It is officially winter outside, and a lot of people have been going through hard times made worse by the dark and cold weather lately. In honor of the new year and the 5 year anniversary of the most important awakening of my life, I just wanted to take some time to remind you that although this may be true and inevitable, it doesn’t have to feel like winter inside. Today, take some time to start figuring out who you are and who you want to be- what you like and don’t like, what your morals and values are, what your goals and ambitions in life are- and then change what you don’t like. Stand up for what you believe in even if it’s different than everyone else, and never regret it. Do not sit around idly waiting for your life to change or for happiness to come knocking at your door or for your dreams to fall into your lap. Open your mind and fill it with new knowledge and ideas- do not be afraid of thought. Pour it out from the depths of your heart and leave your mark in the world. You can be anyone, do anything, there are no limits. We were made for so much more than to let our lives pass us by.
And simply knowing these things is not enough, you have to believe it; simply loving is not enough, you have to scream it from the rooftops; just living is not enough, you have to wake up and come alive! Find what ignites your spark and then do it with unrelenting conviction. Once you start this fire, it will be impossible to not turn it into burning flame. This is the passion with which I believe life is meant to be lived. There is only ever this moment and to waste it is to waste yourself.
For this new year, my resolutions do not include losing weight or earning a certain amount of money that others would define as success. In fact, there is nothing I will be resolving to accomplish simply because it will be a new year; my goals are ongoing and evolving, and I will continue to strive for my best in every aspect of my life, reflecting and improving a little each day. I hope to take care of my soul by making more time to meditate, and of my body by incorporating yoga into my regular workouts. I hope to graduate nursing school, pass the exit exam, and get a job I love, in which I help as many people as I possibly can. Perhaps most importantly, I would like to continue to spend time with loved ones, embark on new adventures, and enjoy each moment in each day as it comes rather than being upset or worrying about the past and future which I cannot control. I hope everyone has an amazing 2015 filled with faith, love, good health, success, and endless joy and laughter! Here are a few of my favorite quotes to inspire and motivate in the new year!
I cannot be awake for nothing looks to me as it did before, Or else I am awake for the first time, and all before has been a mean sleep.”-Walt Whitman
“Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.” -William Saroyan (American Writer known for his stories celebrating the joy of living in spite of poverty. 1908-1981)
“The truth is I love being alive. And I love feeling free. So if I can’t have those things then I feel like a caged animal and I’d rather not be in a cage. I’d rather be dead. And it’s real simple. And I think it’s not that uncommon.”
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman
“Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” –Oscar Wilde
“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds.”
“Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.” -Hasidic saying
“Find what makes you happy, and you pursue it. there are no questions. that is the journey, the process, the battle. if you don’t have a passion, or if you have never fought for what you believe, or if you don’t know what you believe, you are losing yourself. there only ever was this moment, and to appreciate it – to live – is to fight for it. if you do not give up, you will only grow stronger. this is our war”
The world won’t get no better if you just let it be. So we’ve got to change it, just you and me.
“Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”
“Let the rain fall down & wake my dreams, let it wash away my sanity, I wanna feel the thunder, I want to scream, let the rain fall down, I’m coming clean”
“Release your inhibitions, Feel the rain on your skin, No one else can feel it for you, Only you can let it in; No one else, no one else, Can speak the words on your lips; Drench yourself in words unspoken, Live your life with arms wide open”
And, as usual for my awakening anniversary and blog birthday, the annual Top Blog I’m Loving!