How To Stay Passion Driven

“Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping… waiting… and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir… open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us… guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love… the clarity of hatred… the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we’d know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion, we’d be truly dead.”~Joss Whedon

This is quite an easy topic for me to write about as I often find myself to be quite passionate about many things. Although remaining passionate is a whole other story. If I were to list the things I become “impassioned” about…on a weekly basis…it may go something like this-

1. Today I have decided that I am going to be the best artist EVER!
2. Today I have decided that I am definitely meant to be the best author EVER!
3. Today I have decided that I most certainly am suppose to be the best designer EVER!
4. Today I have decided that I am going to pursue life goals in the best way EVER!
5. Today I have decided that I am going to emulate this person…the best way EVER!
6. Today I have decided that I will be the best mom and wife EVER!
7. Today I have decided will be the BEST DAY EVER!

While this list is somewhat tongue and cheek, you get my point. My personality is one that just easily becomes excited and intense. I enjoy trying new things and if I find I am successful at them, it easily becomes my next “passion”. This can be good or bad. If I set a goal and then fail, I am confused by my loss of interest for the once exciting prospect. Or, even worse, I can become easily bored with what once excited me. This is often why I have a hard time doing the same job for long periods of time. Motherhood has been my longest standing venture and well, even at times I have to reignite the passion for that!

So, how do you truly stay passionate about life, goals and the things you love to do? I found this great read By Ashley Wilhite. I hope you find it as helpful as I did when it comes to staying passion driven! I personally love numbers 3 and 6.

8 Ways to Discover Your Passion and Live a Life You Love

1. Slow down.

When we slow down, we are able to tap into the best version of ourselves, which is most often when we find the answers we’ve been searching for. This might mean practicing yoga, going for daily walks, or setting aside time each day to meditate. Slowing down allows you to quiet the outside voices and listen to yourself.

2. Change your story.

We all tell ourselves stories about who we are, what we’re capable of, and what we deserve. If we can identify our self-limiting stories (I’m not good enough; I don’t deserve to be happy, etc.), then we can begin writing new stories that are grounded in confidence and courage, and map out actions that move us from one to the other.

3. Own your uniqueness.

We are here for a reason. No one else has your unique blend of talents, wisdom, strengths, skills, and creativity. We all have something great to offer, and learning to accept and own what makes you unique is crucial to sharing your gifts with the world.

4. Cultivate confidence.

If we are continually telling ourselves we can’t, then we will never believe we can. There is a chance you may fail, but it will be impossible to succeed if you don’t believe in yourself. You can create affirmations, focus on the things you want, or make a vision board that shows your future success.

5. Find the themes.

Recognizing the recurring themes in our lives creates a pattern for us to either follow or change. What themes or lessons seem to constantly surface in your life? What are you drawn to again and again? What areas of life seem to be full of discomfort and pain? What areas are full of joy and light?

6. Write.

Ideas flow more freely when we write without an agenda. New inspiration may appear unexpectedly and it becomes easier to connect the dots. Spend a few minutes of quality time each day with a pen and paper allowing yourself to process your thoughts without influence from the outside world.

7. Focus on the fun.

Too often we get wrapped up in the expectations we set for ourselves. We focus on the details and the to-do lists instead of what is most important. What do you love to do? What makes you smile? If money were limitless, what would you be doing today?

8. Push past fear.

It’s so seductive to tell ourselves that we’ll go after what we want when we have more experience, more money, or more time, but the truth is, that will never happen. We must identify these excuses as masks for our fear. It’s only when we get clear on our fears and recognize how they are holding us back that we can begin moving forward.

 

Where do you find your passion? How do you stay motivated or interested in you passions?

Infinite Possibilities

 

“You are born with infinite possibilities. Take responsibility for turning these possibilities into reality, and you will be bestowed with success, love and eternal peace.” ~Vishwas Chavan

The possibilities in life are endless, so don’t get caught up in the mundane. There are so many ways that one’s path can go and often we choose the easy way. I find that it is a habit we form, one that often gets caught up in ‘going with the flow.’ But, what if we were to make radical choices, jump without looking and see what happens?

“When you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life”~ Eckhart Tolle

Daily Prompt: Radical

For More Motivation Read: Beauty In The Journey, Thee Elusive Dream, Dare To Risk It

Compromise Nothing

“If you set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.” ~Margaret Thatcher

Everyone wants to be liked. It goes back to grade school and follows us into adulthood. We are social beings and so this gives us an inert desire to be accepted. However, as I have grown and matured, I have learned that in an effort to achieve past friendships I cheated myself. I compromised who I am with who others expected me to be. I squelched the flame within myself to maintain friendships that were built on deception. Not their deceit, but mine. I lied to myself about who I was, and in so doing kept myself from flourishing for many years. In the end, well as the saying goes “hind sight is 20/20.” I know I made mistakes and unfortunately they led to sadness and pain. So, the take away, always be true to you. Do not change who you are to please others or have friendships. Relationships built on lies are not worth having! 

The Daily Word Prompt: Cheat

Project BMG – Thee Elusive Dream

So very excited to be a guest blogger for Roberta Pimentel and her “Project BMG”. I hope you will hop over and check out her sight, it’s a lovely spot. Also, take a moment to read my featured piece.

My Journey In Faith

I grew up in a very devout faith based home. My father was a minister in a Baptist church for many years during my childhood. I spent a lot of time serving and learning ministries. My husband and I met through church and spent our first 14 years together serving in church…A LOT! We raised our kids in church for 13 of those years. However, much has changed in the last three years.

“Be a good witness by the way you live. The way we live is often more convincing than the words we say.”~Billy Graham

After marrying and moving we found a little church in a quaint Vermont suburb. As a newly married and very young couple we found it to be perfect, with many other young couples as members. Their beliefs were the same as ours and we made quick friends of the core group of families, as well as the Pastor. A friendly bunch, we were always serving together and outside of church we were getting together at each other’s houses. We had pregnancies together, spent holidays together, did birthday parties and babysat for one another. It was as though we were extensions of one another’s families.

For over 14 years life was blissfully happy, in fact we had all but ostracized ourselves from our actual family. Church and church “family” was our life. My husband and I held over six positions within the church by this time- deacon, accountant, computer and sound system laymen, adult Sunday school teacher, head usher, choir and more. We were in church all of Sunday, every Wednesday night and any extra days in between that we were needed. 

Then, in an instant this life that we thought we were sure of and knew was gone. Families that we held close bonds with, we thought unbreakable, turned on us. The deceit, the bitterness, the hypocrisy, the lack of forgiveness and more all came to light. We were shunned for one family’s, one person’s words. The people we considered to be our closest friends…NO, family, had turned on us, ostracized us. The devastation was nearly insurmountable. People took sides, the Pastor was of no help and in the end we were left with only the option of leaving. Quietly, as if thieves in the night, we left. We did not get to tell our story, in fact we had not told anyone what happened, only “the others” were sharing their lies. But, we needed to leave with our dignity and our testimony, we would not be pulled down to throwing stones at glass houses.

“The lukewarm Christian can accomplish nothing with a whole life in which to do it. If you have lived for sin and self . . . your witness will have [a] telling effect on all who have known you.” ~Billy Graham

So, why do I share all of this? Well, I tell you my story after living through the hypocrisy and seeing the lowest of Christian behavior, because I have learned so much! About myself, about my faith and about what people will believe. I was pulled in, I was brought down to a level that was not okay- my witness was blemished. People could believe the lies because like these that we chose to be close to, I had become a haughty Christian! I spoke about people behind their backs with these “friends”, believed I was better than others and bought in to all that I was being served. Yet, when things went sideways, no one was there for us- even the Pastor did not practice what he preached. 

Here I am over three years later. Not in contact with one person from that past life. Fourteen years wiped away as if it never happened. My children lost all friends and perhaps for a while faith in having friendships. I have worked through many of my own demons, as has my husband. Learning to rebuild trust and faith, learning to forgive even though no forgiveness was ever asked for. Believing that this is not what God and faith are about, man is flawed not God. I’ve really come to a place where I know what I believe outside of church. I have not ever lost my faith in God, only my faith in people- because they will let you down! And most of all, coming to the realization that I can be a witness anywhere, even here on this blog. God is not to be put in a box (or a church for that matter) like so many would like to do. His love and who He is can be witnessed anywhere as long as I am willing to be a testimony for Him. “The greatest way to witness is through the life you live. Let the radiance of your Christian life be such that it will make [others] ask questions about your [faith].”~Billy Graham

Other offerings by this Author:To Be or Not To Be, Sorry, The Spirit of Love

via Daily Prompt: Witness

Featured Posts 119 – Share your post links

DailyPost Discover Challenge: Open Minded

How To Find Money

“If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right!”~William Shatner

I have always been thrifty. I can say that is in part to my mom who taught me young to shop yard sales, thrift stores and use coupons. Now, that does not mean we looked dumpy or didn’t have enough. In fact, most people wouldn’t have known that we did this type shopping, except my mom loved to brag that she, “only payed a quarter for this lovely top” that someone just complimented her on. But, I came to see this as a huge thing, why not brag that you saved money on something that another payed full price for? And, although the reason my mom was thrifty was because we had low income when I was young does not mean it is why you should save. Why spend your hard earned money when you don’t have to?

So, fast forward to the present- I would love to share with you some of the ways and places that I have learned to save or better yet make money! I likely will not be able to get them all into this post, so keep an eye out for future follow ups (if I get good feedback and interest).

I am a huge believer in getting the best bang for the buck. If I know that I can pay less somewhere else or I have a coupon, you better believe that I am going to wait to make a purchase. I have found some extraordinary money saving and money making sights in my search for money. I’m not just talking pennies, I am saying 100’s of dollars a year in rebates and savings! Money back in my pocket or well, my PayPal account. I am going to first cover the Apps that I use to save (or make) $100’s on my groceries, retail and restaurants, every year. I will tell you, it may seem like work at first, but the payoff is worth it. After a while, it becomes second nature to just use these wherever you go. And who doesn’t want to make or save money?!

Coupons.com– A great place to print off coupons. You can do it online or download the app to your phone. You can get two prints per coupon and also a tip is to play with the zip codes in settings, that will get you different coupons depending on the area.

ibotta– This has been one of my favorite and all time highest money making Apps. It is a rebate app for groceries, retail and restaurant spending. If you have friends who use the app you can also link through Facebook or email and help each other meet rebate goals, earning extra money. Payments can be received via PayPal, gift cards or check. Year to date, I have earned over $500 in just over the past two years with this.

Saving Star, Checkout51 & MobiSave– These apps are all similar with rebates for groceries. I love when they all are offering a rebate for the same item and I end up getting the item for FREE or even making money on it! Similar to “ibotta” but not quite as high in earnings. Still year to date, over the last couple years I have averaged about $200 total from all three apps combined. PayPal is the best option for payment, but I believe they have choices also.

Find & Save– Entering your nearest big city location, this app gives you rebates for groceries, retail and restaurants also. Often there is a time limit from a day to a week. Unlike other apps, it often requires a certain amount be spent to make a percentage back. Easy to use and offering a myriad of places. I have used this app for the past year and have earned approximately $75.

Receipt Hog– This is simply a receipt adding App. Most receipts are taken in retail, grocery, gas and some restaurant. You take a pic of your receipt and give a star rating on your experience. You earn points or spins, all adding up to be turned in for gift cards or PayPal. It does take longer to earn with this App, but if you are consistent with putting in receipts you can make about $40 to $80 a year.

Windfall– This App is price matching for Target, Walmart, Toys R Us/Babies R Us, Staples, Best Buy, Home Depot and Lowe’s. Once a purchase is made from one of these locations you scan in your receipt. If that item was cheaper on their website or in another store, you are notified and can return to the location’s service desk to get refunded the difference. I have used it at multiple locations and have not had a problem with their honoring this app. I just recently started using it and have made about $10 back.

Shopkick– An in store App where you are awarded points for opening the app at the door of your location. You also are awarded point values for scanning in certain bar codes from merchandise specified for the store, all while shopping. They have expanded now to more points for purchases on certain items scanned. Like “Receipt Hog” it awards money to points and does take longer to earn. I have made approximately $25 year to date.

Cartwheel– Target’s App for savings in their store. Choose the discounts you want to use from weekly offers and show the cashier your bar code at the register during checkout. Savings are automatically taken off. I like to find coupons to add on top of the savings! I also recommend getting yourself a RedCard which saves you 5% off the top of every Target purchase. They offer debit or credit cards, you can sign up online or in the store.

Savings Catcher– Walmart’s price matching for items purchased. You scan receipt code to the app and they let you know in about five days if any savings were found. They keep a total for you which can be redeemed at Walmart on future purchases. I have made back approximately $50 in the past two years.

 

Okay, I’ve shared quite a bit! I hope that you will check these out and start your road to savings today! I have other ways to save and earn I’d like to share, perhaps for another day. Let me know if you want to read more, what you want to save on, like what you’ve read or other apps and ways you have found helpful! 

 

 

Thanks to Eddaz for the nomination!

 

 

Inspiring Homeschooler

I hope you will take a moment to read about this inspirational teen and even follow her or share with kids you know. Another post to celebrate the beginning of our school year today.

“Allison, the 16-year-old blogger and photographer at A Farm Girl’s Life, never runs out of ideas. Her blog is proof that life on her family’s farm in Virginia is full of inspiration: she publishes DIY tutorials, craft projects, word challenges, pet and photography posts, and more — and finds creative ways to engage with her readers.”

Photo (and all photos below) by Allison at A Farm Girl’s Life.

The teenage blogger at A Farm Girl’s Life talks about her love for crafts and connecting with readers around the world.

via A Farm Girl’s Life: On DIY, Crafts, and Finding Inspiration Everywhere — Discover

Creativity Reimagined

One of the greatest lessons that I have learned as a parent, each child is unique in not only who they are but how they learn. With the kids starting school this week I thought I would share a bit of our journey into homeschooling.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” -Albert Einstein 

When my oldest was in second grade we went through a very rough year. I’m sure many parent’s know the struggles of a doctor telling you, “Your child has  ADD” or some other difficulty. For us, the classroom became like a battlefield, the teacher and student at odds and I the parent became thee go-between. After many tear filled nights, not only my child’s, but mine. Donating lots of my time to aiding in the classroom. Finally, biting the proverbial bullet, a last ditch effort and trying medications (which ultimately was not successful). I decided that this year was it, I was homeschooling my kids the following fall!

Here we are, six years later. I would be lying if I told you that it has always been easy. There certainly have been moments of shear panic and “What did I get myself into?” type verbiage. But, the pay-off is worth it all. The first year in, my oldest was off all medication and thriving in thee environment we created. Learning is paramount, yes, but allowing him the out of the box experiences has been priceless! The one-on-one style I could provide, allowed him flourish! So many changes to allow my kid to be a kid again, to have fun.

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.”  -Albert Einstein

Our schools have come SO far from the way I believe learning was intended. We now have massive amounts of students in a classroom with one teacher, spending seven hours (plus homework) in studies with very little activity during the day! Not only this, we expect each child to learn the same way and at the same pace. There is little room for the creativity and imagination that allow a child to thrive in a verity of ways. Students that are active, ahead or behind their peers, or lack thee ability to fit in the tiny box created by the school system- these are labeled, medicated or made to feel less than worthy!

So where does creativity and imagination come into the picture? It’s allowing for day dreams, going outside to learn in nature, moving when necessary, it is taking a break to do “kid stuff” and the list goes on. It is the mind-set that each child is unique and that even daily the way they learn can change. This frame of mind is hard for adults, we have been taught to rely on a system. One that we went through and generations before us. But, when freed from this belief, it opened up a whole new world to me too!

If this helps even one family on the fence about the benefits of teaching from home then I am thrilled. And, if it encourages multiple families to keep on the path, don’t give up and encourage creativity- I have truly succeeded! Please, feel free to contact me with questions regarding homeschooling, I would love to help you accomplish greatness!

via Daily Prompt: Learning

Also see: This Color Is Called Life, Inspiring Homeschooler, Books and Motivation

 

Through Lenses

“To photograph: it is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye and the heart.”~Henri Cartier-Bresson

It seems poignant that the Daily Prompt: Eyes is our word, seeing as it is World Photo Day. And what is more visual than the perspectives we get through a camera lens? Being part of an artistic family I have always had a great appreciation for the art of photography. My father and one of my sisters both have thee eye to see what many do not. I love to take pictures, but I would not consider myself a photographer in the true sense of the word.

I love the ability to capture moments in time. As a mom, of course, I have millions of pictures of my kids! And, I even have scrapbooks that were such fun to make ages ago! Now, everything I have is mostly digital or on Facebook. Does anyone else have a ton of pictures they need to develop? See, I think this is the difference between thee art of photography and snapshots, developing.

“What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that’s gone forever, impossible to reproduce.”~Karl Lagerfeld

Have you ever really thought about why photography is so popular? I mean, we are all connected to our phones as though they are an appendage- snapping pics or selfies like our lives depended on it! We have Snapchat, Instagram and other social media outlets where we are documenting, at times by the moment, our days for others (even strangers) to view in images. The dictionary has expanded with words such as selfie; and we have made those who can take a good selfie into celebrities for that “ability” alone!

I can’t imagine a world without the beauty of photographs. How dull it would be to never see people, places and things from all over this world. To be unable to share in diverse images- whether beautiful, unique, sad and all thee emotions that can be reached through a picture. Life is too beautiful not to see, share and imagine through photography! So, get out you cameras (or phones) and keep showing your world through your eyes, the camera.

The Spirit of Love

“True love is like Ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.” ~Francois de La Rochefoucauld

I am blessed to be able to say that I found my true love. At the end of August we will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary- we have known each other for 21 years! Our love story is nothing over the top. We met when I was in high school and he the older man. We got married when I was 18- not because I was pregnant, but because we truly knew that this was what God intended for us. I think it is so unheard of these days to get married young, but we were in love and we couldn’t wait to start our lives together!

We had met at church when my family moved to this, to say small is overstated, town. It was really the last place I would have expected to find anyone, let alone the love of my life. But, the day we moved into our house, [He] came riding up on a motorcycle. Man, my heart still skips a beat thinking about that day! He didn’t know us, but had heard a family was moving to town, a friend of the pastor’s. That is just who he was, and still is today, he enjoys helping others.

He quickly became a family friend, helping out. He has abilities my dad does not when it comes to being a handy man. From fixing cars to appliances, he is a Jack of all trades. His parents also became friends with mine and so the friendships grew. We truly started out our relationship as friends. But by the time I had become an upperclassmen we were in love. Not the crush kind of love, but a deep down friendship based type.

We did not date in the terms most would consider normal. Because of our age differences we courted. That is, we were always chaperoned by parents, siblings or friends. Now as a parent myself I cannot even imagine letting one of my teenagers go out with someone six years older, but he was not just anyone! His heart was always in the right place. He too had never been in a relationship. It was new and pure for us both. It is hard to explain to someone who has not heard of or experienced [this].

My Hun & I ~Southern By Design

I can honestly say, I would still do it all over again- we really grew up together. I would say that we have only found more love and friendship over the 18 years of marriage. No, things are not always perfect, but they are pretty darn close. We have gone through hardships, just like anyone. But, in those times we have drawn closer and grown. It is through those that we are where we are today and, I would not trade any of them!