Set yourself free

What I learned this week is that we can try to control ourselves so much at times that we fail to ever realize our potential, maybe an energy we never thought we had. A liveliness that we could have only ever imagined we could experience.

Yes, control in life is good, but of course too much is not good either. Then how do we know where the sweet spot is between both? We just live and figure it out.

This can be scary for people who have held such a tight grip on their lives that letting go is as scary as going skydiving (if you’re afraid of heights). But we all hear of stories of people who have gone skydiving. They were terrified of jumping out of the plane, but once they did, oh boy was it amazingly thrilling!

Now I’m not saying to lose control, but allow yourself to live and figure it out. Don’t hold back so much that you never discover a type of freedom that you could have only experienced if you let go.

Set yourself free.

Had a great day!

So I had a great day yesterday! I haven’t had a day like that in a while. I started the day off having hot white chocolate with loads of whip cream and a warm blackberry scone. I browsed online and read some inspiring blogs. I like going to http://www.marcandangel.com/ whenever I need some encouragement. And sure enough, I was encouraged. I read inspiring messages about achieving your dreams and not settling for anything less. About how to be yourself and live simple and happy. I just love reading good messages like that because it reminds me how to live a happy and healthy life. I also helped a stranger, went to my doctor’s appointment and learned nothing serious was wrong with my neck that has been hurting more and more, and after the doctor’s appointment, I stopped by World Market and just explored all the things they have in there. It felt like an adventure. I brought some cool trinkets home: two turkish peach votive candles, hearts on a string from India, a cool journal with an elephant on the cover, a gift for my husband which was wall decor with his favorite bird on it and the artist signature was his name and the initial of his last name (this one was just too perfect!), and a book called Why Now Is The Time To Crush It! by Gary Vay Ner Chuk. Lastly, I stopped by the store and bought some goodies to snack on which included Grandma’s brand peanut butter cookies, which I love! When I got home, I burned the votive candles, turned all the lights off, and had my snacks and an early dinner. Oh and I also played some world music from India to set the mood. It was just such a cool day!

Although it doesn’t sound like I did anything really awesome, it was a really great day for me and I’m celebrating that because I haven’t been happy these past couple of weeks. I’m normally an energetic and happy person, but I guess my situation with my jobs and finding my purpose in life and doubting if I have one or if I will ever find my purpose was bringing me down. I guess how could it not bring anyone down. I was having such a good day that I wondered what changed it all. And then from somewhere, I forgot exactly where, probably my daily devotional book called Unto the Hills by Billy Graham, I read a quote from the bible that said something like “There may be weeping for a night, but shouts of joy come in the morning!” Oh boy did shouts of joy come in the morning. I think just the night before I was crying and asking God why my life was so boring and hard and not fun. You see, I recently became a Christian again and had some working on myself to do. I was super caught up in consuming everything and anything I wanted, got myself in money problems because of that, as well as a whole bunch of spiritual and moral problems. When I came back to the faith, I felt in my body that I had to change many of my habits. I went through sorta like a detox phase. I decided to become vegetarian, and then I fasted from many things that had become distractions rather than things that complemented my life. These things that I had to fast from were facebook, browsing online, checking email all the time, checking my phone all the time, watching tv, organizing my social networking group, people pleasing, snacks, appetizers, side dishes, desserts, buying the latest fashion trends, and buying anything and everything I wanted. It may sound like I was being a bit extreme, but believe me I had to because I had no self-control. I realized how much I became so dependent on these things because when I fasted from these things, I had such a difficult time. Because of that, I knew I had to take a break from these things to find myself.

When I took a break from these things, I heard my thoughts again and my heart. I felt like a huge burden was lifted off of my shoulders. I felt calm. I had so much free time. It gave me the opportunity to get back to myself and figure out what I needed and what I wanted to get out of my life. And indeed, I found myself again and am beginning to figure out what my purpose in life is. Yesterday was when I got back to allowing the things I fasted from back into my life. I was a bit scared because I didn’t want it to consume all my life again, but when I decided to start this blog, get back online, and have little healthy indulgences here and there, I felt a sense of peace about it. Prior to getting a better sense of myself and my life’s direction, whenever I wanted these things it was more to act as a block in my life than to add to my life. It was when I felt anxious, scared, or worried that I wanted to spend, go online, or eat beyond belief. I reached out for them in order to get away from myself than come back to myself. Yesterday when I allowed myself to have a good time, it was because I felt good and I wanted it to complement those good feelings. =)

Help a stranger

Today I helped a stranger. I never tell anyone when I do this. I do this almost every time I see someone in need. I decide not to tell anyone because I do it out of my personal desire to help anyone in need and not got any credit for it. Today is different because I started this blog and there’s something I really want to say about this. My blog’s domain name is live and love again revolution. This is the name because there’s been a stirring in my heart about helping people revive their lives and spread love in their immediate surroundings and then extending it to the whole world. I feel people need to revive their lives because I feel people have lost their sense of selves and are drowning in following what everyone else buys and does. Some examples are having an iphone, wearing the same clothes, having a 9-5 job they don’t care about, looking forward to getting wasted in the weekend, and then repeating the same cycle. I don’t feel this is living. Moreover, I feel we’ve lost our sensitivity to the other person, especially strangers in need. I’m so sure there are people who do random acts of kindness everyday, but I feel the majority prefer not to get involved out of habit or out of fear of standing out.

Today I was running some errands and there was this senior man sitting in his walker with a plastic bag next to him. I had just finished dropping off my UPS package, saw him, got in the car, then felt my spirit nudging me. It was nudging me to help the guy. What went through my mind was: what if he doesn’t need help, what will this lady in the van with her children think, what if he gets offended? But then I knew my spirit wouldn’t allow me to not do something. I felt there was something he needed. Whether it was a meal or some money. I got out of my car and asked him how he was doing and if he needed any help. He told me that he missed his bus and that he had no way to go home. He told me about the special bus he takes that takes him right to his door. I noticed a minivan with the bus company he was talking about parked at Wendy’s across the street. I told him I could ask the driver of the van if he could take him home or give us information on how he can get the bus to come and pick him up. He appreciated it. I went over to the driver who looked at me very suspiciously and slowly lowered the window only a third of the way down. But I smiled very sweetly and asked very kindly if he could help the person I was trying to help. He didn’t seem too happy about it because he looked like he was on his break, but he said he’ll go over and call for a bus to pick him up. The driver drove to the man and they started to arrange plans for his pick-up. Otherwise, the man would’ve had to wait who knows how long to receive the door-to-door bus service he receives.

I share this story because it was just a simple act of kindness that helped him out. I just feel moments like this bring love into the world and bring connection among people that is so needed. So back to the title of my domain “live and love again revolution.” I am passionate about helping people live again–to break free from the spirit of dissatisfaction that is so prevalent in our culture. To live a life that they can be proud of whether it be through their jobs, family life, with their friends, and in their hobbies. To not settle for what everyone else is doing, so that they can feel alive again. And to love again–to care about people again and step out of their comfort zones to create a culture of helping one another and not caring what other’s think.