Personal Mission Statement

Mission statement: A personal statement that provides a focus and purpose in your day to day life.

I have to admit this idea is novel to me. I’ve worked in community organizations and have helped in structuring their mission statement but thinking about me is a different story.

Wading my way away from fear, I will write my mission statement.

Some things to consider when writing your own.

• Keep it simple, clear, and consice.
• Touch on what you want to focus on and who you want to become
• Concentrate on specific action, behaviors, habits to make  a positive impact in your life in the next year, two years, three years.
• Make it positive. Avoid negative statements
• Create one that will guide your day to day actions. Make it an everyday part of your life.

Remember it is not written in stone. It can evolve as you evolve.

Think about your values, roles you play day to day, what’s important to you, and what you want to achieve.

It takes time and reflection and remember you can change it as needed. 

 Some statements that came to my mind:

• I will live each day as it were my last.
  I will build positive relationships.
  I will focus on my strengths.
  I will strive to better my health.
  I will strive to find peace of mind.

 Do you have a personal mission statement? Would you like to share?

Be Brave

The act of being brave does not make you less afraid.  Being brave means overcoming your fear. It means stepping up and allowing your voice to be heard.  It means putting yourself out there for the world to see even if it means highlighting your imperfections, or hiding them.

Being brave means getting up every morning and smiling at the day. It means going to work despite the emptiness you feel inside  because you know it’s not where you want to be. Being brave is putting away your dreams in a locked drawer in order to care for a family and then going back and opening it to remember. Being brave means quitting when you know its right, and not quitting when you believe.

Being brave is having hope when there is little reason for it.

“Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.” Franklin P. Jones

 

Be yourself

Quote of the day:

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Dr. Seuss

Write to remember

In Life is a Verb  37 days to wake up, be mindful, and live intentionally by Patti Digh she writes about living life as if you

only have 37 days to live.  One of her chapters is titled “Write to Remember.”

She states, “we are all only one step away from losing the stories of our lives.”

“It is our stories of ourselves and of each other we keep in our hearts. That’s what makes us us.”

It is the reason behind the title of my blog.

I write to remember who I am, where I’ve come from, and where I’m going. I write so that I can share a piece of myself with you, the reader, and my family.  I write to ensure that I don’t lose my self or my way.

I challenge you, write to remember.

Inspiring me today

What inspires me today?

 

Yesterday, my daughter spent ten minutes putting on her coat.

“I can do it, mommy!” she protested as she dug her arm in the first sleeve and proceeded with firm persistence to try to get her second arm in the second sleeve.

She tried following it, reminding me of a puppy chasing its tail. After about two minutes of that, her face scrunched up in determination, she tried using her knee to catch the dangling sleeve and do what…I have no idea.

Then she sat down, brought the end of the coat up and started digging for the sleeve. Had she reached it, she would’ve put it on inside out.

“Sweetie, I can help you,” I said softly, trying so hard not to laugh.”No, Mommy, I can do it.”

And again, she went back to chasing the sleeve around and around in circles. Then again, the knee, then she sat down on the floor and caught the sleeve, shoving her arm through in triumph.

What I learned: Never give up. Learn. And don’t care how you look as you chase your dreams.

“Life’s challenges are not suppose to paralyze you, there suppose to help you discover who you are.” Bernice Johnson Reagon

Tags: bernice johnson reagon, persistence, two minutes

The power of the subconscious

Visualize the change in your life.

Reflect.

The subconscious plays an important part in the decisions you make everyday.  Sometimes, I’m programmed to respond a certain way and without even thinking I react. I no longer think about how I got home from work, my mind gets me there all I have to do is go through the motions.

But what if I need to break from the subconscious in an effort to change? What happens when I no longer want to take the short way home, but the longer less congested route?  I have to make a mental effort to change my motions and my mindset.

How can I change an aspect of my life that’s rooted in my subconscious?

With conscious thought. With effort. Planning. Reflecting. Visualization.

Take a moment, a quiet moment perhaps right before you go to bed and visualize the way your day should have gone. Or how you want your tomorrow to go. Do you want to exercise? Visualize it. Do you want to mediate? See yourself.

Be specific in your vision and remember it when the time comes. Eventually, it will be rooted to memory and…fingers and toes crossed…become habit.

It’s the concept behind the movie Inception. Inserting an idea into the subconscious mind.

Support…

Finding a support network is very important as you begin thinking about change.

• Family
• Friends
• On-line communities
• Spouse
• Faith Community

Everyone around you is a pivotal resource in supporting your decisions.

When I decided I needed something in my life, my sisters and I began a support group: Sisters with a Cause (SWAC). We had a mission, an agenda during every meeting that included meditation, health, and any other goals we were working on. We have since disbanded, but I learned a lot from the times we spent going over goals and supporting each other. I realized that I could not change alone. I also learned that I had to include my kids and my husband.

While my husband wasn’t interested in changing his life, I explained to him my intent, as well as explained to my kids that things were going to change. I accepted the limited support they were willing to give me, but welcomed the openness in which they responded to my intent which began something like…

I will require help in cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the children. I will give myself two hours every evening to work on me. I will do all the mommy, wife, and maid things up until the time was up and I will leave things undone if unable to finish it during the allotted time frame.

Note: This was not a request.

I stopped pretending to be wonder-woman minus the boobs.  It wasn’t easy. There was an adjustment period but I survived. They survived. And we continue to work at it every day.

My advice: Pick your battles. Prioritize what is best for the family, and what is best for you and make it work. Time is not going to extend its hand to you, but it’s your choice what to do with the time you are given.

My decision to brave the…change

In 2009 I decided to make a life change. I wanted balance in my life. I sought spiritual peace. I longed for fulfillment of self, though I still had no clue what that meant or what it would look like. My decision to go for it came about due to a chain letter I received from a family member.

This chain letter spoke of a woman whose life was filled with chaos. A mother, a wife, she prayed to God for peace. Peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of family. This woman needed a sense of self. Until one day, God took her family away. The message in this dreaded chain letter: be careful what you ask for.

Now, when I read this letter I saw myself as that woman. I needed peace in my life. I needed to be someone a part from my family. So when I read this I laughed. I laughed so hard it hurt. I laughed until tears streamed down my face. I laughed and laughed and actually responded to said family member who sent it.

The want of peace in my life does not equate to absence of my family, or even the chaos. I do not think  God put me on this Earth to be miserable, stepped on, disrespected, and be made to feel inferior by anyone. Especially myself.

There is a difference between seeking change and regret.

I do not regret my family. It is because of them I am who I am.

I do not regret my choice in seeking balance in my life. It is the only way I can feel whole.

I no longer feel guilty in thinking of me.

Neither should you.

Allow yourself to Change

When I received my BA degree in Psychology, later than expected, I wanted to work in foster care.

Why? you ask.

Because I knew it was going to be difficult and I wanted to make a difference in the life of a child.  Humble in my decision and naive in the reality of things, I’d like to think that I did make a difference in the lives of those I worked with. There were families who gave me hope, families who made me cry, families who made me doubt myself and my ability to act as an agent of change. I began asking the why too often.

I needed to develop my shell. You know, the shell that becomes a barrier to the outside world. The shell that would protect me and keep me from crying into a pillow I hauled to my desk and buried my face in to muffle the sounds of my pain.

This wasn’t for me. My wet-behind-the-ears idea of change wasn’t a reality. I had to change the only person I could: Me.

And that was okay.

Allow yourself room to change, to grow, to learn who you are and how you can best serve yourself and those around you.

If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it — change the way you think about it.— Mary Engelbreit

It is wiser to find out than to suppose.— Mark Twain

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.— Mahatma Gandhi

I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself. – Aldous Huxley

Have a great weekend!

Prayer Beads/ Japa Mala

Though I am no yoga guru and have only begun tapping into the power of meditation, I’ve always been intrigued with the power of thought. We will get into more detail about that in later posts.  Prayer beads or Japa Mala, are used during meditative chants or mantras and are intended so that one can keep focused on the prayer or mantra during the session.

Usually, the prayer beads have 108 beads or a sequence of beads that can add to 108 repetitions.

Using the beads helps in maintaining the mind focused. If you’re anything like me, your mind will wander. It’ll probably wander as you first begin to meditate anyway, but the beads help in refocusing that energy into the moment and mantra.  Meditation is not something you will get overnight.  It takes time to learn to shut the mind to the outside and open it to your most innermost essence.

Here’s a link to Oprah and her thoughts and suggestions on meditation. Keeping things practical and real, the tub may be all I got.

Tags: japa mala, mantras, power of thought, prayer beads