Wow! Where Have I Been? Oh Yeah, Rebelling.

I feel like it has been a lifetime since I felt the keys beneath the pads of my fingers.  I feel more inspired as the sun heats up outside, and the grass emerges from the gray and black slush of winter.  Now it is time for me to come out of hibernation.

I think wondering where I have been is a great way to start out my March post.

Where were you this winter?  Are you emerging from the dark days of winter as yourself?  Can you say you are the person you always saw yourself becoming?  Go outside and feel the sun on your back.  If you close your eyes, are you happy?  What do you see beneath your lids?  Let nature inspire the fire and nurture your growth as YOU, not the person who people think you should be.

What Role Has Society Passed Down to You?

Often, our roles in society create a predetermined path for us to follow.  We are expected to do certain things, say acceptable phrases, and engage in particular tasks, but have you wondered who is supposed to break the mold?  Is it you?

Do you find yourself wondering, “Why?”  Instead of following faithfully behind the sheep.  Are you expected to cap your filter and continue on in life without making waves?  Our roles were decided for us long ago, and it is politically incorrect to stray from the morality and comfort of our predetermined life, but rebellion is an educational journey.

Rebel With Passion

Rebellion doesn’t mean you have to cause trouble or break the law.  Rebellion is a way to be yourself through a process of enlightenment.  Rebellion is taboo, but many of the most inspirational leaders and role models of all-time, were not straight-line-walkers.

Jump out of the black and white.  Explore the grey areas in life, and splash it with a little color of whimsy and exploration.  But, it is important to remember, you can’t have rebellion with a side of regret.  Take a dose of rebellion and wash it down with insight and an open-mind.

A Simple Start to Rebellion

Take small steps to stand-out: Forget a recipe when you cook, sing aloud when you are running, move your furniture, take a different route to work, or wear a bright yellow shirt to a PTA meeting.  Once you are free from the fear of standing out, you will learn to stand-up taller for yourself.

Making My Own History in 2013

I decided at 12:01 on January 1st that I was giving up the New Year’s Resolution stigma.

I read that “Bucket List” is on the banned words list for 2013, and “New Year’s Resolution” is a phrase that sets us up for failure.  So, this year, I have replaced both phrases with “Making History in 2013.”

Making history is easier that making broken promises to yourself.  I have a list of the top 10 things I want to do before 2023.  That should be easier that trying to stuff myself in jeans that were made for high school girls, or avoid the brownies that are staring at me at this very moment from the top of the shelf near my desk.  Darn those things are delish, and I can smell them every time the heater kicks on and sends a wafting cloud of delightfully, delicious, chocolate goodness right to the point on the tip of my nose that makes me relapse.

Here it goes…

Making History in 2013

10.  Feel summer in the middle of winter

9.  Listen more, and judge less

8.  Help others when I need help the most

7.  Run more than usual (which might be once a week)

6.  Smile at my husband more

5. Complete my degree

4.  Forget the past, and focus on the the change it created for my future

3.  Make it back home for the first time in 4 years

2.  Tell more people “Thank You.”

1.  FINISH THE LOVE STORY BETWEEN CHANNON AND JENNIFER

Number one is the reason why I started all of this in the first place.  I have a twisted love story stuck in my head that needs to be put on paper.

When it comes to writing about affairs, How do you like the story to end?  Who is to blame?

The answers I get about this are very interesting.  My goal is to address all sides of the complicated story.

So, how will you start making your own history in 2013?  Have you fell off the New Year’s resolution band wagon?  Just remember, you can always jump back on, as long as you are committed to the result.  It’s never too late.  Maybe if you renamed your goals, you won’t be as intimidated by them.

Don’t let commercials, magazines and TV shows push you toward a quick fix.  Be yourself, and ignore the millions of dollars in advertising that are telling you that you aren’t good enough until you succeed with their product.

You are amazing, and you will make history.

Dream the Acceptable Dream

I am preparing for a meeting today that will reiterate the need for me to grow-up and make more acceptable decisions about my future.

It’s sad that children are encouraged at a young age to have big dreams about their future, no matter how grand, but by the time junior high hits they are deflated and shut down.

I was that child, and I still am.  I am just in the body of a 28 year old now.  I remember being asked at a young age what I wanted to be when I got older, and my response was always the same “A writer.”

I used to make a family newspaper and distribute it around our house before the sun came up, and I would write stories for my friends and family through the course of my adolescent years.  But, as I got older and started facing teachers who were miserable, family members who weren’t successful and a majority of people on the population who had to settle on a career, they made this young mind believe it had to do the same thing.  Unfortunately, it happens all the time.

It’s okay to live in a world of dreamers.  I think it would be a much happier place, and we wouldn’t take as much crap from the people who are in charge.  Don’t settle, and don’t let anyone tell you that your dreams don’t work anymore.  I can’t think of a single child in my Kindergarten class who said, “I want to be working at a firm 6 days a week so that I don’t have time for my family.”  No, that kid said he wanted to be a fireman, a police officer or a ball player.  I’m not saying our minds aren’t allowed to mature as we get older, or that we aren’t allowed to change.  I am saying we should never give up.

Don’t let them tell you what an acceptable dream is.  If you want to save the world- do it!  What inspired you when you were younger?  Has is become a memory that you find hard to connect with now that you are older.  Everyone has inspiration lurking within their 9 to 5 bodies, but it is what you do with it that will make you happier.

A professor of mine said something that has stuck with me every day, “Don’t chase the dollar, chase the dream.  You will never be f*cking happy if you allow money to control you.  Let what you love become what you do.  You will be a better person because of it.”

Thank you Dr. Cardillo.  This will be the year that I figure out who the hell I am.  I will embark on a journey that has been pushed aside for too long.  I will write the novel that will change my life.  I am not writing to make money, but to say I did.  I want to tell my children that I have dreams too, and that anything is possible.  I can’t ask them to do what they love, if I myself can’t commit to my own inspirations.