I can begin plotting that course. Once I build myself that compass, I’ll have taken the first step in drawing the map.

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Give yourself room to grow. Your roots can’t spread out if you won’t explore new ground.

It’s tough trying something new, especially when we’re excited to succeed, yet dread failing. I don’t know what’s tougher: those initial tries where success feels doubtful, or overcoming all the barriers to even starting it at all.

We also have inertia to overcome, which can feel like the highest barrier at all. Maybe we’re comfortable where we’re at. Maybe we don’t feel strongly enough to break out of our shell and risk embarrassing ourselves, or even just wasting our time.

The problem is, the only time we waste is time spent stuck in the same old rut, not growing, not expanding, not fully exploring what it means to be our own unique selves. The bigger problem is how much it’s just basic human nature to find those ruts and cozy down into them for as long as we can. I’ve come to feel that when I least want to move forward into something new, that’s when I most need to take even small steps down a new road. That’s the only way to snap myself out of it and keep moving.

If there’s something you’ve been meaning to try someday, now is the time to find out how you can make it a better part of your life. Commit to taking some of those steps forward, and schedule specific times you can fit some of them in.

If you can’t think of anything you’d like to pursue, try picking a topic you’re interested in, and start to research what different resources are saying about it. Allow others’ viewpoints to both inform and challenge you, as you work to expand your way of understanding this topic. This is another great way to explore new ground, and grow ourselves as human beings.

Whatever path you choose, please choose one that leads you to grow in new ways. This world is better only through the people who inhabit it, and therefore it benefits all of us, when each of us finds ways to better ourselves.

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May this day bring you peace, if not through the living of it, through overcoming it.

I wish that your life will feel greater, more complete, because of the day you’ve had today.

I wish that you will feel closer to your goals, if only by moments, and if only by understanding more of what it will take to keep moving toward them.

I wish that you will have a full minute of presence, with several full breaths of air you’re grateful to have the chance to breathe.

I wish you to know peace — if not completely, then just enough to remember what it’s like to pause within the moment.

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ALL journeys begin with a single step.

I was re-reading this article the other day about steps to transform one’s approach to homemaking into something completely self-sufficient and sustainable. The author was describing a time when she gave a talk before a group that was very much “on the grid“, and at the end of it the host asked if she could distill it down to just a couple things that people could start with if they couldn’t make the full switch.

Her condescension dripped even in the recollection. She was apparently somewhat offended at the idea, but managed to rattle off three things including using a clothesline rather than a dryer. The audience was polite, but she didn’t seem to feel they were really engaged with her concept.

Then one person remained behind and said that he’d like to do more, but he can’t hang laundry out. In their part of the world, such things were banned by housing ordinances or homeowners associations. She seemed a little understanding, but not really. Her goals for peoples’ adoption of her ideals came across as just too big to her for her to be able to see around them.

I’m not recounting this to run her down, but as a framing for what’s been on my mind. You can’t do it all. You won’t likely do it all. So do what you can.

Take a step today, just anything that’s closer to where you’d like to be. Try it for two weeks at least, or however long it takes to get it going. Then pick the next step, then the next.

Yeah, it’d be great if we could all dive right in and do everything we feel we ought to. But that’s not usually how life works, and the thought that we have to do that in order to be true to our goals just seems to be keeping us all, collectively, from even starting to move forward.

So… move forward. Then keep moving.

You’ll get there.

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