The Dream Challenge

Everything is changing.

And I love change. It forces you to come up with new/better/innovative stuff.

I have come up with some great ideas and then gone to work and never picked them up again.

Today... that changes.

I have an idea and I promise to follow it to it's natural conclusion.

I am going to do that.

And I challenge you to do the same.

And as they say worse come to worse you are no closer than if you never even tried.

But if this little exercise simple inspires.

It can trigger hope, promise... or maybe it will inspire us to dream again.

That thought alone brings a smile to my face.

Change! Inspire! Dream! I'm in... are you?

By the way, I never thought I would ever go to Moscow... but things changed. :-)

First Task:Game plan

You have to have a plan before you can play the game.

Today, I am writing down my goals for this year.

So many exciting things have grown from many of the seeds that I planted in the last few years on a day like today.

My book came from a goal setting day.

I tour the country as a motivational speaker, sharing my story and inspiring people to live there best life - another goal achieved.

Some of the best new opportunities in my life are real today because I made them a goal on a list of many other goals I sought to accomplish.

Now, my lists always include many things I wanted to achieve in my personal life and in my career. 

I would write down these things. 

I also write down under each goal ways I could accomplish it. 

Now, I don't accomplish most of my list each year. 

And I don't feel bad about the things I don't do.

I relish in the ones that I do. 

Why is it easier to beat yourself up, than to praise and take stock in your accomplishments.

Every year when I try to make these goals realities, some of them become more clear and real than others. 

And Yes!

I do go back to old list and revive some goals from the past, maybe timing is better now. 

If you have a list of 10 things and 20 ways to accomplish them. 

If you get one of them done.

You are ahead of the game. 

Have fun dreaming up your goals, enjoy the thought of getting them done!

Feel that new energy of inspiration and build on it with a realistic plan of accomplishment!

If there are naysayers, don't share your plans with anyone but me and the comments on my blog!

Keep your list close to your heart!

I will share some of mine as the year continues!

This will be fun and exciting.

This weeks task is to WRITE THE LIST!

Lasting Change!!

Now, is the time and day when people pledge to begin a new.

They... we make these resolutions that are lofty on the onset but reality, time and consistency quickly become reason for no change.

My resolution is simple.

I pledge to come up with a schedule of change. 

I will write in down and try over the next 12 months to achieve my monthly goals.

That is realistic for  me. A schedule of change that is achievable. 

Not a drastic and whole change of life, but a gradual and more lasting change that by the end of the 2011 will achieve what I hoped to change on the first day of the new year. 

Let the fun begin. 

I will post my year of change here. 

Follow and participate if you like.

"When is the time for change"

True change seems to be more difficult the older and more set in my ways I get.

Facing challenges can be daunting. Is it age or effort... to much age and not willing to give enough effort. 

I am faced with what has been the most challenging choices in my life.

I have a great life and I am very comfortable. But to gain something more I must change some of the very fabric of my own existence. 

And at this point in life I don't know if I am willing to do it.

I definitely want it, but can I do the work that is necessary to get where I need to go.

Have you asked that question?

Is it a lack of motivation or inspiration?

I use to take more risk.... calculated risk but risk non the less.

2011 will be the year to calculate, risk and be rewarded.

Keep my eyes on the prize and take it one hour, one day, one week at a time.

The time is now.

Time!

Time!

Does it really heal all wounds. No! There are gray areas. 

It only heals the wounds that we can work through in our minds and hearts. 

If you simple just put it away, the same feeling will be there waiting for you.

Time along with applied thought and open minded understanding can heal all wounds.

And in some instances, time to just think before you speak can give you the strength or advantage you need to triumph in any circumstance.

Time if a gift. 

It's how you use it that counts.

Lee

The Struggle

I believe I will win this fight. 

And all of my dreams will soon be my reality.

And that's my thought process most of the time. 

But I have been struggling to overcome an unyielding foe, that will not let go.

No matter what I have tried. And no matter how far I have gone.

Like any battle you learn from the past to adjust your plan and keep going.

You only really lose when you quit.

But do you lose or just delay the game. 

When you stand on the sidelines and can't make yourself get into the action your not losing but your not winning either.

Enough with the sports references. 

I feel like I have been on hold and I cannot muster the strength to get back in.

Have I lost my drive.. my inspiration to fight?

And if I have, where is it? 

Because I need to finish this journey... NOW! 

And that is my struggle.

I have all I need to launch one more battle in the war.

And I know I will eventually win as long as I don't give up.

But doubt, that evil foe, doubt is my struggle.

I must fight past the doubt and try anyway.

I will stay strong.

I will fight on.

As soon as I get off the sidelines.

As long as I don't give up there is always hope.

And hope beats struggle any day.... EVERYDAY!

Life: The Understanding

When a relationship comes to an end, no matter how, no matter the relationship, if it's someone that you love, you are left with many emotions.

It's weird. It's just like when someone dies, even if you had time to spend with that person or if you tried to ask every question or touch on every subject, and savor every embrace. When they are gone you still want more.

We say "we miss them", but it's more than that.

Part of you seems to have gone, and yes you can try and replace it with something else, but it will never be the same.

IT WILL NEVER BE THE SAME and that is the truth.

There are things you use to do with that person and conversations that only you and that person could have that will never come back.

There are the memories, the cherished memories.  But I think we miss those new moments that will never be. The ones that could have warmed your heart, that bit of advise that always seemed to help you make the right decision came from that person and that person alone.

I didn't cry when my mother died. 

It wasn't until after the funeral.

A month or so after and I was back at work. 

I had just missed a fight at LAX and it was going to be at least a 3 hour layover.

So, I did what I always do.

I got a little something to eat.

And found an electrical outlet near a seat and sat down. I went through my movie selection and found the one to watch. I got out my blue tooth ear piece to make a phone call, sat down a did what I use to do on every layover. 

Started to call my mom to let her know that I was okay and how my latest business trip when.

I even pushed the number and the phone started ringing before I realized what I had done.

I sat there lost for a few minutes. 

If my mom wasn't there to know that I was okay, did anyone care? 

Who would tell me to be careful on the flight? 

Where was she? 

Heaven had to be the place, but I didn't really have the number.  

I started to pray but I really wanted to hear her voice. 

.

.

.

.

I find that even now years later I still cry for my mom.

It's just like the time she left me at Mrs. Hamilton's house for the first time. 

I didn't think she was coming back and I cried hard. 

.

.

The fact that she's not coming back still hurts.

As I try and fail at many different relationships in my life I realize how special that woman was to me. She was part of me and I know that I carry her with me everyday.

My daughter looks more like her than like me. 

I love that.

And as my daughter begins to talk to me more and more I realize that my mother was the personification of love.

And that love lives on in my daughter.

Her eye sparkle with everything my mother ever said to me.

And the wisdom that my mother gave to me, I will pass on to her.

With all of the added experience my mom fought so hard for me to have.

My mom had these kind brown eyes, and some how she could convey so much with just a look.

My daughters eyes are brown.

Life!

I understand.

I look in her brown eyes and I understand