This Whirlwind We Call Life

Tonight as I sit and type this late Monday night blog, I am filled up with thoughts, including how life is such a whirlwind of events, emotions, thoughts and actions. It's quite amazing really, how we toggle through each and every day, without falling asleep from pure exhaustion before it's over.

For those of you who are old enough to remember the Dunkin Donuts commercial years ago, where the little dude would come in every morning half asleep and say "time to make the donuts", life has seemed that way at times for me, does it ever feel like that for you?

(For those of you who have NO idea what this commercial reference is... just Google it! Ah the power of search engines for the young ones)

Anyway... back to where I was, life is sometimes robotic, monotonous, and simply put, boring. This is why we must CREATE some excitement into each day to keep from being bored to death. My "creations" are often looked at as CRAZY... because I do things that keep me busy... excited... but they are not necessarily what the "world" finds exciting. I set goals and go after them.

When I rewind the past 11 months of my life, I am amazed that another year has gone by... time really doesn't sit still. In fact, it moves at lightning speed right before our eyes, which is why we truly must make the best of every single day. We must be certain to do some conscious things in the midst of all the unconscious behavior.

What is your life like? Is it calm or crazy? Predictable or spontaneous? I must say, that mine had become a bit predictable as I shifted my career focus into achieving a life- long dream, and moving to a new state. I had to get into a new routine, and routine is often a necessary part of success. However, over the past several months, many changes have occurred, some challenges have reared their ugly head, causing me to suit up and fight some battles. However in the fight, I also gained some victory and all of it has led me to yet another whirlwind... an unexpected twist in my journey.

In just one short month, on the 1 year anniversary of my exciting move to Charlotte, NC, for a new beginning, I am moving back to Tampa. Not because life did not work here, it has actually been amazing, I have made some great friends and business connections that I intend to keep, and have loved my home and neighborhood. However, let's just say that a person in life challenged me and instead of fighting it I made the decision that perhaps I still have work to do in Tampa. Funny, that in the middle of what seemed to be a negative thing, positive light began to shine through.

I have heard and even experienced a "break" from something, only to pick it back up later and try it again and been incredibly successful. That is how I am choosing to look at this unexpected journey back to a place that I said goodbye to a year ago.

Although bittersweet, this move has purpose, just as the move to NC did. I stay faithful that this purpose will be revealed in bright light, so that I won't be confused as to what that purpose is. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, because I am... however each and every moment leads you to the next. So sometimes, despite your fears and uncertainty, you just have to accept it and claim it.

I am looking forward to seeing what lies ahead, I have changed a lot in one year. The growth that I have experienced as a human being... in my soul, faith and heart have made this experience SO worth while. I embrace the journey ahead, I know it will leave me with more stories to tell!

One day though, I hope to feel more settled... to live a life that is more calm, and hope I don't find that boring.  I really do close my eyes often to dream of the day when I will be sitting on my back porch, overlooking a beautiful lake in the mountains, crisp air wrapping me like a warm blanket, sipping a cup of coffee, reading a good book and thinking to myself...

"Yep, this is what I worked for. That whirlwind I call my life was worth it."


" When you wake up and your reality is no longer a dream... you know that your dreams have become your reality." ©Shelley Giard 2016



Until next time....

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

xoxo

Shells

WWW.THESGIARDGROUP.COM

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Parenting the Teens of Today

It's been a couple of weeks since my last blog... and if you are an avid reader, you know that I HATE when I am not able to sit down and write; you also know that what this typically means is that life has been busy, or it has thrown me a wrench and it was necessary to re-prioritize my time. Unfortunately sometimes when that is what life calls for, the blog has to wait.

Over the last few weeks, I have had both personal and "teenage"matters to deal with and through it all I must admit I have found myself heavy-hearted and in a complete funk; something I am not used to being in. I have hurdles all of the time but I typically push right through them after maybe a day of funky-town; not this time, it had me down. I am happy to finally be on the upside of my personal issues... but am sorry to say that my teen is still struggling with hers. Luckily, I have my mental strength back and can now lend it to her.

When I was a teen, life was challenging, hurtful and not very fun for me. Sometimes when I look back, I wonder how I made it through. However, the way times have changed, things are so much worse for these newer generations; life is no longer simple in any way for them even when things are going good. My daughter Baleigh is a beautiful, bright, 13 year old young lady who was an advocate-pioneer type last year. She walked with her head held high, had tons of friends and graced the halls with the stride of a leader. Academically, she was an average "creative" student but by the end of the year her grades were suffering greatly and her self-esteem and pride slowly began to fade. We had some problems and difference of opinion regarding a very broken and troubled boy that had shown interest in her who also happened to show interest in a dozen other girls.... without details, I will share that the year did not end well.

At the beginning of this 7th grade year, I had a different child. The Vice Principal who has become a good friend over the last year saw the change in her as well, so we discussed it. That strong, proud, leader we knew had become mentally unrecognizable. I have been working with the school staff through all of this over the past several months; we joined arms like an army trying to save a country... and nothing was working. We talked with her, tried to get to the bottom of it all and failed to find the answers we were looking for. I was lost for answers and continued to struggle at home.... our relationship seemed nothing more than a battleground most of the time, almost everything was uphill and it truly broke my frustrated heart. These were the teenage years you hear of... the ones I hoped to never experience, the ones that my oldest daughter Cierra, now 22 had only mildly prepared me for. 

I am sparing the details for the sake of my daughter... but let me STRESS that you must hold them close at this age, you MUST snoop around their rooms, read what they are writing, look at the pictures on their phones, read their texts from time to time... and even check their emails once in a while. We live in a VERY different world and it is completely uncensored unless YOU sensor it. Their minds are bombarded with things that they don't understand and they are too afraid to come to us to ask; did YOU ask your parents about things at that age? No... and neither will they. Instead they ask friends who know nothing more than they do, or they Google it, or look it up on You tube. Do you KNOW what's out there?  People are unknowingly allowing the internet to raise their children because getting them out of our hair makes life easier.

Do you KNOW the stress that the education system puts on the shoulders of our children now? It is insane; even the teachers think so. It makes me want to bring all my kids home and school them myself. In this crazy fast forwarded world that puts everything out there, while knowledge that is ten times harder is being forced into their heads at lightning speed, what they are not learning is how to deal and cope with this information overload and inside many kids are simply falling apart. They are seeking their own ways to cope and when you find out how they are doing that you will be blown away, saddened and downright frightened. I thank GOD for allowing me to notice a change in my daughter despite my increasingly busy career... no matter how busy I am, I still notice my children, their behaviors, their actions and address them. I am also thankful that my oldest is back in Florida to help me snoop, because without her I may not have found out what I did, simply because I dread stepping foot into the unorganized disaster of a teenager's room.

In the eyes of most people I am REALLY old fashioned. My daughter no longer has a "smart phone" because I simply do not feel that she had enough self control or maturity to hold that much temptation in the palm of her hand. She does have a phone where she can reach me and I can reach her, that does not take pictures and I take it away every time she breaks the rules and abuses privilege of having it (which is 85% of the time) I limit television time, I don't have cable... but have Roku so I can monitor what they watch, our internet is screened, and I don't allow them to go to friend's homes that I don't know. I DO encourage them to go outside, to run around and play... to use their child-like imaginations and play games like Yahtzee. I encourage them to draw, paint, and play hide and seek because kids should be kids, they need to be silly and carefree. When they fall down, I tell them to get up and brush it off, I kiss the boo boo and let them know that they are okay. I don't helicopter parent or give them everything they want because they need to know the value of saving up for something, how to deal with life's disappointments, and know it has curve balls.The most important yet often the most heart wrenching thing that I do is hold them accountable for their behavior even when I would rather throw my hands in the air and give up; they must have consequences. Parenting is the most exhausting of all my careers but I am responsible for these cute little people and I honestly take it as seriously as I do my business. Not sure if that is good or bad, but it is me.

As I withdrew my daughter from her creative arts charter school yesterday, I knew it was the best decision due to the issue at hand regardless of the tears that rolled down her face and mine... I also realize that we have a long road ahead and it will likely get harder before it gets easier. but I won't give up. For those of you who pray... keep us in yours and for the rest of you ... toss out some positive vibes for a teen that I know can change the world.

The moral of the story I shared...

Life is full of storms... the hurdles are inevitable, sometimes they show up and smack you down without warning; adversity does not discriminate. There will be times when you will not understand why or how, when you have no answers and no energy left. Remember, the mountain is there to climb... all the beauty and victorious feelings are felt and seen at the top, so DON'T give up... do not allow that to even be an option. Hard work and perseverance will be worth it in ALL that you do; but falling down and staying down yields no rewards.

Until next time...

xoxo

Shells

                                                   

                                                                               

                                                          

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Being Thankful For Bad Times Too

I was struggling with how to write my "start of the week" blog last night. One reason being that I still have so much on my brain after speaking last week because it truly changed my life in a positive and profound way. The second reason is that I wanted to write something with a lot of meaning... even though ALL of my blog posts have a lot of meaning, being that this is the last post before Thanksgiving, I wanted it to be extra special; so here I sit digging into my complex brain... a brain that's much deeper than most trying to be sure I don't freak you out with my philosophical nerdy way of thinking. My earphones are on... yes, I am a creature of habitual behavior and when I find my happy zones I tend to make them repetitive... hence the earphones with classical piano as I write. (It's a winner!)

THANKFUL...
What does that word truly mean? Is it simply a momentary internal feeling on the surface of our thoughts for something or someone; a moment in time that gives us "that feeling"? Or is it defined by a feeling that runs deep into our souls that we cannot get over even if we wanted to? Is it defined by an out-loud obvious action that we must demonstrate to show how we feel; or is it something that can be implied by small gestures or things we may do for someone without having to say a word?

In a world where people; (including myself at times) feel unappreciated, I think that this poses something to really think about, and what better time than the very week we are reminded to be thankful. The answer is as complex as any human emotion is as it truly depends on what a person needs to feel thankful and how much it takes for someone or something to feel appreciation from thankfulness. As I sit here typing whatever comes to my mind, I think of the things that help me know people are thankful for the things that I do, for the things that I say, type and share. I think about people in my life who have felt unappreciated by me at some time or another and how I can and have made sure they never feel that way again. I think of how much I have changed in the past several years, how my heart has been reborn and has been opened up to a whole new world now that I have shared the "not so good" times I have had in my life; raw and real and how I have found a way to be thankful for them more than any of the good times in my life... it makes me smile.

I never thought that I would ever be thankful for the bad things that have happened; for all the struggles, pain, hurt, sadness, confusion and disappointment that I have experienced. At times I am shocked that my heart did not grow cold and bitter. I also know that had my heart continued down the lonely, broken path it was once on, that I would not know what being thankful really means. I am now thankful for the hurt, the people that I lost unexpectedly, the hard times, the burdens and disappointments and even the anger that resulted from it all, because it taught me what I need and deserve in order to keep happiness in my life. It helped me not only to recognize, but to appreciate the many blessings that are right in front of my face and accept that the moments that smacked me down were all blessings in disguise presented to teach me what I did not want to relive. I know that if I want to stay true to who I am, I had to learn those lessons and now strive to allow only the blessings to bring out the emotions within me. Everything else just has to roll... I know that every painful, hurtful, confused moment is there for a good reason and I hope you get to that point too.

I hope that all of you have a wonderful day of thanks with your family and friends. I encourage you to sit, if only for a few moments alone and think about all of the things you can be thankful for. Be sure that you dig deep into those bad things that when you are honest with yourself, you can truly say taught you something... hopefully it will be something that will allow you to let go of bottled up anger or pain. We carry around a lot of baggage from our past, we don't always let go of the things that have torn at our flesh, but once we let go and begin to heal, something happens. Sure... I still get disappointed, I still experience pain, sadness, confusion and hurt... but what I have realized is that if I can immediately find a reason to be thankful for what is happening anger never sets in... peace does.

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Stop the Excuses!

I will preface by saying that sure, I may get some frowns on this post, but that's okay...it won't change my mind nor will it alter my life's direction; I have dealt with haters before. I have learned that when I am doing something right , someone who is doing it wrong usually gets upset. When someone I meet is doing things right I choose to listen up and take notes and that is when I have grown the most. So for those of you like me... get out those note pads now.

Although all excuses of why someone can't do something get on my nerves (even when it's my own); single mom excuses get under my skin more than anything. When I see Facebook posts complaining about single motherhood, I get it... it's hard. I have been a single mom much of my 21 years of motherhood and am technically still a single mom even though my boyfriend of 3 years has been incredibly helpful and active in the lives of my kids over the past few years. It's challenging, tiring, frustrating and at times can be downright exhausting, especially when you have to make the bacon, cook the bacon and clean the bacon grease out of their clothes (metaphorically speaking of course) while still trying to maintain your sanity < that is literal! Trust me, I have 4 children, so if this is your cry of grief, you WILL get sympathy from me... for about 2 minutes before I will tell you that you CAN do it and still achieve your dreams and reach your goals.

Much of my life I have lived states away from family, and I still did it. I held down a full time career, paid for everything and somehow stayed sane. (Some may disagree with that last statement) Being self employed helped because when I needed to make more I simply found more work. I did not fall into a pity party of how "I could not afford" to do what I needed to do, I gave up much of what I "wanted" to do and did everything short of pimping myself out, dance on a pole or do anything illegal to make the money I needed to reach my goals. I am here to tell you that YOU can do it too.

I remember about a year ago I got an email from a lady who was looking to buy the solid wood nautical toddler bed that I had listed on craigslist for a VERY reasonable price. She emailed me with such excitement and enthusiasm and even stated how badly she had been wanting this item and how reasonable I had it priced. We scheduled a time for her to come pick it up and I waited nearly all day for her to get there. After changing the time twice she then called to ask if I would drop the price $75 because she was a single mom. I almost said yes... and then I thought wait, I am a single mom of 4 and am selling the bed in order to pay cash for a bunk bed for my two youngest children. I decided to tell her that although I understood her situation being that I was a single mom myself, I had to stay firm because it WAS a great price. I made sacrifices and found ways to get the money I needed, so she needed to do the same.

"Being a single mom" was never an excuse I allowed myself to use to gain deals or sympathy or to explain away why I couldn't do something. Being a single mom was how my life ended up due to the choices that I made and it was up to me to figure out how to make it work. I sold the bed the next day for full price and got the bunk bed for my children. Being a single mom became the reason why I HAD TO instead of an excuse as to why I couldn't.

Excuses become the very reason we DON'T do something, and I am tired of people who are not willing to sacrifice their wants for their needs using single motherhood as an excuse. Yes it's hard, yes it creates a lot more challenges, but if you WANT something bad enough you can GET it if you put your mind to it and get creative. You do NOT have to use an excuse, you do NOT have to feel sorry for yourself or gain sympathy from those around you, you just have to DO what it takes to get what you want and if that means giving up that Grande Mocha-chocha-cocoa- frozen- scattered-covered smothered- twisted latte or the newest I-gadget then guess what???

I am not here to beat you up, I am here to HELP you. Whether you are a single mom or just a person who is constantly giving everyone including yourself excuses of why you can't do something realize that this is EXACTLY why you WON'T!

And that's just the way it is....

YOU CAN DO IT!

   NOW CLICK SHARE !

XOXO

~SHELLS~

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Staying Calm

When I wrote the title to this blog I chuckled... out loud actually, because if I had been told that I would EVER be writing a blog about how to stay calm in any matter I would have said... "Yeah, wrong girl."  I admit... I am high strung or perhaps assertive, or positively aggressive... oh crud... I am really all three of those things most of the time but mostly in a positive fashion. I am passionate and honest, and don't consider any of those things a fault. Back to my point; CALM is NOT a word I would ever use to describe myself unless I am talking about the feeling I have when I am tucked away without interruption in the mountains or floating on a lazy river somewhere or the feeling I want to possess more often. In fact, my friend Shellie would totally back me up here after seeing my "power self" on the first morning of my recent 7-day visit with her. As she put it... "I typically wake up to a very quiet house with nobody home, then today, I woke up and heard you on a business call and was so alarmed... it threw me for a loop and got me all anxious and excited."  When she told me that I laughed so hard I nearly spit out my coffee. I am so used to "me" and the way that I am, that I don't even realize my presence sometimes. I have had people say that after hearing me speak they are ready to run a marathon... which I always took as a compliment; that WAS a compliment right?

WHAT HAPPENED TODAY? Well, I surprised myself, I was CALM and cool and even collected when I should have been frazzled, anxiety stricken and freaking out. My youngest daughter Abrielle who has Down syndrome although blessed to not have most of the typical health issues of a child with DS, does tend to get respiratory issues when allergens are in the air, or when she catches a common cold. Their anatomy is different and her neck is shorter, so it's just one of those things. With  that being said, I take her to the doctor (a place I avoid unless we can't cure things with  home remedies) at the FIRST sign of a cough because it could quickly take a turn for the worst and put us in the E.R.(Been there, done that, got the hospital gown.)

Before I left on my recent business trip, "Brie" had caught a little cold, so I took her to the doctor as a safety measure before I left where they gave her a heavy duty breathing treatment, an antibiotic for a minor ear infection and instructions to have someone bring her in for a follow up. (Which my mom followed.) While I was gone, she broke out in hives due to an allergic reaction to the antibiotic and had to be switched off of it but her cold/cough got better. The day after I returned home however, her cough started up again and we had an appointment to see her doctor tomorrow. Well... today just as we were heading to my moms after hearing news that her brother had fallen 16ft in an old building when a rotting floor gave way, Abrielle started into a coughing fit which rapidly induced projectile vomiting AS I AM DRIVING down the highway! I won't go into further detail for obvious reasons, but if you know what a car seat is like, it is TILTED in the PERFECT position to allow her to aspirate as this is happening. LOVELY! Instead of freaking out, I STAYED CALM and kindly asked my rebellious 11 year old Baleigh to get in the back seat and hold Brie's head forward to which she says "EWWWW I don't want her throwing up on me."   "PAUSE.... BREATHE, STAY CALM" I said to myself before I blew a gasket and yelled at her to GET IN THE BACK SEAT! I CALMLY explained how Brie could choke and her lungs could fill up in the position she was in causing BIG problems and told her that I needed her help. She got all worked up and upset that I freaked her out by saying Brie could die, to which again... (breathe in) I stayed calm and said, "Well honey... lesson learned , just do as I ask with no questions next time and I won't have to paint the awful details for you; when I ask something of you there is always a reason." (breathe out.)

She reluctantly climbed into the back seat and held Brie's head forward every time she coughed, and I assured her a shower would fix everything that was happening to her. We got to the doctor covered in yuck and managed to strip Brie down and get her all cleaned up before her next "delivery". Talk about taking it all in stride, my precious little monkey smiled after every heaving episode including the two on the way home. I must say that I was as calm as I have ever been in a situation like that... and YES, I have been there before. What I found was that I was able to think clearer and handle things better this way and it helped me realize that I am STILL changing, STILL growing and STILL evolving and I think that is pretty cool. All those weird books I read really do work.

To sum it all up... the uncle whom I mentioned earlier that fell 16 ft. through a rotten floor is doing okay tonight. Although it was a bad fall, they have his condition stabilized. Prayers are most certainly welcomed for his safe and rapid recovery. Abrielle aka "Brie" is doing MUCH better after a breathing treatment, a pump from her inhaler and a nice warm bath, Baleigh is all showered and I am... well... I am writing this blog about staying calm. It's amazing what we can get through in life if we just learn how to handle it. I promise you, I have dealt with much worse and handled things WAY worse, but continuing to grow and learn about what makes ME tick is how I improve. I will likely always be a bit high strung, assertive, aggressive, business-like, honest and passionate... ( AND no, I don't like fuzzy slippers or the color pink.) I will always make you want to run a marathon or start a business, but since I like to inspire and motivate people it works... besides, I love all of those things about me. Funny thing is I also am gentle enough to kiss boo boo's read bedtime stories in a silly voice, giggle as often as I can and never take anything too seriously anymore. These days if you get in my way I will simply smile instead of wanting to trip you ... now THAT is PERSONAL GROWTH!

Have a great night! Thanks for reading! Thanks for sharing! I will see you Friday! 

XOXO

~Shells~

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Big Miracles... Big Gifts... Tiny Packages

Sometimes, on Monday's (especially those falling after a holiday weekend off) it's really hard to get your mind back into gear. However, when you have responsibilities and duties such as being a regular blogger, you can't let that be an excuse and with that comes pressure. (BTW, that is a sure-fire way of getting writers block) UGH! This happened to me tonight. Two hours ago, although I posted my "It's blog time" status on Facebook... at the time, I had no topic. I was trying to reverse-psychology myself into coming up with an idea really fast. #FAIL! So.... I decided to wash my face and get ready for bed, then come back to it.

 There I was, in the bathroom washing my face still trying to think of a topic to blog on after an hour or more hour with no luck, I instantly thought...  I will blog on "Do you ever wonder why certain things happen to certain people; how the nicest people typically end up with the most adversity while the heartless jerks make millions and never skip a beat?" The topic transpired as I thought of something that happened late last night with a fan on my page, and as I have shared in my book, adversity has been the story of my own life. I finished washing my face, sat at my computer screen ready to bang out a blog and said "better check email one last time" ( BTW, I had just checked it before washing my face) and in my email inbox I found Amy's story; the fan I was just thinking of from last night.

Now, let me tell you who Amy is. Last night, I was up really late because I could not sleep. (Imagine that) All day long, I had been sharing the link to my friend's fundraising page which was started on July 4th to hopefully raise the money it will take to save her son's life on all my social media sites. (see details in my last blog post)  I was posting real-time updates on how much we had raised so far, attacking this fundraising mission with Gazelle intensity when I suddenly saw a post from a fan of mine whom I do not personally know; her name was Amy. Amy said that she wished she could help but that she was "raising money for her own purpose, to buy her son who was born "asleep" a headstone, but how nice it was to see people pull together to try and help Kody." I suggested that she share Kody's  link on her page and that I would reciprocate by sharing hers on all my social media pages and that way we could help each other without having to involve money. I went further and stated that maybe we could have her on the Hopes Not A Crime radio show and asked her to email me the entire story of her son Caleb to me. She graciously shared our link for Kody's fundraiser and Shellie and I both donated and shared her cause. I of course realized even more, how lucky so many of us truly are. 

As I read her ENTIRE story in email, tears overcame me... as I thought... God just connected us, holy Toledo, GOD just TOTALLY happened! (That's what I believe anyway... it's okay if you are not on board with that, it's still a great story.) NOTHING is by chance; it's ALL on purpose, and I say that all of the time; (my whole book is on that very fact in a more generic sense)

Now that I have read Amy's ENTIRE story, I am seriously overwhelmed. I am speechless, like truly speechless. You have NO idea what these kind of moments mean to me! (Nothing like really feeling connected to the big kahuna) I just wrote Amy back telling her that I am a speaker "aka" Hope Ambassador, for Hopes Not a Crime Ministry and that we look for people JUST LIKE HER to share their stories of keeping hope & faith  through adversity, and that we wanted to put her story on our radio show. I cannot wait to hear back from her, this girl has a story much more profound that losing her son and not having enough money for a headstone. It's truly heart-wrenching in many different directions!

To add  the final layer to the story, I will share that the radio show's guests are typically booked out three weeks in advance, but Shellie messed up her show schedule during all of her own recent struggles of finding out her son Kody had masses in his lungs and throat and seeing him through sudden lung surgery last week. She made a mistake in all the chaos and has nobody for the show this week which she just shared with me last night in a bit of a panic. We were brainstorming together about it and had come up with a fill-in idea, but then, I saw Amy's post on my fan page... and responded to it, and then she responded back tonight while I was washing my face and simultaneously thinking of her with this unbelievable story of faith hope and perseverance WAY beyond a grave with no stone.

No matter how messed up, depressing, or empty your life may seem at times... be happy that you HAVE life, that you are not mourning over someone you lost or needing to raise money for your own cause. Thank you Amy Keaton, for sharing Kody's cause on your page while you are at the same time trying to raise money for a gravestone for your beautiful little Caleb who went back to see Jesus the very day he was born. I KNOW God will bless you with this simple request; to mark the place where his little child rests. Here is me paying it forward! 

CLICK FOR CALEB:

http://www.gofundme.com/38olxs

We want to help Amy get that headstone for Caleb but trust me, her story which we will share on air will give YOU MUCH, MUCH more! I will share the link later this week if we get to air her full story on the show!

SO... 

The moral of this blog is... you don't have to have money to GIVE to a cause, you don't have to do something over the top to change someones life. All you have to do is put heart into something, FEEL that feeling that stirs within you and ACT on it. Big Miracles and Big Gifts often come in the most simple, least impressive & most tiny packages. 

Goodnight, sleep tight may you be blessed beyond your dreams!

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CLICK FOR KODY:

http://fundly.com/a-mother-fighting-for-her-son#supporters/donors

CLICK FOR MY STORY:

www.Ineedthehappyending.com

WOW, JUST WOW! 

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~