Tag: Life Talk

A Recipe for Life

Think of your favorite recipe. Maybe it’s for chocolate chip cookies, zucchini bread, or a delicious pasta or salad. The recipe calls for certain ingredients and not only that, but a specific measurement of ingredients and sometimes in a very specific order. All of the ingredients together turn into whatever you are desiring to eat!

The ingredients can be tweaked and modified, and you can still reach the desired outcome in several ways. There are even many different recipes to make the same type of food. There are numerous ways to get to the end result. What if I told you that life can be the same?

A Little Bit 

Life is composed of many different aspects. We have a desired goal or dream and an idea of how to get there, but oftentimes, we get there in the most unexpected ways. Sometimes we may not reach our desires at all, or they may be partially met.

Many of us have a desired life path. We want certain things out of life and perhaps even in a certain order. Often, the desired outcome doesn’t always turn out the way that we wanted it to. Just as with cooking, we can add a little bit of this and a little bit of that trying to create a masterpiece, but it can turn out to be something that we did not want or even expect.

Many Tries

Just as there are many ways to make chocolate chip cookies, there are many ways to reach our desires in life, or at the very least try. Sometimes we may have to make sacrifices and let go of certain dreams, but there are ones that are within our reach, we just have to have the mind and heart to get us there.

The recipe for life is not concise, nor is it one size fits all. The recipe for life needs to be tried, tested, modified, and redone over and over again. Sometimes life will be sweet and other times salty. There will be periods of time when the ingredients that we mix together won’t work out well and we must try again…maybe even for a third or fourth time.

Reminder

Thankfully, life can oftentimes give us many tries to perfect the recipe. We can keep trying and trying again until we have what we sought to find. There are many ways to try and approach what we want out of life. 

I’d like to think that there is no wrong path. Sure, we may end up where we don’t belong, or where we don’t want to be, but I truly believe that in the end we always end up where we are meant to be.

There isn’t one path, but many. They may all lead us somewhere different, but in the end, we hope that we will be happy once we reach the final destination.

Do you have a recipe that needs tweaking? A little modification can go a long way!

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The Path of Redirection

Can you recall a time when you wanted something so badly, but it never happened? A time when you wanted A, but you got B? Maybe you were upset and mad at the world for a while and wondering why me?

For the most part, we generally have a direction that we want to go in life. We have a path that we want to take, dreams, goals, and aspirations.

Life will take us on many journeys and they won’t always be the ones that we expect or hope for. While this sounds like a negative outcome, it can end up being the most beautiful thing ever.

A Different Path

The path of redirection may be what we least expect or hope for as we navigate through life. We have this vision for our lives, and we anticipate most of it happening to us as we strive and work hard every day to create the lives that we want.

Being taken off of the path that we were originally on can be discouraging, frustrating, and can leave us questioning so much about ourselves and our lives.

Fate

We all have our own beliefs about life. I believe that we all have a destiny, a designed path that we are to be on. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and somehow, we all end up right where we should be when the time is right.

Our path is unique to us. Traveling down the path of redirection can put us farther away from where we want to be. What we may not realize is that this redirection may lead us to our desires despite it feeling like a huge curveball.

Life Experiences 

There have been so many times in my life when I’ve been redirected. I remember feeling frustrated and lost. I couldn’t understand why I was being taken so far away from what I wanted.

As time moved forward, things started slowly falling into place. Many of the times the desired outcome was reached even if it was the complete opposite way of how I expected it to be. Many of the redirections in my life became some of my biggest blessings!

The Puzzle of Life

Have you ever noticed that our experiences in life fit together like a puzzle? Everything connects to something else as we march on.

Each piece fits together so perfectly. Each piece is important as it becomes a part of the larger picture.

The next time that you find yourself being redirected, hold onto hope that it might be for the best and that the biggest blessing might be just around the corner!

So Many Words

“I don’t have words,” is not a phrase that you will find me saying very often. It is usually quite the opposite. I am so in love with words and with language and how numerous words strung together can form the most beautiful piece.

I have loved writing ever since I was a little girl. Today it has become part of my soul, I would be lost without it. I love being able to sit down with my laptop or pen and paper and let the words and thoughts flow freely. I love the fact that my work may touch someone else, maybe they will find it relatable, and helpful, and maybe it will motivate them, or even help them grow.

So Much to Say

I always feel like there is so much to say and so much to share with the world. I am hardly a woman of a few words. I can’t seem to write a card or a letter without it being many paragraphs long, even a text message to a loved one is hardly ever short and sweet, it contains many words and emotions. I am a very deep thinker and I love deep conversation.

Ironically, when verbally speaking with others, I am more of the listener than the talker, but when I write I can’t stop “talking.” I cannot seem to write using just a few words, there is so much on my mind and in my heart to say.

To say that I love words is an understatement, they are a part of me and my life, they bring me happiness and they help connect me with others. Words are so powerful.

As A Writer

As a writer, I would be nothing without the precious words that I have to convey my thoughts and feelings and communicate with the world around me.

Given that you are reading this right now, I presume that you are also a lover of words, a lover of reading and writing.

Thoughts

I have always wondered why people like myself are so drawn to words and writing. My take is that we are very deep thinkers, and we naturally are drawn to wanting to share our innermost thoughts and ideas with the world. We naturally want to make a difference; we want to help the world. I think most of us have stories and life experiences that we want to share to make an impact.

Writing is such a beautiful form of art; it allows us to get a glimpse of the author’s world and innermost feelings. As you go about your day, remember how important your knowledge is to other individuals, and remember that your words will make a lasting impact!

What is Your Current Goal in Life?

All of us are working on some aspect of ourselves or our lives. We want happiness, stability, and a sense of belonging.

We may often take a look and evaluate our lives and where we want to be. We may notice aspects of ourselves that are working for us and parts that need to change.

Throughout our lives, our goals may change depending on what season we are in. We may jump from wanting to visit the gym every day, to wanting to advance ourselves in our careers, to desiring marriage and children. Whatever goal you are trying to reach, most likely the result that you are searching for is happiness.

My Current Goal

I would like to share with you a goal that I am currently working on. It has been quite a struggle, but I am determined to reach it because I know that it will greatly impact my life.

Growing up, I was never one to share what was on my mind, or in my heart. I was friendly with others, but also shy, especially in my teenage years. I kept to myself a lot and was very reserved. I didn’t want to open up to anyone. I was always afraid of rejection, or worried about what others would think of me.

Fast-forward to the adult that I am today and unfortunately many of those same qualities remain because I have never taken the time to try to fix them until now. My fears of rejection led me to not live authentically. It led me to live a life of superficial relationships and communication that was nothing more than small talk.

I Craved More

I knew something was missing in my life. Despite my shy nature growing up, I felt that there had to be something more, I knew something was lacking. I was a girl that hardly made eye contact because I lacked confidence. I was friendly with other people, but it never went beyond small talk because I was so afraid to open up and be myself. The vulnerability was a scary feeling.

As I became older, I realized that I craved a lot more from life and my relationships. I craved eye contact, I craved deep conversation, and I wanted to be close to others and be able to talk freely and openly.

My Goals

I want to live more authentically. I want to be able to openly and directly communicate with other people. I desire to fully love myself. I truly want to be able to communicate with others without needing to sugarcoat or communicating indirectly.

If someone has hurt me in some way, most of the time I have a hard time letting them know because I don’t want to cause any issues. Little do I realize, not sharing my true feelings and openly communicating my needs and wants only backfires.

I want to live freely and not worry about what other people think. I want to be able to openly communicate what is on my mind without fear that I will be rejected or that it will start some terrible argument. I want to be able to express myself confidently.

I know this goal may sound silly to some because most people do not have trouble being who they are and saying what is on their minds. Somewhere down the line, I chose to walk around hiding my innermost feelings even though they begged me for an escape. Somewhere down the line, I lost who I was. I made a promise to myself that I will speak only kind words and love towards myself and that I will always openly share what is in my heart.

How My Goal is Going

I have done fairly well in implementing my goal. I keep having to remind myself to keep communication open and sometimes I still catch myself filtering my thoughts, but I am working very hard to reach my goal of living an authentic life. There’s no more allowing my voice to not be heard because I am afraid of the aftermath, there is no more walking around with a smile on my face pretending that everything is okay to avoid getting on someone’s bad side. I am true to myself.

I am no longer letting my fear of rejection or losing someone that I love be what stops me from being true to myself. I have learned one too many times that lack of communication will most likely end in a failed relationship. Unspoken words lead to grudges, which leads to distance between two people. True and stable relationships will be able to weather the storms in life. I have learned the value of communication.

Question for You

As with many life changes, implementing a goal to alter yourself or your life is not an easy task. It’s human nature to be creatures of habit and to want to stick to a life of comfort and things that are known to us. We crave stability and familiarity even though this does not help us grow.

If you would like to share, what is your current goal in life? What steps are you taking to reach your goal? Life is all about learning to find what works for you and what makes you happy. Life is all about discovering ourselves and trying to pass the greatest test that we will ever be faced with. Whatever you are desiring and working on, I wish you all the best as you try to reach your goal!

Why the Difference?

One of the greatest things in life is the love and support of family and friends. Why do we treat our loved ones so much differently than we treat ourselves? We should make taking care of ourselves mentally and physically our utmost priority. We cannot give much of ourselves to this world if we are not whole.

Most of us are very hard on ourselves, I know that I am. I’m told this over and over again, yet I don’t see it myself.

Imagine that you made a mistake on a project that you are working on at your job. You might tell yourself “I can’t do anything right; I am such a failure.” Flip this situation around. A family member or friend is in the same situation, they just made a huge mistake on a project they were working on. What do you tell them? Would you tell them that they cannot do anything right and that they are a failure? Probably not. Instead, you might tell your friend that they did the best that they could do and that they are only human and it’s natural to make a mistake now and then.

You and your significant other just got into a fight and you start saying to yourself “I am never good at relationships,” you keep telling yourself “I am a terrible communicator.” What if a friend was going through this, what would you tell them? Maybe you would say that they should take some time for themselves to regroup and try to remedy the situation, maybe you would tell your friend that relationships aren’t easy, that constant effort is needed, and this doesn’t make them a bad person.

Do you see the differences in how people typically speak to themselves versus a loved one? One’s internal dialogue is so very important because we start to believe what we tell ourselves. Negative self-talk is very detrimental to us and those that we have a relationship with.

Why is it that we can so easily support the people that we love, but we cannot give that same grace and support to ourselves? Why is it that we can quickly build someone else up, while so easily tearing ourselves apart?

We are so hard on ourselves due to human nature; we know all of our faults and weaknesses and we tend to not have patience with ourselves. We also know about our pasts, and we carry parts of that with us. Whether we like to admit it or not, it does affect our confidence. We like to place other people on a pedestal, while we are the ones that are flawed as we strive to be perfect, something beyond human capability.

The next time that you are dealing with something in life, and you find that you are being hard on yourself remember to stop and ask yourself what you would tell a loved one that was in your exact situation. You give so much kindness, hope, and empathy to others, be kind to yourself…you deserve it.