People-please no more!

Whatever you do in life has to be good enough for you. If you do what you do for others, then you'll never be happy with the result because it was done with the motive of pleasing others. I remembered this today when I decided to do something I've been too afraid to do. I was worried that no one would appreciate it or that I needed to change in order to appeal more. All I have to say is: no more. Whatever you do in life has to be good enough for you. I cannot stress this enough. I mean, I can, but I don't need to. So I won't.

Team Dreamer

Around the track. Ok, only two ahead of me. And...passing one...and...now...two. Ok picking up speed. Running faster...faster...just one more lap. Wow, am I really that far ahead of everyone else? My goodness, I must really be killing it. Ok, no, focus...focus. There's the finish line! Spread your arms, throw your head back in victory...and you've won! You've just won the gold medal! 
No, I didn't steal this stream of consciousness from some novel or the pages of an Olympic athlete's autobiography. These came from my own mind. It's what was going through my mind last night as I dreamed that there was a race I was running -- no, that I was winning by a large margin. Have you ever dreamed you were in a race? How did you feel going into it? Were you tired? Were you exhilarated? Were you winning, were you losing? Did you want to quit? A few weeks ago I dreamed I was in a marathon and I wasn't exhausted or anything. I had already run half of it and was ready for the other half. I was encouraged. I was excited. I woke up. I turned over and went back to sleep. Fast forward to today. I dreamed that I was going for it -- and killing it. I've never run track a day in my life, but here I was at the Olympics, earning a gold medal. I believe in the significance of my dreams and that bit of encouragement was not sent to tell me "ok, lay back, you're beating everybody by a wide margin." Races are not so easily won, although it seems that way. And in dreamland, let's face it, your mind is doing all the work. I believe I had that dream to encourage me to roll up my sleeves and hit the ground running. I have everything I need to finish the race and finish it strong. I get tired in real life because I'm out of shape, out of practice. But I'll get there. In my dream it was important to know that I was winning the race, but what I relish most about the reality, is that I'm even still running. And whether I come in first or come in last, I finish.

Bucket Lists

I've heard thousands of things about them, hundreds of people have mentioned them, and dozens of people have already started completing them. That's right, you guessed it (especially after reading the title of this particular blog post) I'm talking about Bucket Lists. They seemed like they were so pointless to me for the longest time. I had a mental checklist of things that I wanted to accomplish before I kissed this here world goodbye, except I didn't look at it in that way. I had a list of things I was planning to do. Then it dawned on me today at a restaurant that there was something I wanted to do but did not have the means or the time to accomplish just now. And isn't that the point of a bucket list? To remember that you'd told yourself some things that you wanted to accomplish before you kicked the bucket? The absolute first thing I'm putting on my bucket list is: feed baby elephants in India. The second is own a farm or at least live on one. So, my faithful reader(s), whatever it is you want to accomplish, even if you can't do it now, dream it now and write it down. Just be sure to periodically add to it, or even remember that you have it written down.

How could you not want to be close to a baby elephant? 

What I've Learned...

This is me pensive. I know, right? Ravishing isn't it?

To date, I've had a great many things imparted to me over the years, but over the past few weeks life has handed me some real lessons:

1) It's best to go to the post office on Thursday. Afternoon. I promise you I walked in there last week to mail a letter and not a soul was in line. Fastest, most courteous service. Ever.

2) Spend time cultivating life's greatest pleasures. Amelie Poulain enjoyed breaking the crispy layer of her Creme Brulee before eating it, and dipping her hand into sacks of grain. I like bookstores and Target. Also slightly burnt toast and vegetarian bacon. Mostly, I like spending time either eating my favorite things or going to my favorite places.

3) Watch an old movie every once in awhile. If not for any other reason, to enjoy great costume designs, fabulous dialogue and timeless love stories. You'll be wishing you were in Bette Davis' fantastic shoes from Now, Voyager in no time.

4) Do what you love. What keeps you up at night? What moves you? Do it.

5) Never let anyone tell you how it's going to be. You're worth more than the box that others will try to put you in.