Today my daughter, became a Brownie. She was a Daisy. Her and her little friends became Brownies. They stepped over a bridge after a year of learning and selling cookies. They learned a lot. They helped others and they took oaths.

If only life were that simple. If you could decide to do something amazing, get around others who wanted to do the same thing, and work together to achieve your goals. Sounds simple. Sometimes it is. It is not easy.

I decided that I want to make a new career. I know I have to take massive action. I know some of the steps. I have to transition gradually while working full time. Working full time is the tricky part. I wish I did not have to work full time. I digressed. I have a general idea what I want to do. Some may say to go ahead and get started. Others may warn that I have to have a solid plan in place. I have to trust my intuition. I know what I want to accomplish. I know there are people out there who can help me. I have to come up with more details. I can envision crossing that virtual bridge and achieving my goal. That is part of it.

Today, I heard some tough love. A speaker that I know advised, that we all want to be of value, but do we have the skills to be valuable to our family, friends, and co-workers?

What skills do we bring to others that provide value? This one brought mixed feelings out in me. I know I bring value in some areas, but not all areas. I know I need to do more. I know I need to learn more. There are areas in which I know I need to improve.

I am continuously striving to get better. I want to be of value to others. I want to serve others. I want to be the best that I can be. What holds me back? I know it is a combination of things. It is mostly fear.

There you have it. For me and for you, the thing that holds you back is your fear. You don’t want to try something new or learn a new skill because you a afraid of failing. It may be inevitable that you lose. It may be inevitable that it may take you a long time to master a new skill. You will add so much value to the world, to your kids lives, if you overcome your fear and take up that skill, you need to be valuable to others.

Are there days when you feel like you are not worthy? You are worthy. You are made to do remarkable things. You don’t know your own power. You are allowing small insignificant events in the past to define who you are.

Don’t let anyone define who you are and don’t let your own thoughts make you feel less worthy of the beautiful things that are in this world. You are worthy of happiness, joy, and peace.

I do feel less than worthy some days. There are days when I don’t feel like I am %100. There are days when I don’t feel like doing anything. However, that is holding me back from feeling worthy.

It all takes so much energy to hold on to those negative thoughts. Why not exchange them for some positive thoughts, right now? Why not tell yourself that you are worthy of happiness, joy, and peace.

When you are feeling worthy, you are better able to take care of others in your life. It is imperative for parents to feel worthy. As a parent, how you feel about yourself is immediately put on to your children. The most important thing you can do for you and your children it to know that you are worthy.

I took a bath, and wanted to crawl into bed. However, I knew there were things that had to get done. I know I want to accomplish something. A little effort every day. Then, I saw the post in a group that I belong to. Do a little more. You may not feel like doing something. However, if you do, you may feel like doing a little more. Then, you feel a sense of accomplishment. You also feel a sense of self worth. You did what you set out to do.

There are some days when I do not want to do anything. However, if I do something, then I feel better. Procrastination is not perfection. That is something I learned at a workshop that I attended. The workshop included some high achievers. They are a great group of people, who push each other to do more. Even if you don’t feel like doing something, do it. Do a little more. You won’t be sorry. You will feel less stressed. Sometimes, just thinking about everything that needs to get done, can stress us out.

Why hold off on something that you want to accomplish? So what if it is not perfect. So what, if you don’t know how to finish it. You can find someone to help you with that. By the way parents, are their kids first mentor. Parents start something…

There are two fears we are born with. One is the fear of loud noises and the other is the fear of falling. Both are to protect us, in the event a wild animal should come after us or we are about to fall from a tree.

Those are the only two fears that are inane. The rest are learned from our parents and others. Fear is not real. False, Evidence, Appearing, Real.

Fight, Everything, And, Rise.

I spend some time with some rather successful people last week. As they achieve higher levels of success, some other fears start to kick in. They have a deep fear of failure. They are risking more, than ever before.

They have reached high levels of success. They are high achievers. They reach another plateau. These fears are not real. They were not born with them. What is really going on? How can you overcome your fears?

You have to fight the fear. You have to take the action that you are most afraid of. You also have to get to the root cause of why you are afraid. It is buried somewhere in your childhood.

How do you overcome it? Once you identify the root cause, you make a amends with it. You have to change the story you tell yourself about the fear. You have to convince yourself that it is not life or death. In the grand scheme of things, once you overcome your fear, you will actually laugh at it.

There were times when I was afraid of reaching out, of speaking out, of standing up for what I believed in. However, when you think of who you would help by overcoming your fear, you can diminish your fear. Your kids will see you fighting your fears, and hopefully they won’t have the same learned fears as you.

Today is bittersweet. I love being a mother. I don’t let that define who I am. However, I am missing my Grandmothers. I pulled out a card, that I meant to send to one of them, long ago. I think I sent some other card to them instead. Seeing that card, reminded me that I would not be able to send that card to her. I can still send the card to my Mom, from my kids or to their step Grandma. What really hurts, is the fact that I did not get to say goodbye or let her know that I loved her one more time. I did get to tell her that I loved her the last time I saw her.

I have the memories to sustain me.  Both left me with wonderful memories and imprints of what it means to be a great woman. There are so many stories. Every time I see a butterfly, I am reminded of my Grandmother on my Father’s side. She loved them. She had beautiful pins that were butterflies. She was always doing something. She loved to try something new. My other Grandmother was the quintessential southern woman. She had, beauty, style, and grace. She loved to cook and be a stay at home mother. She loved to pray for others and to help others where she could. She was beautiful on the inside and on the outside.

Remembering them on Mother’s Day is a good thing. The only way to cherish them, is to carry on what they started. Both amazing women, raising children, the best they can.

Mom, is that real? My kids ask me about a movie. They made it look real. It’s not real. It is Hollywood Magic. I have always been fascinated by movies and special effects. I am a visual person, as an artist. Being an Artist, I get to create something on a two dimensional surface and make it look three dimensional. I spent a day in Hollywood with some successful people.

We can create our own special effects in our mind. We can create what we want our reality to be. We have to visualize it. The more real, the more we believe it can be achieved. There was plenty of real talk, and strategies. Our subconscious minds cannot perceive the difference between what is real and what has not occurred.

Watch your thoughts. My kids know enough to question what they are watching. We are careful not to watch anything that is too much for them. They know enough to question whether or not it is true. They know that some of the movies are make believe. They also know that they can imagine and picture what they want their lives to be like. They know the power of their subconscious minds. There will be no special effects with what they want to achieve.

In this very moment you are alive. You have your thoughts and feelings. You can choose to be happy or you can choose to be upset. Find something to celebrate every day. One of my favorite memes is “Celebrate Every Day Like It’s Your Birthday.” People who find something to be joyful about every day are happier. When your happier, some things may get easier for  you.

Find something in your day to celebrate. Appreciate the good things that come your way. I just spent an unexpected evening with friends to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. It was wonderful. It was filled with laughter, fun, and joy.

We just played, adults too. There were kids jumping on trampolines. There were glow in the dark sticks. There were fireworks. There was delicious food. It was great to meet new friends. I celebrated the fact that I did not undergo some of the things that had to endure. I am not putting them down. I just felt a sense of relief that I did not have to undergo what they had to endure. I had my own struggles. I also blessed them and was grateful that I did encounter them. I was grateful to celebrate what I had.

The other day I learned that leaning in and giving it all you got, is not necessarily the answer to solving your problems. It depends on the circumstances. It all depends on your approach. I have been really trying at a goal that I have. No matter what I do, I cannot crack the code. I don’t have any more ideas. I keep making the same mistakes over and over. Someone noticed my mistakes. Even though I am trying harder. I cannot seem to get it right.

Ahh ha. That is it. That is where a coach or a mentor can come in handy. It is difficult to see the mistakes we are making. It takes a great coach to help us through the areas we are having difficulty. Anyone can point out your mistakes. It takes a true leader to help you get the right approach. I don’t mean working smarter, either. Doing things the right way is the best way.

Don’t hit the gas if you don’t have the right approach. You will just wear out. When you do have the right approach you can hit the clutch and kick it into high gear. That is where the winner drive.

Today I went to an event for my son. He is going into the 6th grade. The school had an orientation night for the parents. I listened to the overview of the school requirements and expectations. I love education. I am against the kind where the kid has to reinforce his answer from a text book.

That is another story. I listened with an open mind. I listened to them enthusiastically tell me about how they want my kid to get it. How they want to see him grow. They want my kid to get involved. We have to lay down some rules, before, we go into this school. He is a good kid. I love him.

I had a huge brainstorm, when I was sitting in the school. The company I work with has all kinds of leadership information to help teens get on the right path. What if they used my companies information. What if they created a club that used my companies information. I could help a lot of kids and families. That is how I want to get involved with my kids school. How about you? Do you have a way of getting involved in an organization that you are a part of?