Get Busy Living Or Get Busy Dying....

 

I don't know about you...but no one has ever asked me this question. Up until recently, I have never even asked myself this question. I say "up until recently" because it has always been my mindset that I would fail at whatever I attempted. I was not brought up with the notion of having dreams, setting goals and doing my best to accomplish them. There was never any talk like, "What are your dreams?" or "What kind of goals do you have?" But it was never instilled in me to think about goals that I

Don't get me wrong, while I was growing up, I was able to witness how hard my parents both worked to take care of me and my four siblings. I knew that hard work was required to take care of family. I knew that being responsible required hard work to take care of those responsibilities. But I think somewhere along the way, as we grow up and have these responsibilities to take care of, we often forget about such lofty ideas like dreams and goals. 

I feel that at some point, we need to re-evaluate where we are in life and take time to either establish some goals or take some of those old goals we set for ourselves and get busy trying to fulfill those goals. After all, if we are not trying to reach our potential, then one isn't really living are they? It's like Morgan Freeman's character in the movie Shawshank Redemption says, "Get busy living or get busy dying." I feel that a lot of us are busy just trying to get by that we don't have time to think about goals or dreams. In my opinion, when we stop dreaming, we stop living. Dreams are what gives life substance! Achieving those dreams is what should light a fire under us to go out and not settle! Dreams can transform us into an entire different human being. 

So the question I have for you is...

WHAT WOULD YOU ATTEMPT TO DO IF YOU KNEW YOU COULD NOT FAIL??!!?

I really would like to know...so come on and leave a comment!

Life Got You Down? Fight Like Hell!!

How many times have you tried to do something and maybe you failed miserably? Maybe you're one  of those people who will try to accomplish something and no matter what you do to try to succeed, it just doesn't work out. That saying "one step forward...two steps back" might pertain to you. But even with faced with many uncertainties, what separates those who try, fail and then quit from those that try, fail, but pick themselves back up and try again until they succeed?

It all comes down to three things...desire, perseverance and patience.



Every goal or dream usually start with desire. Now I'm not talking about some spontaneous idea that is thought of on a whim. I'm talking about a all out, full blown desire that keeps you up at night. The kind of desire that as soon as you wake up in the morning, that desire is there, pushing you out of bed telling you that you NEED to get things done to bring your desires into reality! The kind of desire that will go unfulfilled until you get to where you are going. Yea...THAT kind of desire!



Now even though you have that deep burning desire to make your goals a reality, something else is needed... Perseverance!

 Perseverance is defined as:  

-steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perseverance)

    
So you have a desire to do something great. Next comes a difficult part about making those dreams of yours a reality. As you can see in the definition, there will be difficulties. Yes there will be obstacles. And YES...discouragement will creep up on you and try to keep from reaching your goals. That's just the way life is...get over it and move on!! Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back on track. If what you desire is so great and that important to you then you know that reaching that goal or dream is going to take hard work and you also know that obtaining something great is NOT going to be easy. Accept that fact and move on citizen! 


You have the desire...you have the perseverance...NOW...one other thing is essential...patience! Everyone has head that Rome wasn't built in a day. So it should stand to reason that achieving your goals and dreams isn't going to happen overnight. Like the person who is overweight and wants to lose weight. That person needs to understand that they didn't get overweight in a short amount of time. It took years of not eating healthy and not exercising to put all that weight on. So anyone who thinks that a magic diet pill is going to help them drop all that weight overnight has another thing coming and is in for a rude awakening! It's that way with ANY dream or goal!! The trick is to keep working at obtaining your goal and learn how to hone that fine art of having patience. I guarantee that as long as you keep pushing, you will come out on top!!!


Life is rough! Some people know that more than others...but ultimately we all have experienced rough times and hardships. But even though we all go through these kind of situations, we as human beings have an amazing ability to persevere and overcome hard times...I truly believe that this is one of the greatest abilities we as human beings posses! So when you've been knocked down, stop and make the decision that you are not going to go down like that...you are going to stand up, and fight like hell and finish strong!!

We Are the Dreamers of the Dream...

I think we've all heard those immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,

 "I have a dream..."

Dr. King had a dream of equality for people of all races. The dream he had was a dream, that in his time, seemed impossible...especially considering that the civil rights of many African Americans were being violated. I'm sure Dr. King knew that before his dream would become a reality, it would take sacrifice, hard work, determination and hours upon hours of dedication to the cause. I'm sure that it didn't matter to Dr. King how long it took to achieve the dream...as long as the dream became a reality.

 If you really think about it, the overall attitude of Dr. King should inspire us to realize our dreams and goals... it doesn't matter what goals or dreams you may have. Maybe you want lose 30 pounds...or start your own business. Maybe you want to build a better relationship with your family and friends. Whatever your dream or goal is,the same traits that Dr. King possessed are necessary to obtain your goals.

1. Sacrifice- All goals and dreams require a sacrifice of some sort. If you want to improve your health, that might mean giving up certain foods and replacing them with healthier choice. If you want to start your own business, that might mean that you have to stop spending on non-essentials in order to save up starting capital. The sacrifices you make today will put you one step closer to your goal.
2. Hard Work- Nothing EVER comes easy when it comes to achieving your goals and dreams. There's no getting around it...you must work hard to get that goal you're chasing. Everything from fitness to relationships REQUIRE that the work be put in order to get results. DO THE WORK!!!
3. Determination- If you want to succeed at anything, you have to have an attitude of being determined. You can't allow the everyday challenges in life to get you down. In order to progress, you have to rise above those challenges.
4. Hours upon hours of dedication and committment- What are you willing to do to achieve your goal? In order to reach your dreams, time MUST be spent in order for your dream to become a reality. The more time you spend in working on your dreams and goals, the more you stand a chance of succeeding

Having a dream or goal is the easy part. Working towards and achieving that goal is a different story altogether. No matter what your dream is, no matter how big it is, no matter what it takes, each and every one of us has the potential to reach deep inside ourselves and achieve greatness!!! So what are you waiting for? Like the picture says, time will pass anyway...might as well chase that dream and make it a reality!!!

What is YOUR dream???