My Mission in Life
Source: Women’s Health
Source: Women’s Health
“Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.” ~Khalil Gibran
In my mid twenties I found out I had a mass on my pituitary. I was told it could be cancer, it could be benign, it could be a cyst—we wouldn’t know until my doctor performed a surgery to remove it. This surgery meant I could go blind, be on lifelong hormone replacement therapy, or even die.
I don’t want you to wait until something bad happens to dedicate time to things you love.
Countless people I meet …
“Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand-and melting like a snowflake.” ~Francis Bacon Sr.
Isn’t it a shame?
You’ve studied and worked hard to get to where you are.
You’ve succeeded.
And you got that job.
But now, it just doesn’t feel right.
Well, I understand exactly what you’re going through.
Once upon a time, I thought I had it all too.
A great position, a great salary with generous bonuses, and I was working in the heart of the city …
“As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others.” ~Marianne Williamson
“Look at her, who does she think she is?”
“He’s so full of himself. He’s so big headed”
Have you ever heard these types of expressions being used? Have you said them yourself?
I have.
Or at least I used to. I was taught to believe that people who shine their light were showing off. That they were brazen and big headed. But what does being full of …
“Life is a great big canvas. Throw all the paint you can on it.” ~Danny Kaye
I’ve had those days when I felt like my life was in the doldrums. When I felt stuck in the same-old, same-old and wondered how to get a pick me up. When I wished I had more passion or purpose or maybe just a jolt of joy to shake things up.
Sometimes there were things I thought might make me happy, but I couldn’t have them just because I wanted them. Like, I couldn’t just snap my fingers and meet the man who …
“When writing the story of your life, don’t let anyone else hold the pen.” ~Unknown
I grew up without a TV in my household. While most of my friends were talking about their favorite shows, I’d pretend to understand, nod along, and try to laugh at all the appropriate times.
While I had missed out on most of the shows and movies available during my youth, I didn’t miss out on all of them.
Whenever my dad would need to work late, my mom, sister, and I would head to his office and get set up in a conference room …
“True happiness involves the full use of one’s power and talents.” ~John W. Gardner
If you’re afraid…
…to launch your project,
to share your voice,
to sing in front of someone,
to dance in public,
to write a book,
to show who you really are to the world,
to ask someone out,
to tell someone you love them,
to try something new,
of what other people will think of you…
if you’re afraid of any of these things or more, I have three simple words for you:
Do it anyway.
Do it anyway! Isn’t that liberating? Come on, isn’t it …
“I would rather die of passion than of boredom.” ~Vincent van Gogh
I rolled my eyes when a new set of emails popped up in my inbox. Will the messages ever stop? I remember the early days of the Internet, when it was actually a thrill to receive a new message.
What used to be exciting had become not only boring, but downright annoying.
That’s when I realized that what I considered my “treasures” had become burdens over time.
And while it wasn’t a big deal to see my old favorite pair of jeans in the donation pile, I became …
“I think a lot of people mistake my confidence on stage for cockiness in real life, and that’s actually farthest from the truth. When I’m on stage, I’m that confident and that cocky because I have a microphone in my hand, and there’s a few thousand people staring at me. And I know they’re there to laugh.” ~Russell Peters
When I was ten, I opened the black, roughly textured box with the metal clasps, pulling out my first saxophone.
The alto sax would come to represent my inner confidence. My true self. The person who paints with sound the complex …
“Man is only truly great when he acts from his passions.” ~Benjamin Disraeli
At a young age I was told, “Without hard work nothing grows but weeds.”
I was also told, “With hard work it was possible to achieve the American Dream.”
I was not sure what the American Dream was, but I did what everyone around me seemed to be doing. Working hard. I did well in school, helped my mother at home and my father at his place of business.
The world looked incredible to me growing up, and I was so passionate about waking up every …
“As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.” ~Rumi
My early life was challenging, to say the least. I grew up in a difficult home situation, which I hoped to escape through an early marriage. That marriage produced four beautiful children by the time I was twenty-one years old.
We were very poor and I hoped to get us out of poverty, but I wasn’t sure it was possible.
I’d been poor all my life. I didn’t really know what it was like to have abundance. I thought success was for “other people.” My only education was …
“If a person gets his attitude towards money straight, then it will help strengthen out almost every other area in his life.” ~Billy Graham
To pursue financial security or your dream …
You’re in conflict, right?
I know because I’ve been there myself.
People often tell us that money isn’t everything, so we assume we can sacrifice money to pursue our dreams. Somehow it will work out. At least that’s what I thought.
What do you think about money? Is it everything or not?
I quit my job when I got married. My husband was a pastor …
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” ~David Viscott
You are a seeker. Searching for more of life. More joy. More depth. More connection. More happiness.
Our generation is not willing to settle for meaningless existence. Just to get by, just to keep it all together. It doesn’t interest us any more.
We want more freedom. Especially in the realm of our work.
But it can seem like a long road between ‘here’ and ‘there.’ From this job, from this life into… the unknown.
We know there is deeper …
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” ~Confucius
What stops so many people from changing their lives is a lack of momentum. They feel daunted by the sheer size of the task ahead and so revert back to inertia. It’s so much easier to just trudge along and hope that one day it gets better.
I used to get up at 5.30 in the morning every Tuesday to attend a business networking breakfast. It was a severe shock to the system at first, and as I drove to the hotel where the event was held, …
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” ~Pablo Picasso
It amazes me how often our personalities, habits, and interests as adults resemble the same ones that we had as elementary-aged kids. In fact, I’m convinced that when we are feeling lost, in a rut, or at a crossroads, we should consider the wisdom we had as eight-year-olds.
I first became aware of my love for writing when I was in second grade. When my teacher created a class newspaper, giving each student an individual piece of paper on which to …
“Remember your dreams and fight for them.” ~Paulo Coelho
You have a dream. Something that you’ve wanted for a long time. But that dream continues to elude you.
You blame circumstances—your daily responsibilities, lack of time, finances—or perhaps your family for holding you back.
What if none of the above is to blame for your dreams not coming true?
What if it’s something else?
Four of us performing. Our band’s name—Oracle. Thousands of fans singing along with us.
That was my dream. Our dream. And it never happened!
In the year 2000, we …
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet success unexpected in common hours.” ~Henry David Thoreau
I had dreams—dreams I thought could never be.
The dream of wanting to publish but never thinking I was a good enough writer; of being a painter but not even knowing how to hold a brush; of running a business without an MBA.
Too often in my past, I put these dreams off, waiting to feel like everything was “right”—the right timing, right environment, right preparation, right education, or …
“Instead of wondering when our next vacation is we should set up a life we don’t need to escape from.” ~Seth Godin
I was a senior human resources professional at the biggest company in New Zealand. I had a great team of people, a flash company car, and got to stay at the posh hotels and dine at the nicest restaurants.
I was paid more than I thought I’d ever earn, I had a house overlooking the beach, and got to vacation at some fantastic destinations. My life had all the hallmarks of success from the outside, but inside there …
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” ~C. S. Lewis
My wake-up call came at a friend’s wedding about seven years ago. Somebody asked me what I did for a living, and I answered truthfully: I’m a singer in a rock band. She thought it was cool, but I went into a rant about why it wasn’t.
“Creative work is definitely more perspiration than inspiration. The constant travelling and playing late night gigs is exhausting. The ‘business’ side of ‘music business’ is a joke,” I fumed.
On and on I went. As …