This is the phrase that was running through my head when my eyes opened this morning and I thought to myself what a perfect title for my Blog today. Many of you may be scratching you heads going what is she talking about. Has she finally gone round the bend. Well to be honest I went "around the bend" years ago. I little insanity in your life is good. It shakes things up and keeps life interesting.
What I am talking about is, this is your life and you are the only person who has to live with the consequences of your actions. You may be judged by others by the actions you take but their opinion is just that, their opinion. In time they will either move onto to others to judge or forget what it is about your life choices they disagree with. But you have to live with any and all actions you take regarding your life for the rest of your life. If you can rise every morning and face yourself in the mirror and know that no matter what actions you may have taken they were legitimate actions in the pursuit of your dreams and goals then you can continue on the path you are following.
Many times change is difficult for those who do not understand why they are necessary. If it aint broke don't fix it is a common phrase used in polite society. Others may see your desire to find your own personal bliss as a selfish act because it upsets their view of the norm for this life. That may because they are still sleep walking through life, doing what has to be done and seeing no reason for making any changes. It may be because they feel that by you seeking your own bliss in some way threatens their reality or the comfortable life they have fallen into. It may simply be because they aren't brave enough themselves to take actions to find happiness and are content to merely exist.
When people begin to do things to make themselves happy and take that control away from those around them, people often react negatively. When I decided to return to school as an adult, single Mother with 3 children I was told by many that I was wasting my energy, money, and my time. That I needed to focus on caring for my children and concentrate on the day to day life I was living. Instead I was looking at the big picture. I knew that without an education I could never offer them the life that they deserved. That I could not make the money I needed to ensure them with the basic necessities of life such as shelter, food, and clothing without assistance from those around me.
I was miserable because I hate having to ask others to help me take care of the responsibilities I took on myself. My children did not ask to come into this world, I made that active choice when I conceived them. My children did not ask to be born into a home with a single Mom, that was my decision to go it alone when I divorced their Dad. My children did not ask to simply exist on the barest of necessities. That was a decision I made when I dropped out of college before starting my family. These were choices I made.
I took a long hard look at my life and decided in order to provide them and myself with a better tomorrow I had to find a way to provide for them. I had to find a way to increase our income level to something that would ensure that they would never go hungry or be homeless. And hopefully by making the decision to return to school and get my degree I made the right decision.
Now my children are grown and you would think to yourself, she did that for purely selfish reasons, but in reality I did it for all of us. Although my children are grown and gone I have set a role model in place that they can look to and hopefully be inspired by. I am becoming the person I was meant to be and no longer existing as the dull droid I had become. I not only bettered my life but I also helped them see their world in a new light.
There are two things that make you grow as a productive member of society. College and travel, both things expose you to new ideas and new concepts for life. Through both you are able to see how others live and how things are done differently from place to place. In college you are challenged to think outside the box, many of us for the first time in our lives. Through travel you see and experience first hand how others may handle similar circumstance to our own and how everyone regardless of where they live face similar challenges. Both allow you to step outside your normal boundaries and experience life in a new and exciting way.
Would my children have survived had I not gone back to college? Yes we would have continued on in the same manner as every generation before theirs existing. We would have paid our bills, asked for help when we couldn't and done without when no help was available. I wanted more, for them and myself. I wanted to change the legacy of our family and hopefully make it a brighter one for all those who would come later, namely my grandchildren and great grandchildren. Has returning to school changed us as a family. Yes, it has taught my daughters that if you want something bad enough you are willing to do whatever it takes to make it a reality.
This fall I will finish my bachelors degree in mathematics. I will then begin my masters degree and sit for my CPA certification. Now this isn't going to change the world as I know it, or save anyone from a dreaded disease, but in some small way I have impacted my own life and the lives of those around us. Because I returned to school and continued my education I have set a background for success for those who say it cannot be done. I have shown that you can be a single mom and work a 40+ hour workweek and still make time for a family and a life. I have shown anything worth having is worth working for and that following your dreams is never the wrong thing to do.
I will never paint a masterpiece, I will never compose a piece of music that moves the souls of the masses. I will never walk on the moon, find a cure for cancer, or even find the answer to life burning question "Why are we here". But along the way I have motivated others to take the first step towards finding their own bliss. I have encouraged and guided those who may have been struggling with some of those hard questions and helped them find the answers they sought. I have done many small things which to me may equal up to those big things I will never do.
Every new day is a new chance to improve your life. Every morning that you open you eyes is a good day. Yes bad things happen and sometimes things go wrong and sometimes well, sometimes you just want to role over and say you know what I just don't feel like fighting the good fight today. And that is alright. We all need personal days when we veg or allow our minds to wander where they will and to lead us towards better and brighter ideas. But if we do not take active steps to pursue what makes us happy, if we do not take active steps towards finding the things in life that make us who we were born to be. We will forever be stuck in that in eternal loop of woulda, coulda, shoulda until one day we wake no more and our lives will have been wasted.
I was planning on using today's blog to share tips and tricks for avoiding the things that may sidetrack us away from finding your own personal bliss. Quoting the words of others or perhaps even sharing a story or two from my own personal experiences of setbacks I have suffered along the way. But when I opened my eyes this morning this phrase was running through my head. I quickly jotted it down before it was lost in the business of the day to share it with you my readers.
I believe that everything happens for a reason, both the good and the bad things. The good things keep us moving forward, the bad things help us stop for a moment realize how fleeting our time on this planet are and how we must utilize every precious moment we are given. Tomorrow is history, the future is a mystery the only thing we really have is to today. Don't waste your todays, you have no guarantee of how many tomorrows you will get. And I would rather go to my grave knowing I did something towards becoming all that I can be than risk dying knowing that I never took a chance, never pushed those box walls and never truly lived.
I hope my post gave you some food for thought. I hoped it made others realize that no matter how silly your dreams and goals may be to others, they are yours and yours alone. Own them, make them a reality, never allow anyone to tell you that you can't if you know in your heart that you can.
I hope all that read my post are enjoying them. I am doing all I can to stay true to my promise to write something every day. I am finding it easier and easier with each passing day, but I still struggle on occasion. Did I blog today? Was it worth the time it took to publish it? Will anyone read it are still questions I hear in my inner voice. But then I realize that yes although those who are reading it aren't many there are some, and hopefully those will find the courage and strength they need to pursue their own dreams and goals and yes bliss. That in their actions others will find their own role models and determination to do the same. I am truly hoping that this blog has the ripple effect. Even the smallest of stones creates ripples in the water around where it lands.
Until tomorrow my friends, stay safe, stay sane and stay focused on your bliss and take the steps necessary to find your true happiness and true joy in this life.
You can either spend your free moments dreaming of the tomorrows you want or you can take active steps to make it a reality. Which will you choose?
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