An enterprising person is one who comes across a pile of scrap metal and sees the making of a wonderful sculpture. An enterprising person is one who drives through an old decrepit part of town and sees a new housing development. An enterprising person is one who sees opportunity in all areas of life.

To be enterprising is to keep your eyes open and your mind active. It's to be skilled enough, confident enough, creative enough and disciplined enough to seize opportunities that present themselves... regardless of the economy.

A person with an enterprising attitude says, "Find out what you can before action is taken." Do your homework. Do the research. Be prepared. Be resourceful. Do all you can in preparation of what's to come.

Enterprising people always see the future in the present. Enterprising people always find a way to take advantage of a situation, not be burdened by it. And enterprising people aren't lazy. They don't wait for opportunities to come to them, they go after the opportunities. Enterprise means always finding a way to keep yourself actively working toward your ambition.

Enterprise is two things. The first is creativity. You need creativity to see what's out there and to shape it to your advantage. You need creativity to look at the world a little differently. You need creativity to take a different approach, to be different.

What goes hand-in-hand with the creativity of enterprise is the second requirement: the courage to be creative. You need courage to see things differently, courage to go against the crowd, courage to take a different approach, courage to stand alone if you have to, courage to choose activity over inactivity.

And lastly, being enterprising doesn't just relate to the ability to make money. Being enterprising also means feeling good enough about yourself, having enough self worth to want to seek advantages and opportunities that will make a difference in your future. And by doing so you will increase your confidence, your courage, your creativity and your self-worth, your enterprising nature.

by Jim Rohn

Do you want to become an entrepreneur or develop your entrepreneurship? Stop reading and come to visit us and we'll show/teach you how to be enterprising enough to start your own business!

My marriage has been to me the most nourishing bread. From my marriage I know much of what can happen between a man and a woman - what healing and wholeness, what forgiveness and what strengthening.

But what I've read of in old romances has only happened to me in meetings and partings with men who had no claim on me nor I on them. When I read, as a girl, of people wasting away for love, I never believed it. Yet when I was twenty, three days after parting with the man who didn't love me, I rose up from my couch and found all my ribs cowering, exposed, under my gaze. I'd lost twenty pounds. Those were dark days and it is partly due to them that I chose to marry the man who would heal me rather than waiting for a hypothetical man who would do like in the movies. I don't regret my choice, the more so since the man who is healing me has also proven to be the man who leads me to God and His Church.

This past weekend I experienced something that I hardly know how to understand except in terms of gallantry such as I had thought obsolete. Not all that goes on between men and women can be named in terms of animal desire. Not all that is sexual has to do with sex.

But what surprises me most is that gallantry awoke for me. How did it come about that three modern men sat sighing around a modern girl, pressing their hearts with their hands, playing the guitar for her by turn, calling her endearing names, refraining from rough language and modern liberties of behavior, waiting on her, asking her to sing, and seizing her hands, crying, when she did?

How did I pass five hours in the guise of a lady? I have been many other individuals - arrogant little girl, awkward and despised teenager, dependable big sister, eager religious debator, depressed college student, desperate and even cruel religious seeker, grateful wife, weary Mama, aspiring writer, and always so much, so very much less than I wanted to be. I was never courted by anyone but my husband, never sought out in my native circles. How did it come about that on the night of my bosom friend's wedding, I found myself surrounded by a few eccentric and very real men who made me feel adorable in some sense that has far more to do with what I share of feminine nature than with my dubious personal accomplishments?

There's a certain permissiveness of speech from older to younger women that I call "the womens' network." It means that women can figure out how to understand and deal with relationships, their body, and similar issues by hearing about other women's experiences. In the spirit of the womens' network, I told Scottie's grandmother what irony I felt that I should recieve such attention now I'm married, despite the fact I never recieved any like it before. I believe, I told her, that all my beauty actually comes from Scottie. If he hadn't loved me when I was a gray, wasted, mute shell of girlhood there would be nothing for other men to see in me at all. That's as may be; but she tells me that she thinks men feel safe "treating a woman right" if she's already married, because they don't have to be afraid of her calling the next day and "trying to get something started."

This confirms to me that the way my gallants acted was very honest and pursued without thought of consequences or implications. That's why I think that what I experienced allowed me to gaze for a few moments on the true nature of masculine and feminine, from a vantage point that only appears when the two meet. I saw protective gallantry, respectful delight on the one side; on the other confiding welcome and modest pleasure.

I don't think my understanding of human sexuality can remain untouched - nor my expectations for my own future worth. Begone, bourgeois hopes. I will not seek to be commended to God or man by mere paltry achievement. Something more real must commend me.

And now my husband is waiting for me, a familiar, friendly, patient light in his eyes - the light of full, unique love in spite of full, sometimes sordid knowledge.

It's a wonder, indeed - what goes on between men and women.

Two minutes into my first session, my counselor had me pegged as a catastrophizing major depressive.  Now I've been insulted before, on a number of occasions.  A man at Soldier Field called me the C-word AND he said I was fat, but really, CATASTROPHIZING MAJOR DEPRESSIVE?  You take that back.  With his notebook propped on his knee he asked me why I thought I'd started catastrophizing things (don't know).  He asked me what exactly trigged my depression (don't know).  He asked me what started my chronic pain (ice) and finally, what started my dependence and addiction to pain medication (well, ice and Microsoft Word, I guess).

The first time I was prescribed Vicodin, I had slipped on the ice outside our apartment, and rather than let myself fall to the ground, I caught myself and jerked my spine back up into a standing position.  I can replay that moment like a FILMSTRIP, hoping, praying, that this time I'll just fall down and spare myself the nightmare years that followed.  After taking two days off of work, unable to walk, my doctor called in a prescription for muscle relaxants and vicodin.  I took one of each and fell into a peaceful sleep, so happy to have some relief.  After two or three days, I began to feel better, and the pills sat untouched in my medicine chest for months.  But as we all know now, that was not the end of my back problems nor the end of my prescriptions.

The difference was that the next time I needed my vicodin I wasn't tired.  I was wide awake and hurting.  And what happened was that I experienced the greatest night of writing that I ever had or ever will encounter in my life.  I sat, painfree, at my computer and my mind filled and spilled over with ideas; poetic phrases, literary allusions, plots and symbols, people, places and things.  My depression was non-existent, pushed far away somewhere, and after weeks and weeks of coming home from work, barely speaking and then going to bed, I found I had more energy than I could ever imagine.  But it wasn't a wild, manic, racing energy.  I was peaceful, content, optimistic, brimming with creative energy.  Potential.  For the first time in a while I wasn't thinking about my back, or how I could have cancer and not know it, or my infertility.  I was just writing.

Twenty three pages later I realized it was three o'clock in the morning and, smiling ear to ear at my accomplishment, I went to bed.  

As time went on my back got worse and my depression persisted - feeding on 9/11, infertility, losing my job, weight gain and constant, unrelenting pain. I turned noticeably pessimistic, my sister's depression had come and gone, treated and released, while mine grew unchecked.  But my Vicodin put me at ease.  With two pills I could feel my favorite sensations: relief,peace,contentment,creativity.

I've never understood people who get "high" on painkillers, and I've been on ALL of them.  I've also been drunk.  I know the tipsy, giggly, loud, uninhibited behavior, the freedom, the invincibility.  I know what it is to be "loopy".  To be "flying".  I never felt that with Vicodin.  It was quite the opposite.  I was focused, ambitious and determined.  I felt the "passion" for art that I'd had when I was younger and that I'd lost track of somewhere late in the nineties.

Soon I realized that I was taking this medication every day and I was afraid of being without it.  Not only because I couldn't even sit in a chair without wincing, but because I had fully convinced myself that I couldn't write or scrapbook or devise a catering business or teach myself German without it.

My therapist nodded as I told him all these things, things that I hadn't told other doctors for fear of being labeled a 'drug seeker'.  He told me that it made perfect sense.  One of the functions of painkillers is to act as a sort of antidepressant, a mood elevator of sorts, and that some doctors even use them as such, depending on the kind of depression the patient was suffering.  While this cleared up a lot of questions for me, I felt a tremendous sadness, knowing that way back then I had essentially found the antidepressant that best worked for me, but I'd ended up abusing it as my tolerance grew and now it's gone.

A few months ago I told my aunt that I was afraid of being without painkillers not only because of the pain, but because I was afraid I'd never feel that passion and creativity again. I would, in essence, lose my imagination.  And whether it's self fulfilling prophecy or not, it's true.  I have no desire to write anymore and I don't make time for it.  I have no desire to return to pottery, to paint, to act, to scrapbook, to cook.  I don't want to throw parties.  I no longer walk the streets pretending that my life is being filmed.  I no longer pretend to be interviewed by Stone Phillips when I walk the dog. I no longer converse out loud with my characters while I drive alone in the car.  When I go to bed, I fall asleep, exhausted, rather than lie awake imagining what my dream bathroom would look like or planning an imaginary trip to Europe.

Sure enough, I have no imagination.

I don't try to invent better ice cream containers or write letters to the editor.  I don't make greeting cards or develop new recipes to send to Better Homes and Gardens.

And it's time to realize that these things may never return.  I may never get that creative contentment back.  This is what I must come to terms with. Perhaps, like baby teeth, we are only granted our imaginations for a while, to steer us forward as we grow.  In the end, normal is to find satisfaction in your job, in your family, in reading a good book instead of day dreaming that you wrote it.  Normal is not talking to yourself in the car, or pretending your three speed bike is a prize racehorse as you coast down the "big hill" in your subdivision.

But I am not UNhappy.  I smile uncontrollably at my daughter; I feel safe and content in the arms of my husband.  My dog makes me laugh EVERY day. I have fun on vacation.  I sleep well.  My leg isn't tingling with pain all the time.  I no longer have to worry about running out of pills, or getting my refill, or ruining my liver.

Through therapy I will train myself to believe that this is enough.  If euphoria can only be achieved chemically, then I suppose we were never meant to have it at all.

Lately, I find myself figuring out how to find enough time to do the very basics, such as sleep and eat. Which I still don't get enough of the first for sure. I'm running off of about five hours a night, or a day. Depending on what shift I'm on. Juggling a severely demanding work schedule with lots of forced overtime, family, school, stuff around the house, church, and AXIS has proved itself to be very challenging to say the least. Thank God for a good woman who shares my vision, supports me, makes up for where I'm slack, and gives me grace when I know she feels neglected many times.

This all is literally a balancing act for time. I feel like I can barely breathe most of the time. Most days I literally feel like I'm running just to catch myself and am soooo tired.

But in all this, there is a definite purpose behind it all. One that will fulfill my calling in life and make a difference in the lives of those I'll be able to help and minister to. So, even though I feel like I literally am carrying the weight of the world at times, I am propelled forward continually. I will not give up, or back down. It is necessary that we learn how to make adjustments and be flexible in this time of preparation.

In any case, we're not looking back, we're moving ahead. In Him all things are made new. We're moving forward.

Ambition is an interesting monster in my mind [i think that statement can be interpreted a number of valid ways]. I find it fascinating that it's listed as a sin to be wary of (Galatians 5:20, Phillipians 2:3, James 3:16)---as if God doesn't want achievers or visionaries on his team. It's intriguing to me because I associate ambition (a bad thing) with creation (a good thing), something that in my thinking, represents Him most clearly. I still believe that all creation (the world, solar system, universe) points to Him as Creator.

Perhaps this is a partial explanation: in our ambition we usurp His rightful place as preeminent in our lives. Subtly, we slowly crawl atop the thrones of our building to steer intentions, machinations and outcomes in ways that benefit only us or those we love. We make things not about us, about us. We work for ourselves as independent contractors. We secede to our own team, for our own reasons, to do our own things to benefit ourselves.

So why doesn't God want achievers and visionaries on his team?

This blog is my attempt at self answer and as such, I think it's because they steal the Glory due him. Whether the style or method is in the form of a child's tantrum ("But I WANT it!") or in the form of hard work ("I'm going to MAKE it happen"), ultimately the expectation is always there: I deserve this and will do what's necessary to get it in my life. I think, in my experience, that's best called an idol.

As always, it takes a moment to see into God's heart and look past the rule, the ordinance, the structure of His saying "NO" to some area of our lives and understand that, somehow, such strictures are for our benefit. His commandments are not a system of application or love-earning strategies, they're fences for our protection. As much as I write this I rebel against it. I don't like hearing "NO". I don't like fences. It's unAmerican and unPostmodern (as if those were excellent arguments).

So, in the area of ambition, what's the real danger?

As always (again), the issue/answer/real topic must be about our hearts: What is it in our own ambition that affects our hearts the most? That, I believe, can only be individually answered, but we do have tangible clues, both in our own day-to-day and in biblical example---neither of which I'll digress into.

The real impetus for this incomprehensible blog was the following thought: in my own dealings with this, ambition is always a false promise: i'ts benefits are never reached. Pursuit of such is always a long treading of a longer road I never reach the end of. Not that people don't achieve it; not that I haven't achieved my own short goals at various times---those things happen with regular frequency. What I mean is that the road to ambition in my life looks more like an emergency off-ramp than it does a proper path. It leads UP and AWAY, but TO quagmire more than it does prosperity---I think for the reason that ambition recalibrates my priorities.

When I put ME (either personally or professional) as the focus of my actions, suddenly LIFE is calculated with new scales, measures, priorities and goals that begin to push out the rest, trust and dependence I feel called to Biblically.

I don't think these are mutually exclusive; I'm not against pursuing business endeavors and personal betterment. I'm simply admitting that I haven't found the balanced path between those things and my personal walk with God. I tread too easily on Martha's path and never rest in Mary's hammock. Maybe this only polarizes the issue without bringing any clarity.

Maybe one shouldn't blog unless they know what they want to say beforehand.

Maybe.

     I want someday to be excellent at what God has put me here for - not unlike the gentlemen who work together in these videos to create the phenomenon known as MuteMath. Not that everyone's purpose is to be a genius musician or artist... but

at this point in time, I'm average at best in all my efforts. I would rather not be "a jack of all trades and master of none" but God is the master, and i'm only his servant. Plus, this way (Serving him in many areas) i get to experience more varied adventures and don't run as high a risk of stardom.

I must keep in mind that when the Son appears, the stars will fade.

Ambition can be defined as an eager or strong desire to accomplish something. Anyone that has ever created anything, given this world any value, or simply aspired to greater heights, had to have a certain ambitious quality in their personality. Here are 20 quotes that will reinforce the magnitude that ambition must possess within your existence:

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.”

“Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in.”

“A man’s worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions”

“To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.”

“Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.”

“Ambition is enthusiasm with a purpose”

“The man who starts out simply with the idea of getting rich won’t succeed, you must have a larger ambition.”

“A young man without ambition is an old man waiting to be.”

“Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principals which direct them.”

“Ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds.”

“Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.”

“The ambitious are forever followed by adulation for they receive the most pleasure from flattery. “

“Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens.”

“If you have a great ambition, take as big a step as possible in the direction of fulfilling it. The step may only be a tiny one, but trust that it may be the largest one possible for now.”

“Ambition is not a vice of little people.”

“Ambition is a lust that is never quenched, but grows more inflamed and madder by enjoyment.”

“The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.”

“Where there are large powers with little ambition… nature may be said to have fallen short of her purposes.”

“Ambition is not what man does… but what man would do.”

“Ambition never comes to an end.”

As Don Henley so aptly points out, you can never look back.

The past is what it is.

It is filled with the RESULTS you already got.

The future is driven by hope and inspiration.

It is waiting for you to ACHIEVE your heart's desire.

To become the SUCCESS you so richly deserve.

Please take a moment today to think about your future.

Let HOPE inspire you.

Write down one thing you HOPE will happen each year, for the NEXT 5 years...

In 2008 I Hope to Achieve:_______________________

In 2009 I Hope to Achieve:_______________________

In 2010 I Hope to Achieve:_______________________

In 2011 I Hope to Achieve:_______________________

In 2012 I Hope to Achieve:_______________________

]]> http://onoi812.wordpress.com/?p=4 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:25:53 +0000 onoi812 http://onoi812.wordpress.com/?p=4 Hey everybody. Today is going to be the first official post on the new blog. Nothing really special here, but I am going to speak a little about what is going on in my life, and where I'm trying to go with it.

I'm currently between jobs. If you know anyone who is hiring, please don't hesitate to get ahold of me asap! You know, when you're younger you don't really think too much about it when you leave a job. You figure theres always another restaurant, valet, gas station job out there, and you'll be just fine.  What happens when you start to get a little bit older? What happens when your 22 and you don't have a job, when school wasn't too hard,  rather just wasn't for you.  School has a way of making everything boring...

Remember in your parent's day when you could move up from your lowly position in the workplace? Remember when they promoted from within? Now it seems that there is always some assembly line bozo who doesn't really know anything about day to day business, but he read some book that was recommended by some professor, who wasn't good enough to get a job in the field, so he just spoke about what it would be like if he did.

Well fuck that! Today, I'm going to find a job, and if not today, tomorrow! This is the first day of the rest of my life. Everything that has happened up to this point is history, I can't change the past, but I am within full perspective of what my future beholds. Lets get this money.

Besides a sorority, I didn't get involved in college until my senior year. But then I thought back to high school, and I was involved in everything from softball and volleyball to student government as secretary and National Honor Society as president. I even took mission trips every summer.

I just like to stay busy - and stay busy by making money.

When I got the call to see if I could babysit today, I automatically said yes even though it seemed crazy - I already had to contact many sources to develop and write a big story for the next day's newspaper. The kids were aware that I would be working in the morning.

However, I couldn't get in touch with sources until the end of the day, and there's still more people to contact in the morning. We pushed the story from running the day of the county commission meeting to the day after it.

I'll let you know about it in tomorrow's post after what I'm sure will be another busy day.

You know that every Monday we have Grateful Monday Party here on the blog, where we list what we are grateful for today. Well this week I want a little change. So today we are listing what we are Grateful that we have accomplished in our lives so far. So get your thinking caps on and list what you are grateful you have accomplished so far in YOUR life.

I am grateful that I have……

Gotten Married

Had 4 children

Became a Life Coach for Women

Recorded a song

Started my own businesses

Became a minister

Drove to Texas and back

The many times I stepped out in faith

Written books

Pursued friendships

Pushed myself when I did not think I could do it

Accepted Christ as my Savior

There are so many and too many to list, I will continue to think on my accomplishments throughout the day, in the meantime what are you grateful that you have accomplished.?

]]> http://compulsivewriter.wordpress.com/?p=74 Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:25:37 +0000 compulsivewriter http://compulsivewriter.wordpress.com/?p=74 It’s the 30^th of June! I didn’t think much of it until I read this blog post: http://mysistersjar.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/june-thirtieth/

I realized after reading this post that it is indeed the half year mark for the year. Usually, I sit down in a quiet corner on New Year’s Eve, in the midst of all the chaos and wonder what the year has been like, what I have achieved and how many resolutions I have broken. I make promises to myself that the coming year will be different.

I decided to find that quiet corner right now, today. I want to think about how the year has been so far and I want to decide how I want it to be from now on. So I can just smile and spend the last few hours on New Year’s eve celebrating a year that I had.

So far, the year has been very kind to me. I brought it in with my close friends, my bond with my sister has gotten stronger, my cool brother moved back to India, I lost a few more kilos, I gifted my parents a small trip, I got a job that makes me happy, I got my act together and finished my novel and I have nurtured and been nurtured by some very wonderful friends.

It seems like it didn’t bring any problems with it. Not true, it did bring in a fair share of problems. But despite those I want to be happy about it. I have decided to overlook the problems because I’ve been surrounded by love and loads of it.

Love has come to me in abundance, but have I given back the same amount? I don’t think so. I wish I could be a better sister to Nani, a better daughter, a better granddaughter and I want to be a better friend. So yes the coming bit of the year will be all about giving back to my universe what I got from it- Love, kindness, special moments and the reason to smile.

]]> http://praxist.wordpress.com/?p=57 Sun, 29 Jun 2008 18:28:35 +0000 praxist http://praxist.wordpress.com/?p=57 The title perhaps is self explanatory and hardly worth a post. But I had to record it for posterity sake - A DEFINITE Sentence of My Intention and Ambition - This is The Week of Work. There is a tangibility that the thought acquires when you say it out loud , when you type it out (with every word beginning with a Capital) and send it out into the digital void.

This is the Week of Work

and Hope.

(Madonna: Truth or Dare)

Keskiviikkona 13.8. klo 21:00-23:00

Paljastava, niin visuaalisesti kuin musiikillisesti kunnianhimoinen dokumentti Madonnan kohutusta Blonde Ambition -kiertueesta 1990: mukaan mahtuu muun muassa kaatosateita Japanissa, pidätys siveettömyydestä Kanadassa ja supertähden isälle omistettu kunniakonsertti Detroitissa.

Ohjaajat: Alek Keshishian ja Mark Aldo Miceli, USA 1991, 114'. Pääosissa: Madonna, Donna DeLory, Niki Harris, Luis Camacho, Oliver Crumes jr., Salim Gauwloos, Jose Guitierez.

Lähde: sub.fi

- Sitten vain tallennuslaitteet pyörimään: In Bed With Madonna esitetään pitkän tauon jälkeen telkusta. :)

I should probably finish cleaning sometime, I just have no energy for it right now.
I got a new idea for a story, even though I said that I was quitting the writing idea.  Okay, I quit the idea of being a writer, doesn't mean I can't write, so I'm going to.  Hopefully I can actually write this one instead of keeping the idea on a piece of paper, or getting it to a point, getting bored, and stopping. I hate that part.  I have no ambition, no motivation.  It's very sad, in my mind.  Oh well, that's what happens to me, all too often: I lose all sense of ambition and motivation.  Things that I liked aren't worth doing, things that I want to aren't worth the effort, and I didn't really want to do it that badly to begin with.
If that's not fucked up, I don't know what is, that's all I got.

Study Today's Quote carefully.

It offers true wisdom. No question, "whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act."

You can change your future. Simply start taking smarter actions today.

TQ Thinking

]]> http://suddenlysteve.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/hello-world/ Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:58:00 +0000 suddenlysteve http://suddenlysteve.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/hello-world/ What has passed has not been simply an experience, but cynically, it has been a war of attrition. The years that fed into high school - middle school, elementary, daycare centers - all the sights and sounds that have caused me to feel dysfunctional at the slightest mistake or unsettling event have been the hardest to overcome in high school. So that awkward conversation in the hall, a teacher's reproach, someone's disdain - or even the leaps to false conclusions really threw my feelings out of whack.

But it's been fun:

The volatility, the irrationality, and the spontaneity have been great. Can I highlight?

9th Grade: Ambition, and a middle school success high. I made a fool out of myself, and a shame since that's how that class will remember me. Highlights: Indian dancing, random tests/quizzes, "Comrade" (and speeches too good to not be canned), social suppression, and premature introspection.

10th Grade: New high school - freedom? Dress code, harder classes (APWHIST), and thoughts about epiphanies - not fully developed then and not now either.

11th Grade: English with Seward was the best, people were nice, and recovering from a weird (in the loosest definition of the word) relationship. Pervasive debate culture.

12th Grade: Activities start snapping into place, a hierarchy of motivation and ideals start to emerge, and I gain a lot of good friends. This was how high school should have been in the past - people gifted with charisma take it for granted. And what's growth without a vanity search (yes, I am the only Steven Maheshwary) with a side order of self-importance?

Hahaha, those highlights started devolving into generalizations. (oh well, I guess it is parallel to my development).

The point of this post is nascence - the event of birth - a chance to finalize my being as steadfastly awesome. And by awesome I mean charismatic, ambitious, and (as this induction into the blogosphere suggests) my-own-mousetrap-builder.

Harvard. Oh yes. The immigrant parent dream, and the dutiful son's obligation. On April 1st, my mother shed the truest tears of accumulated motherhood - a hope not gone anticlimactic on a son seen to be awry. And my father, in the conflict of judging his son (like I said, there was dysfunctionality, awwww look a nudist soul) said, "good job."

What can I say? I will smile, accept your congratulations, and will not premeditate a personality. That is my nascence - a reflection, an introspection, and pushing an epiphany from eureka to practice.

Thanks for reading this, and if you guys have anything you want me to talk about, let me know - above all, COMMENT!

When I was a kid, I remember I would dream that I am a supermodel and to be Hollywood actress. Walking in that catwalk and there are flashes of lights, everybody is clapping at me and cheering and on that same crowd, some girls would just simply envy me. This my dream, and in this dream I am the Star. Or dreaming to be walking on that red carpet during OSCAR Award. Paparazzi is everywhere and trying to get my picture and an ambush interview. And sometimes I would dream that I am princess living in a castle. I got everything I need there. I don't need to worry. Gosh, it is just so nice to dream...

As I mature, my dreams and wishes changes as well. Something more achievable, close to reality. My childhood dream is just way impossible to achieve since I know supermodels are tall and I am not. :D But I would like to share to you what are my dreams now...

My 'own' house. Everybody I think does want to have their own home. But I would love to have this kind of house. Very cute huh?! I wonder if how much should I save to be able to have this kind of house. Very close to what I was dreaming when I was a kid which is "Fairyland".

Drive a fancy car. Of course I would love to ride that kind of car aight? Who wouldn't want to have that car?  Drive around the city and basically have a car to take me to the place I want to see. It may not be exactly this very expensive car but maybe a simple but nice SUV or car would do. A RAV4, CRV or the likes will do :D

Travel around the world. Well another dream that I am starting to achieve now. Been to few countries now and I am aiming to visit and see more. But of course my dream travel would be around European countries. I would love to see Venice, Prague, Rome, France, Italy, Romania and the likes. I love to watch Samantha Brown at Travel and Living channel. I love to watch Ian Wright, his wacky side just simply amazed me with his show Globe Trekker.  Another Travel host that I love is Anthony Bourdain where he visits overseas countries, cities worldwide, and places within the US, where hosts treat him to local culture and cuisine.

Own business. Been saving for this one now. I know some of you will say, try to buy a house first. But for me I would rather have my own business first. Because if the business is already stable, then I could start planning my own house right? I would like to have even just a food cart in a mall. I will start first with small business. Or I would want to start buying some PX goods like those from Hong Kong, China, US, Malaysia, Thailand and sell it here which I think is a good business too. My sister has her own resto and computer shop already, given to her by her husband. But I would want to have those kind of business in the future so I would need to work double time. :) I know, I can start a small business by next year.

And lastly, a happy family of my own. I would like to strive hard and have a comfortable life for my family. I think this is the most simplest wish but the hardest one to achieve. I wish to wake up each morning with Ouchies, I wish I could take away all those pains. But I know I cannot simply take that away. Everytime I try to be near you, you just simply push me away. You would want me to be happy that is what you always say but you also know it is only you who can me feel happy. I just simply wish that "You are mine"...

Motivation is important - not permanent.  I am frequently asked the question, "Why is it that some people get really motivated after listening to you, but after a while slip back into their old, negative ways?"  The question really is, "Is motivation permanent?"  The answer is no - but then neither is bathing.  Now, just in case you think I'm encouraging you not to bathe, let me assure you that I believe in bathing.  As a matter of fact, I shower every day and I generally get a real good long one with lots of soap and shampoo.  I do some of my best thinking in the shower.  The reason I shower every day is very simple: There's lots of dirt out there and if some of it gets on me I want to get it off.  I believe it's important to smell good - or at least not bad.

I apply the same principle to my thinking and daily motivation.  There is a lot of "stinking thinking" available in life today and if I'm not careful some of it will settle on me.  If too much of it hits me, then the stinkin' thinkin' might turn into hardening of the attitudes, one of the most deadly diseases in America today.  Life has so many negatives and demotivations that it takes effort to stay motivated.  To remain motivated I've got to deliberately plan to take care of my thinking each day with a "check-up from the neck up."  Each day I read and listen to something inspiring.  I also associate with people who are making a difference with their lives because we are influenced by our associates, either positively or negatively.  Message: Read something good, listen to something good, and associate with good people as often as possible.  Do these things and your thinking will remain good, which means that I will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

I have some amazing teachings in my Success Vault that I want to share with you.

My boss at work loves his job - it's clear. He's a people person, and loves to socialise and talk and network and brag...most importantly...brag. If he did not love his job, he would most definitely not enjoy talking about himself in the context of his job all the time. Try get a personal perspective on him, and you've hit a dead-end.

I think my problem is that I love to do too much, and have too many ideas, and too few ways to implement them. Another important issue is ambition and motivation. Ambition will only get you so far, but you have to be motivated to continue making a success of what you are doing.

My big issue now is that, after having swapped jobs to a lower section of work, and now sitting and watching my former job improve and become exceedingly interesting and fun, jealousy has set in!

But we all need to exercise patience. Perhaps it is simply not the right time for me yet. The Universe has a plan, and I'm getting there.

Another thought that arises from this quote is, must we even plan our lives at all?

I believe that all people inevitably make plans in their lives to some degree. Without this our lives would not have structure, we may not think about the consequences of our actions, and we might end up in situations we didn't want to find ourselves in.

That being said, life doesn't have to follow a specific path. As I have also written in previous posts, our dreams and ambitions are down to us, and even though we are in control of them this does not mean we must know what they are right from the start.

Everyone completes stages of their life at which they are expected to make decisions and choose their specific path. Choosing a career is seen as one of the most important of these stages. But how many people really know for certain what they want to be? Above this, how many people really know who they want to be?

I have come to realise that it doesn't matter if you don't have the answers. Most people probably don't have the answers. The important fact is that you are searching. There are many people who do not work, and do not look for fulfillment beyond a basic degree of comfort in life. I think that searching for something bigger than that is half the battle, even if you never know exactly what it should be.

See: Things I have learnt at University