Wednesday, March 6, 2013

What inspires you?

Many times people feel that their bliss is out their reach or that they don't have anything in their lives that truly makes them happy.  They go through life on auto pilot just doing what has to be done. That honey do list or getting up every day to complete the task at hand. But to me that is simply existing not living. 

Following your bliss simply means that you are living the life you were created to live.  It may not be the fanciest or the most elaborate.  But it is a life worth living.  It is finding happiness in those little things that you often take for granted and doing what comes naturally to you.  Many of my bliss experiences are based in things I have done for years and not thought about.

To me writing is a bliss.  I enjoy putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and just allowing my thoughts and emotions to flow freely.  Even if those thoughts or emotions go no further than my private journal or my online blog.  I love to write, to me it comes as natural as breathing.  I know when I cannot do it I often find my emotions building up until I am ready to blow my top or explode at the least little thing. So writing to me is a bliss I enjoy pursing. 

I have recently returned from a sabbatical from my educational goals.  I take off for a semester or two when I need to decompress and clear my mind. It has made my educational goals stretch out over several years what normally would have only taken a few years to complete but my life is all about balance and finding that balance within myself. I take off to tend to personal issues, help out with family matters or simply to clear my plate and focus on the truly important things in my life.

Finding your bliss isn't about balls to the wall all out losing yourself completely in what makes you happy. It is about finding things that you enjoy, that you can on occasion escape into or find joy in. It is about learning what makes you tick and what makes you happy and making time in your already busy life to pursue those things. It is about feeling like your talents are valued and that you have an important role in the over all scheme of things.

It isn't about running away from your life and not taking care of the things that you are already obligated to. It isn't a midlife crisis it is simply learning to enjoy life to the fullest and having a life worth looking back on and saying man that was a wild ride.  It is about doing the things that you enjoy, that you are good at or that you want to be good at and doing them.

It is about not waiting until you get a death sentence from a doctor and realize that you have allowed several decades to slip past without making any kind of a dent in your list of things you really want to get accomplished.  It is about finding joy where joy exist and taking the time to actually enjoy your life and sharing that joy with others.  It is about living a life well lived.

I have heard from some that finding your bliss is a selfish and destructive life path to choose.  That you should put others first and never think of yourself.  I say those people are the ones who need to follow their bliss the worst.  They truly believe that wanting happiness for yourself in some way or fashion is a betrayal of helping others.  I believe that by helping yourself you are helping others. You are becoming a better person who is happier and more rounded.  Better balanced and in a far better position to help others because you have pulled yourself up by your own boot straps and done something that few people will ever do.  You have learned how to be happy.

I know that may sound selfish but the reality of the situation is this. If you aren't happy with yourself how can you possibly learn to be happy with someone else?  How can you express what it takes to make a relationship work if you are unaware of what you need to feel complete.  How can you advise others about how to live when you are merely existing in this space and time.

I don't care if your bliss is a quart of rocky road icecream and your favorite movie marathon. Take time to decompress and learn to embrace all the wonderful things this life has to offer.  Stop doing what doesn't work and what doesn't make you happy and make time in your life to do what does. You will find yourself not only feeling better but your emotions will no longer being in hyper drive. You will find you have more patience with others because you have more patience with yourself.  When you learn that everything doesn't come overnight or just because you want it to you will learn what is truly important to you and your life.

I know I haven't been writing as much as I would like and I feel it deep inside me. But at times my life gets super crazy and things hit out of the blue that tear me away from doing the wonderful things I enjoy. I try hard to make time for them but sometimes life gets in the way and my plate just gets way to full to fit even one more thing into my waking hours.  I find that when things settle down and I can actually find the time to think about the things I want to do at times I am so incredibly exhausted from dealing with the things I must do that I have no energy left.

Tonight I was blessed in the fact that I finished my homework earlier than I anticipated and still had a little energy and creativity left over to pursue my bliss.  Most days I am not that lucky.  Most days I run from the moment my eyes open until the second my head hits the pillow and I am out cold until the next morning.  Leaving little if any time for the things that bring me the most joy in my life.

Spring is just around the corner and our home is abuzz with the sounds of spring in the air. We are currently caring for 43 baby chicks. Our future egg laying hens, we started small and did only 20 last year that were a straight run of birds (Both male and female) to see how it would work in our already busy schedule.  This year we are doing strictly hens because well you only need so many roosters in a flock and I have picked the best of the best for our egg layers and future flock. 

I have several trays of seedlings ready to go in the garden as soon as the weather warms. They are under grow lights on a moveable greenhouse that is in my office.  Thriving and growing.  Some would argue isn't gardening one of my blisses that I pursue so how can I say I have not had time to follow my bliss.  The reality of the situation is this.  I love gardening, I love being able to step outside my door and pick a fresh tomato off the vine and bite into that homegrown freshness minus the chemicals and pesticides and herbicides.  I love the fact that I can provide those I love most in the world with home grown goodness and enjoy the bounty of my garden year round. Do I love the ins and outs and mundane details of starting seeds and hoping that nothing goes wrong between putting seeds in the soil and harvesting those fresh veggies, No I do not.  I often find my mind wandering over the things I need to be doing and counting down the days until warmer weather gets here and I can feel the sun on my skin and the fresh air in my lungs.

I love the whole getting my hands dirty and feeling like I am taking control of our food and taking a stand against commercially raised foods.  I love the picking my veggies and caring for my plants but the humdrum mundane chore of starting our plants from seed I don't enjoy.  I do enjoy seeing those little plant heads popping up from the soil seeking out the sunlight or in our case the grow lights. But from that moment until they are safely in the ground I stress over watering, under watering, to much light not enough light and the right plant food. Once they are outside Mother Nature pretty much takes over and I get to sit back and enjoy the many hours of hard work and just eat the fruits of my labor.  That part of gardening I enjoy. Not the stress the time and the failures at trying to do our plants from seed.

If I hate that part that much why do I do it. Because to me it is all a journey.  It is also much cheaper to go the seed route than the buying plants that I don't know what they may or may or may not have been treated with.  I don't know what has gone into the process of them being healthy and thriving. I guess at times I am over the top on my control issues, still working on that but until I master it or until I can find an organic grower I can completely trust I will continue to do it myself.

The point of all of this rambling is this. Yes there are things you have to do in order to get to where you want to be.  There are things that will motivate you to go against the flow of your current existence in order to get to where you want to be.  There will be pit falls and failures along the way as well as encouragement and success. Never give up, never give in, never surrender. I always liked that expression because when you are following your bliss it isn't all going to be wine and roses. Some days are going to be downright frustrating and irritating but anything in this life worth having is worth working for.  That was a very hard lesson for me to learn as a much younger person.

But I have seen time and time again, anything that comes easily is often not respected nor it is appreciated. Follow you bliss and do not give up hope. Live the life you were born to live but balance your obligations right along side your happiness factor. Love the life you have even if it means only getting to enjoy a very small portion of it because that is far more than many will ever get.

 I hope my words have given you some food for thought. I hope you find encouragement in them and hopefully you remember to always try.  You won't know what you are capable of or if you will enjoy it if you don't at least try it.

Until Next time blog buddies. Stay safe, stay sane and be happy.

My beautiful Cherokee tomatoes getting their true leaves.  I love the part of seedlings that they start to show their true nature. Until then they all look alike to me. Some may have fat stems some may have delicate stems but until those true leaves come it that tray could have been squash, or broccoli or even peppers.  Life is a lot like those seedlings. Sometimes you have to wait a while before you can actually see if the seed you planted is growing or if a weed has gotten into your seed mixture and you are simply raising more nonsense for you to deal with.  Always learn something new each day, any day without a new lesson learned is a wasted day of your time on this planet.

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