Life Should Be An Adventure

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." 

- Helen Keller 

I read this quote and when I thought about security and how we all look for it in our lives.  At least the people I know are always searching for it, through a relationship... a career... or something creative.  It doesn't really exist as the quote states above, having the perfect relationship doesn't bring it about because no relationship is perfect.  Since we as people are not perfect the relationship cannot be either.. we learn to live with and love other people's idiosyncrasies...  I learned this when I fell in love with my David, I looked past the flaws he had as we all have... to see the best in him.  

Finding a career you can be secure in is really a myth these days, I don't know how realistic it is to think that there is any real security in your job.  I personally think we need to believe in ourselves and know that if the job we had ceased to exist that there will be something better down the way... it could be something different, we need to be opened to the possibilities.  I am seeing how things are changing quickly for each generation, for my great grandparents, they lived in one small town and worked at the same job all their lives.  My grandmother moved to the city but she still had the same career all of her life.  My father traveled North America and lived out a lot of his dreams, he wasn't held back by one job. 

I have worked in a few different fields in my life, adapting each time... I love my career now but even there I want to change it up a bit... I need to move on within the company.  I seriously wonder how my great grandparents stayed in one little town and worked at the same job all their lives.. Where is the growth in that, that is just existing... they were never taught to dream of anything better... I hope the one thing that I did is teach my children to dream big and to never settle for anything less than the best. 

I love the last line of the quote above... how it states that it is no safer to avoid danger...  Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.  I know we all want security but if it means that we have no adventure, is it really worth it?  For me, the lack of adventure isn't worth all the security in the world.  It is just a life lived but not truly enjoyed. Life should be an adventure. 

 I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥   

Enjoy The View

"I think that you have to believe in your destiny; that you will succeed, you will meet a lot of rejection and it is not always a straight path, there will be detours - so enjoy the view."

- Michael York
This quote above is true... it seems we all want a clear sailing path without the rejection or sadness but what would we learn from having a life that never had real growth opportunities?  Would we truly be happy, joyful and grateful?  I know we would all like to think that we would, I would hope that I had those qualities... However; I have seen in my own life that when things are wonderful, I tend to get lost in myself and I stop giving of me to others as I should.  Not on purpose by any means... I think trials are sometimes given to me to remind me that I am here for a higher purpose or reason than just to make myself happy.

Although I am not thrilled to admit this to myself, I would not be honest if I didn't admit that many of the trials I have gone through, I have brought on myself by poor decisions.  I know as a mother that when one of my children has made a choice that wasn't appropriate, I have had to give out consequences... In the past I was the kind of parent that would just give in because I didn't want to deal with the fall out of what discipline can bring but I have learned that unless I am firm with my resolve and I learn to understand that I am not showing love my giving in, I am showing that there are no real consequences to their actions.

I liken this to myself because although I don't want to see my children unhappy and uncomfortable, I do want them to know that a lot of the time they can avoid these feelings by making better choices in their lives.  I didn't have very good roll models when I was growing up with Ruth my ex step mother and my father.  My father let us do whatever, he was like a big teenager and he was never really a parent... case in point, when my mother and father reunited when I was fifteen, my dad didn't just let us smoke or drink, he actually bought these for us...  WOW... at the time I thought this was cool... yeah... once I became a parent I thought this was insane...  and Ruth, well let's just say she isn't really worth my words or time. 

Instead of rewarding bad behavior, I show love... I sometimes think that some of the trials we are given are to show us love... there is no trial that is easy but those trials we bring on ourselves seem the hardest to handle.  Instead of focusing on the trials lately, I have been enjoying the view along that path, the trial won't last forever and I want to learn the lesson I need to, so that I will stop repeating the poor choices I have made in the past.

This is not to say that there are not trials that happen that absolutely none of us deserve, some that are almost beyond comprehension but I have learned that although painful, there is always something that I come away with and it almost invariably strengthens me.  It's like that story about how we are always being refined and polished to become the best person we are capable of becoming, which is truly much more than we are really aware of....

I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥

Enjoy The In Betweens

”In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed.” - Sid Caesar

While I have been off on medical leave from work, I have been centered on goals I want to achieve, some of them are short term and others long term.  I am trying to remember that reaching the goal, although wonderful; is not what brings us long term happiness or success.  How we live and get to the goal is what brings us true joy. 

I feel for myself that I sometimes forget to enjoy the small day to day happenings while I am looking forward to whatever long term goal I have made.  The quote above reminded me once again how life is lived between each goal... and how I need to slow down and start enjoying them more, especially since I don't want to live my life looking back on just the goals I completed. 

I have been feeling distanced from everything... even with all the technology we have in this world, I can still feel this way.  I never truly appreciated how blessed I was when I could just get up and go whenever I wanted to.... today I have to arrange plans with other people just to be able to make it to an appointment.  At least this is only temporary... there are people that are in this situation all the time.  

I want to do something to give back, maybe just volunteering an hour or two here and there to help someone out, make that one of my long term goals.  I think it will be a good thing to slow me down and remind me to enjoy the moment.  This time off has certainly showed me how I was living from one goal to the next, not a great way to enjoy my life.  I plan to enjoy the in between...

I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥