Once The Dust Settles...

The dust has settled from a busy week of trying to get nestled into a temporary space until the construction is complete on our new place. I figured I better not miss my Monday morning blog post.

BREATHE RELAX AND WRITE...

This is what I told myself on this Labor Day weekend. It is Sunday night, the first Sunday of football season, and my first Sunday living back in Florida.

I have had a great first week, excluding Wednesday; my first full day back. Not really sure what happened that day, but my emotions took over and a tremendous feeling of overwhelm got hold of me. Do you find it crazy how one simple thought can lead into a tornado of emotions, and how those emotions can completely overtake you in a moment? It happens to all of us, as strong as I am, it happens to me, so you are not alone.

Do you ever have moments when your whole life plays in your head like a movie in a matter of minutes, and as your movie ends in the present moment you are in, you wish it would just keep playing to show you what's ahead?

IF WE COULD ONLY SEE...

Life would be so much easier if we could just SEE the future. Think of the choices we would make, the people we would go see, the excuses we would no longer have and the purpose we would find in each day. It would be amazing, wouldn't it?

So...

Why don't you just pretend that you CAN see that future? Go ahead, picture the things that you want to happen... and know that EVERY choice and EVERY decision you make from here on out will have everything to do with making them happen. Then realize that your clock is ticking... How much more would you do if you TRULY adopted that mindset? How much would you do tomorrow if you woke up and realized that you only had 24 hours left?

After all, this IS how life works right? Of course it is, we just don't consciously think of it that way.

For the past several months, I have spread myself very thin, so much has been on the brain, and trying to make so many decisions all at once has paralyzed me in many ways.

I needed peace and clarity again... and this week, despite the many things that surrounded it, I believe a little clarity came back. Wisdom was gained through deep thought processes and getting my groove back is on the forefront of my goals.


REALIZATION

There are times in our lives when we have to enter chaos to experience peace. We have to feel overwhelmed to realize that we need to calm down, and we must feel lost to find ourselves once again. Adversity, as we all know, is a chance to grow, but it is also an opportunity to realize things... to discover more about who we are and what we are made of. Without confusion, we would never know clarity. It's just par for the course.


AS THE DUST SETTLES MORE AND SETBACKS DIMINISH

The next few weeks will require more patience,.. more of finding my groove again, and although I can't say I feel 100% ready for it all, I can say that I am better today than I was yesterday. I am more level in my head than I was a week ago and I am ready to tackle what lies ahead of me. I may not be ready to conquer the world again like I once felt I was, but I know in a matter of time... as I jump life's hurdles one by one and celebrate the small victories, I will be ready to conquer the world once again and I hope that the world is ready for me  when that happens.

Until next time....

PURSUE WHAT YOU HOPE FOR; LEAVE BEHIND WHAT YOU WISH TO FORGET.... 

xoxo

Shells

WWW.THESGIARDGROUP.COM

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Going After The Happy Ending....

I NEEDED SOME QUIET TIME
Tonight, as I sit here, eager to blog after a much needed break, I am not sure how it will pour out. It's been over a month since I last wrote. My kids and I were moving into a new home, so in the nooks and crannies of being a busy, single career mom, I only gave myself a month to pack up a 2500 sq. ft house...(In hind sight? probably should have given myself more time.)

Needless to say, I was burned out, and feeling a bit overwhelmed in some areas of life, so I decided to take some "quiet" time for myself. Sometimes, in order to find balance, I temporarily remove things from this often overflowing plate. Unfortunately, my blog is one of those things that I don't "HAVE" to do. It's more of what I enjoy doing; that favorite hobby that even though I prefer not to, I can and must put on the back burner once in a while. I  love to inspire you and quite honestly, it's very therapeutic for me to do so. I appreciate you reading and sharing... I want you to know that.

Taking that break was a great idea after all. I am starting to feel alive again, and even in the imperfect moments, I push through. Finding the bright side is truly second nature to me at this point. I have heaved enough hurdles, swallowed enough disappointments and overcome enough obstacles to last a lifetime... (and it actually feels like they have lasted that long.)


NOW THAT THE DUST HAS SETTLED
After getting settled into the new home last week, I was able to attend my new church for the first time, and attended again today. After an INCREDIBLE two weeks of worship and amazing messages, I was moved to get back to writing, (now that I am out of cardboard hell.)

In this season of life, I find that every message I hear gets closer and closer to my heart and know that it is certainly more than coincidence. I feel God himself is speaking to me, telling me what I need to hear like a soft whisper. It is very comforting, and makes me feel so well taken care of as I continue to pray upon a few areas of life that I just can't seem to get right.

DIGGING IN
As I travel down a completely new road of life, I am feeling a spiritual need to dig  further into the depths of my past... my present, and hopes for my future. I felt the need to write down lessons that I have learned, am learning now and ones I feel I still need to learn. I felt it would help me remind myself how far I have come, where I am now and to get more excited about where I hope to go. Perspective is everything, and often even though we are moving forward, it feels instead like we are treading water as we go after something.

STOPPING TO SOAK IT IN 
If we don't stop and breathe for a bit, to reflect and plan ahead, we will end up getting lost in our travels. Tomorrow (August 19th) marks what would have been my oldest sister's 51st birthday if she were still here. It was my first official day back to the grind since the move so I have declared it the first day of the rest of my life in her honor.

I refuse to make the same mistakes anymore, I promise myself to stay true to my values, morals, ethics and goals. I will expect more and stop accepting less than what I am worth. I will choose to limit  my time spent to those who show the desire to spend time with me. Chasing dreams is fun and exciting, chasing people, not so much.

It's amazing what you realize when you are truly honest with yourself... what happens when you sit with pen and paper and write down your mistakes and decisions and how they affected your life. It gives you clarity and helps you realize exactly what NOT to do again and exactly what to do in order to fix it, to change it. Everything good begins with change.

DON'T GIVE UP, TAKE A CHANCE
Are you TRULY happy in all aspects of your life right now? If you are, then job well done, you better cherish that! If not, what can YOU do to change your position? What is it that holds you back? What cycles are you repeating that keep you in a vicious circle of what you don't want? Are you taking chances or staying safe?

For some, taking chances is all they have ever done... (ahem, me) and for others, chances are what they have never taken and wonder why they stand still. Safety nets may catch you when you fall, but the exciting part is being shot out of the canon... the feeling you get while you are flying cannot be described nor duplicated.


MY HAPPY ENDING AWAITS... SO DOES YOURS
The 3 year anniversary of my book releasing on Amazon is October 20th... just a couple of days away. I plan to write a few hours each night until my next book is complete starting that day. I did it once, I can do it again. Focus... dedication and perseverance will get me to that "Happy Ending" that I so desire. The blessing lies in being happy while I go after it.

One day... I will be married to the man God wants me to have, or live happily in the fact of never marrying for the reasons I should have had. I will live the abundant life He promises, I will reach all my goals and LIVE OUT my dreams... because that is what being faithful means; believing that your "Happy Ending" is there even when it's not able to be seen yet.

Are you waiting for yours? Is it right in front of you or in the far far distance? It is up to you to not let it pass you by, pay attention, pursue it, GO AFTER IT and once you have it, NEVER let it go.

Until next time....

PURSUE WHAT YOU HOPE FOR; LEAVE BEHIND WHAT YOU WISH TO FORGET.... 

and  for that ONE special person that I know God is creating for me... 

I can't wait to live this life with you

xoxo

Shells

WWW.THESGIARDGROUP.COM

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JUST FOCUS... on the positive side

... and the negative disappears.

Last week was a doozie for me. I had a VERY busy work week and within it, as usual, I had to intertwine my everyday life of also being a homemaker /mom to my three kiddos at home. Mid week, I realized that I had WAY over committed myself, but I had to make it work; it was my fault, so I figured it out and dealt with the fact that I said "yes" too much. Trying not to let the natural stress of having too much to do take over my thoughts, I kept reminding myself of how blessed I was to be so busy when so many people are out of work, hoping to make ends meet... and with that came the calm feelings I needed to erase the stress that was playing tug of war with my brain. Self talk and thought processes are TRULY the most powerful things on the planet and honestly the most crucial to our well being. It is a process... one you have to fight to maintain and you WILL inevitably lose control at times, but the more you practice the power of positive thinking the less drama and negative emotions you will have in your life.

Among the things I had to do, taking my son Zane to the eye doctor for his yearly check up was one of them. First thing Thursday morning that is where we headed. Last year, we discovered that he was seeing -500, meaning his close up vision was pretty much non existent. The positive side to this was that it explained his difficulty learning his letters, shapes and numbers and also his fidgety nature in a classroom or at home when trying to keep him on task. He was already being labeled as a "behavior issue" in pre-school because he could not stay still and focus. He has been wearing his corrective lenses for nearly a year now, and things had been better, however recently he started having issues in his class again as well as with homework and he had been telling me that he was blind in his left eye. Now... for those of you who do not know, my 12 year old daughter Baleigh was born blind in her left eye due to Optic Nerve Hypoplasia; so when he said this part of me thought maybe he was just trying to be like her, but another part of me worried that there was more to it.

I sat in the exam room as my son's doctor performed a comprehensive eye exam and watched as my son struggled to see, I listened to my son respond as the doctor covered up his right eye, which is the only eye he had been saying that he was seeing out of and the truth was revealed; he was not seeing out of his left eye. As a lump filled my throat and as a tear formed in my eye, I found comfort and strength in my son's courage and calmness when he simply said... "yeah, I can't see anything now." I quickly filled my heart with faith that whatever this was, we could fix it. Luckily, as the exam went on and his pupil was dilated, the doctor discovered that his left eye was intermittently "coming on" which meant that his brain was shutting it off when his eyes were having a hard time working together.  Luckily with vision exercises and 2 hours of patching the good eye each day, over time we can correct it. I was relieved in knowing that it's not permanent if we are aggressive... yes, another thing on my full plate of life.

My point in sharing this story with you is this... we all face things that can tear us down, rip us up, cause us to be resentful, angry depressed... all which will keeping us from being all that we can and could be. The naked truth is that many people travel through life with poop-colored glasses on. It's typical; something bad happens to you, and for days, weeks and sometimes months or years, you swim around in that pool of mud finding it hard to get out and rinse off because staying in it seems easier, even oddly more comfortable, you want to sulk, to feel sorry for yourself, to be mad, angry, upset.. but in the end who does that truly hurt? (yep... I don't even have to say it.)

I got through my crazy, busy, emotional, and exhausting week with a positive attitude with only one night that I wanted to run from my own grumpiness, because defeat was not an option. That is how YOU must do it too. When we give ourselves no other option than to JUST DO IT, JUST ACHIEVE IT, JUST CONQUER IT... then success and accomplishment will be our inevitable.

As always

Have an awesome week! 

xoxo

Shells

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It's Just Gas...

"Your mind is the gas tank to accomplishing everything that you want in life; Make sure you fill it with premium quality fuel or you will likely break down before you get there." 

Shelley Giard

That quote popped into my head as I drank my morning cup of coffee and I thought to myself... "that is a great blog topic" SUCH a good thing because my mind is so scattered right now I am having a hard time focusing. I will be out of state for much of August on business and summers are not my thing, try working at home with 3 bored kids, need I say more? No... so THAT is why I am happy when my rat on a wheel brain saves the day.

In a world crazed over fiction novels that involve sparkling vampires & romantic interludes that make me want to barf, un-reality television, People Magazine, Facehookers , Twits and Instaspammers, I am definitely the minority when it comes to what I fill my mind with on a daily basis and it's probably how I stay in check with what's REALLY going on. TRUST me it's hard not to get sucked into the vortex when you are FORCED into being present on every social media network out there, I know, I am out there! I am just thankful that my parents raised me in a house with very little television and no video games because I learned to use my mind and explore into inventing ways to make money and reading books. 

I always enjoyed books with realistic stories as a child, ones that I knew could really happen and my Mom often purchased books that taught us lessons such as the Value Tale series that included books such as The Values of Truth and Trust based on the life of Cochise. This series told stories of other people like Hans Christian Anderson, Louis Pasteur, Alexander Graham Bell and many other positive role models. These books always taught me something; and they were my favorites growing up.  Oddly enough, I never really liked make believe and fairy tales very much, I never even enjoyed playing dress up. (What a weirdo kid I was) I like to think however, that being born with my genetics and having great role models for parents that I grew up okay. (All those days of selling lemonade, hot cocoa and toys on my front lawn paid off too!)

To heck with the spider... because along came the social media feeds and oh my, my! How many times do you think I want to hear what you are NOT happy about, how awesome your man is, what you ate for lunch or dinner or breakfast; picture included, (unless there is a recipe attached, because that is useful info) It really allows us to know a lot about a person and what kind of value they lend to others. The majority? Not much value at all and that is why I have my feed down to a science... so I can see what my mind needs and wants to see. It's like setting up my programming. Sure... I could rant about how often my kids like to push my buttons, how I really want to eat a cheeseburger with loaded fries but because I am gluten and dairy intolerant I can't and that sucks, I could talk about how awful it is to drive a car with no AC in Florida, how it rains too much in the summer and how I wish I had a maid but what VALUE would that really add to YOUR life? None... unless you like wallowing in other people's misery to make you feel more important and in that case, get help. Funny thing is talking about all of that would leave me focusing on the crap I don't like too... and that adds no value to my life either. If it makes me laugh, I read it, if it makes me smile, I read it, if it makes me think, or feel warm and fuzzy, I read it because...

What you think about your bring about

Laughter, smiles, sentiment and keeping your mind active 

are all good things to have in your life.

I still to this day only read non-fiction. I read everything from psychology books and magazines on human behaviors, to biographies, memoirs and books by Steven Covey, Gary R. Collins, Seth Godin, Wayne Dyer and many others that I have searched for and found that teach me how to improve my life and myself or that give me some sort of insight on how to overcome when life kicks you in the teeth (Not many of my female friends want me in their book club) but it's premium gas for my mind. It's the same with television... I would rather watch "How It's Made"  than to watch a reality show, but then I find myself wanting to know how they make those darn machines that make everything... (THAT is genius and would be way more impressive!) 

Hi, my name is Shelley and I am a nerd; but hey, I like it that way.

MIND YOUR MIND 

If your goal is to accomplish something that involves happiness and achievement

MIND OVER MATTER

Keep your mind on what you want and the obstacles will disappear

THE MIND IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE

You have something amazing so use it to it's fullest potential, I bet you will surprise yourself

xoxo

~Shells~

www.shelleygiard.com

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Goodnight!
#inspirationalNFwriter

When Push Comes to Shove... DON'T SHOVE

Have you ever asked yourself, ; "When push comes to shove.... what does this mean anyway?"

Okay so maybe you haven't, but being the person that I am... I have! And as always, asking myself questions like this leads me to valuable lessons which makes me want to share them with you. (perhaps that makes you the lucky one, or maybe makes me the weird one.)

So... what does this phrase mean to me?... well,  it simply states that there will be moments in life when you will want to shove rather than push. What I find interesting (and why I finished the phrase) is that it is open ended... it is used giving you the choice to push or shove. "Well, what's the difference, and why does it matter?" You ask. Here is your answer:

When you shove, you are acting with anger, frustration, aggression; it's an emotional response with a negative tone. Push is a more gentle response, a response that describes strength. Although it can be negative as well,(I pushed him over the edge with my behavior) it is generally a more positive word by nature. It is so easy when  "push comes to shove" moments come into play in our lives to just flip a gasket and SHOVE it all out of the way, to act in anger, aggression, haste, not caring what the repercussions may be. However, this typically solves nothing and leaves a lot of room for regret. It's irrational, and simply not the best way to handle things. I am guilty of this and I am sure you are as well. (Unless you lie to yourself)

We all must remind ourselves to PUSH through, PUSH forward, and to PUSH things aside in order to move on. It's more productive, more positive and more effective in the long run.

Remember this post next time you have a "moment"

When faced with your next 

"When push comes to shove situation" 

NEVER act in anger, stop, think and PUSH through it!

XOXO

~Shells~

It Was a Wavy-Hair Kind of Day...

Gosh... where do I even begin? I have so much to talk about... to say... to share especially since it was yet again one of those weeks last week where I was so busy my head nearly fell off keeping me from being able to blog on my regular schedule. One of these days maybe I will get 3 blogs ahead or have a "blog bank" to borrow from when I have weeks like that. (although since I tend to live in the moment that's kinda not my style.) Okay, getting distracted already. F-O-C-U-S!

Okay so back on topic... it was a wavy-hair kind of day; you know, the kind of day when you are too tired to do much of anything because of the week you just had, yet you have to get ready just a "little bit" because you have to show your face in public with all the errands you have to do (you never know who you may meet) Yep... today was that kind of Monday. In the past three days (not including today) I painted the face of a mermaid, knocked out 6 looks on a beauty model, attended an industry networking event and a business class in Orlando, returned about a million phone calls which included my norm of giving out tons of advice and drove roughly 13 hours between these freelance makeup jobs and industry events. Driving gives you A LOT of time to think, to reflect, and to focus on everything but the road... (oops did I just admit that?) and quite frankly I LOVE driving for that reason. Since I don't get much down time, when I am in my car alone, I often leave the radio off or turn it down low enough to merely trickle in the background. This allows important thoughts to come to the forefront of this buzzing brain of mine. (Thank God for note pads and phones that record voice when these thoughts occur).

As I was driving, I was thinking of the things that I have accomplished, I thought of both negative and positive things that have happened to me over the years and how they played a significant part in my life and literally changed who I was then to who I am now. I thought of how much time I have left to create new and exciting goals that I can reach, and I thought of how amazing it has been to receive emails, tweets, texts, phone calls and Facebook posts about how my story; which I have now shared with the world, has changed and affected people's lives for the better. (I think that has been the most rewarding thing of my entire life so far.) The time I had in my car alone was simply put... priceless. Even if I was on the road with no destination at all, it would have been well worth the gas that was guzzled. (only $75 for all of those miles thanks to my trusty little stick-shift PT Cruiser )

Today, I woke up with many thoughts in my head; some good, some not so pleasant and I felt both tired and refreshed if that even makes sense. After my nice warm shower (another thinking spot for me) I started to dry my hair... and just as soon as I grabbed the round brush to start laboring like a sweat shop girl to get my hair nice and smooth, I decided to leave that brush alone and let it go natural and "voila" it suddenly became a wavy-hair kind of day and this blog idea was born. As I began scrunching it; (for the guys that means gently squeezing the water out as you dry your hair in a way that enhances natural wave or curl)... I realized I had forgotten how wavy my hair really was because I blow-dry it straight every single day altering how it is in its natural state. I thought to myself... "my wave is kind of nice and I am pretty lucky to have it" and of course my weird-a$$ mind gave me a moral to this story; so here it goes...

As we go through life... we are constantly altering who we are in order to please and be accepted by other people. Some people go as far as to lie and deceive to make this happen. Well... over the past few years I got back in touch of who I REALLY AM and it has been the most wonderful change that has occurred. When you are true to yourself... to who YOU REALLY are you can truly be a blessing to others because your energy is no longer focused on pretending. When you pretend... or alter who you are, you forget who you are and where you come from... and THAT is the moral of my story today.

STAY TRUE TO YOU!!!!

I think that perhaps I will be having more wavy-hair kinda days in my future just to show that I am proud of who I am in ALL ways! How about joining me in that?

If you want to see my wavy hair just click this link to my Insta-gram since I am technically challenged and have no clue how to save these photos to my computer! HA 

http://instagram.com/p/aG9H5RsYRy/

Have a great night/day/morning depending where you are in this world!

XOXO

~SHELLS~

Did I REALLY Do All of That in Two Days?

I know I am not "normal'... I say it ALL of the time; I FEEL it all of the time and quite frankly I like it MOST of the time. However, once in a while I sit back and say to myself... are you even human? Well, this weekend raised that question as I looked back at what I actually did in a matter of only two days.

Saturday morning I headed over to St. Petersburg to do makeup on a model for a shoot. Unfortunately, I had afternoon plans with a couple of girlfriends so I couldn't stay for the shoot as I normally do... "do it and go" jobs are rare for me, but you gotta do whatcha' gotta do. She looked great; that's all that mattered I suppose. Here is a quick "phone shot" I took before I left>>>>>

At about 12:30 I headed home to prep for my afternoon with two of my dearest friends; stopping at the grocery store to pick up a few things on the way. Since Corey was going to the movies and the kids were out playing with friends, the plan for us was to have some quality "girl time" while drinking refreshing cocktails and devouring yummy food which was tag-team cooked by my friend and I" food network" style. It was VERY yummy and very fun. Oh... but the day was not over; about 7:45 I said goodbye to my friends and headed into the bathroom to get ready for my friend Wendy's 50th birthday surprise party and I was out the door like Flash Gordon by 8:15. I stayed a few hours, met some new people and said goodbye knowing that I had a looooong Sunday ahead.  (ps>>that's me in the stripes)

Now onto Sunday....

As some of you know, I have a makeup and hair studio (now all of you know) that I have been operating out of an executive office building for about a year and half after moving out of my "retail" space in the county I previously lived in. It has been a quaint, private, cozy little space that my clients and I have enjoyed. Unfortunately, a couple of months ago I found out that the building was in pre-forclosure and had to begin to make decisions. Do I stay and see what is going to happen or do I make a new plan? Prior to finding out about this, the landlord had been hounding me about moving into a larger suite downstairs and although I was initially against it, I finally gave in when he made me an offer I could not refuse... only to be told a month later that he found someone else to rent it for more than I was paying and signed a lease with them... (after after I spent two weeks painting it my self, moving my stuff down stairs and setting up "shop".) Ahhhh, okay you USED me to get it looking good, I get it! Was that illegal? yes, I even talked to a lawyer who said I had a solid case, but these days, I choose to go with the philosophy that everything happens for a reason. I moved BACK upstairs into my old suite and carried on.

After being back in my old suite for a month, I have been continuously  harassed by the landlord, and the "hot seat" is simply not my seat of choice. He refused to give me a new lease stating that I was just "month to month" now, which left me unprotected and a bit uneasy. Although the building had now been sold to a "new guy" and is supposedly out of trouble, the "new guy" is standing behind the "old guy", and day to day business has left a lot to be desired for me. I have been in this business WAY too long and dealt with too many shady landlords to continue being "snowed" by two men who think that just because I am an attractive woman that I am brainless. They can take their sexual innuendo's and unethical comments and put them where the sun doesn't shine!

Due to cash flow, I have paid my rent between the 15th and 20th of EVERY month for over a year and got the "okay" from the original landlord before executing the lease to do so. However, Friday, I show up to find a 3-day to pay rent or vacate notice taped to my door like I was some sort of loser who doesn't pay rent. It wasn't folded, it wasn't in an envelope... nope, it was taped WIDE open on my door for everyone to see. NICE job proving you are a manly-man. This left me with two choices. Pay the rent (which I was going to do on the 20th anyway) and continue the drama or leave and use the money to set up a new space. Hmmm..... million dollar question.

So....I called their bluff and my Sunday was spent moving out of my cozy little place and bringing everything home. We even pulled up the beautiful floor I put in when I took the space. I left it as it was the day I moved in and left a nice little note with the keys on the new landlord's office desk...

I wonder how THAT will make his Monday?

They figured their little "tactic" would scare little ole' me? Little did they know that I have been bullied before... and since they gave me no lease... they were not protected either; funny how things backfire. As I locked the door to the building I thought of the good year I had, the purpose this place served and the growth that happened while I was there. I had a peaceful feeling which told me that I was doing the right thing. It was time for a new chapter, new beginnings and positive changes once again. Change is growth and that is priceless. I refuse to have drama in my life anymore, I rid myself of it as soon as it begins to appear. I lived in it for so long that I thought it was necessary... yep no thanks, lesson learned on that topic.

Today, I will meet with the contractor who will hopefully be building my cozy new space inside my garage and I am feeling pretty great about it. Fingers crossed I will be up and running soon. No more landlords, just a cozy space for making my clients look and feel amazing because THAT is all I need; and since I only work in my studio about 15 hours a week, this will be perfect! (not to mention the fact the extra $$ in my pocket) I truly proved to myself this weekend that when negative things happen YOU have control on how you allow them to affect you and it has everything to do with how stressful your life will be... hopefully you can take that lesson away from me today and allow it to carry into your week as negative stuff occurs.

The best part of the weekend was having the time EVEN after all the things I did to float in my pool and soak up some vitamin D with my family. It's amazing what you can get done, what you can fit in to a couple of days if you just MAKE the time. I hope you all had a terrific weekend and that you kick off this Monday with a positive attitude and a little ray of hope... and never ever forget that change is GOOD!

xoxo

~Shells~

"Without Purpose You Are Broken"

Feeling a bit yucky, I took it easy for the past several days, swore off the internet (although I did check email and make a few random comments on Facebook) and now as I end the weekend, I decided this would be a great close to the week. "Without purpose you are broken." A great line from the movie Hugo, which Corey and I pulled up on Apple TV over the weekend. A fantastic movie which for me was all about having a goal, a purpose, a dream and achieving what your heart desires. The story of a young orphan boy who was fulfilling a goal his father was unable to accomplish and of a filmmaker whose dream-come-alive was later crushed by circumstances... then reborn; a movie which gives everyone who watches it something to think about. If you have not seen it I STRONGLY encourage you to watch it; and promise you will be moved or inspired or both... (if not... I am concerned with your state of mind...just sayin'.)

~PURPOSE~ we all have one. Some of you may not yet have discovered what it is, but we are all here for a reason, at least that is what I have always believed. Over several years as my passions became stronger; I discovered what I feel to be mine, and that is to do everything I can to encourage others to dream again, to live with purpose, to have hope that you can do anything or be anything that you want; despite what anyone else thinks or what odds you have against you. That is what I have done all of my adult life... through rain, sleet, snow and softball size hail...(metaphorically speaking of course) and it has not failed me yet. I may have fallen... but I have NOT failed, falling only lead me further down the path to where I want to end up. You only fail when you stop trying and give up, (not an option in my world.) In order to find your purpose you must ask yourself some questions. What do you want to define you as a person? What do you wish to leave behind when you are gone? What one thing fuels and excites you more than anything else? Within those questions you will find your answer.

SO....I continue to trek down this path which is called my life in pursuit of what it is I have set out to accomplish. Slowly, yet surely things are falling into place one by one and although I have not fully exhaled, I am allowing small bursts of air to escape my lips; through sheer excitement.

 I encourage you to stay determined long enough to accomplish whatever it is you hope to accomplish or die trying; in the end nobody can fault you for that. You can only be faulted for complaining all of the time and not taking action to change the things you are complaining about, for never setting goals or for not being a good role model for your children, for wandering around aimlessly watching and wishing you were someone else with a better, easier, more fulfilled life. GO GET the life you want! If you dream it, you can pursue it, and if you pursue it long enough you will get what you set out for... it's like gravity; it just happens. Find your purpose, fuel your passions, feed that desire and life will be good. Even if you never reach that highest point, the tales of your journey will be fascinating and wonderful and maybe even be inspiring to others.

My favorite line from the movie Hugo by far was the one below... read it over and over, let it sink in and then wake up every day thinking this way. I bet if you do life will never be the same!

"I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine... I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason." Hugo Cabret

xoxo 

~Shells~

"Appreciate Life With Every Breath and Soon You Will Stop Suffocating" SGIARD2012

It is easy to look at things through the muddy lens of our glasses with all the negativity that swarms every bit of spare time we have. Between television, trash magazines, Facebook status "my life sucks" updates and the average miserable beasts we encounter every day; it is a wonder we don't drink ourselves into oblivion or opt for the nearest bridge. I am often asked how I stay so positive; to some my positive nature is repulsive I am sure... but my answer is always the same; "It beats the alternative and I am not normal." 

Being normal is boring, uninteresting, and simply unattractive as far as I am concerned. I have never been normal, I choose to live in a cone... not a box.Why a cone? It is the only shape that is not enclosed, and I have never been much for limitations and confinement.  Life begins small... as kids, we appreciate small gestures, inexpensive gifts, cherish special moments and will do almost anything to get what we want. As we get older, we expect more but do less?... hmmm yea, that is an odd equation. In my "cone" world I am funneling upwards... climbing that odd angular mountain at a slow speed; but when I get to that opening it is broad... and big! Sure beats being trapped, don't ya think?

Learn to live life with stride, like a child... breathe deep with every moment and know that every moment good and bad will pass, you must cherish the good and appreciate the yucky... it is all important in the grand scheme to victory!

 "Crack on!" 

~Shelley Giard~