Tag Archives: Emotions

21

Thoughts I Choose

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Thought is a constant companion in your life. From the moment you wake up in the morning, the mind is spewing a continuous stream of ideas from the spigot of dialogue.  I have heard it estimates the human brain can produce 60-70 thousand thoughts per day. Most of our thoughts, around 95%, are repeats from the day before and the day before that. Left working on an unconscious level, you will think and experience the same thing you did the day before and the week before, and possibly the year before that. It will be hard to change your life if new thoughts aren’t being cultivated and chosen continuously.  The great news is that you ultimately have control over the ideas which have value to you. What thoughts are you choosing this day?

Old Programming Power

Our minds are not working against us, we have a valuable tool to use, and most of us are just not aware we have the power to control it.  Our experiences in life have programmed our subconscious mind to perform in a certain way. How to talk, walk, ride a bike, shuffle cards, we store in our subconscious mind.  It wouldn’t be very efficient if we had to relearn how to chew food before every meal.  The valuable information stored here is also stored beliefs we have gathered about how life works, how we fit in it, and our value as human beings.  We build most of these opinions in the concrete setting of your mind by the time you are 7-10 years old.

So many of the beliefs about yourself are the beliefs of a seven-year-old. Most of us let these beliefs dictate our ability to do something and the value we bring to life. For example, if you had an experience in early life where you tried a new math problem and failed, all it takes is for someone to say something that hooks your mind, and a belief is born. ” You are just not good at math.”  That belief will live unchecked in your mind and will only grow as your mind will seek examples to support and define the perceived truth.  What you believe has then become a reality. Often we have long forgotten the initial instance the belief took hold, but the result of the thought has taken on a life of its own.

Change is Possible

Look at yourself honestly and what you see yourself being able to accomplish.  What is limiting you? It is often the thoughts we accept as accurate about life and our place in it based on the ideas of the people fate put in our lives as children.  Their fears, shortcomings, and lousy programming became a part of our experience without our consent or acceptance.  There is no sinister plot here, just people doing the best they can, but reading this at this moment, now it is up to you to continue to accept these beliefs or not.  Change is simple, but it isn’t easy.  A belief system or paradigm has allowed us to survive and navigate a sometimes harsh world.  There is a part of your mind loving these beliefs because there is a known factor to these limiting thoughts. That part of your mind is the ego.

The ego exists as a survival mechanism. It is the voice in your head that is often on the opposing side. Get a great idea you want to try, wait five minutes, and your ego will weigh in with all the limiting thoughts it can create. “What will people think?” “That will never work.” “You are not creative like that.” “Nobody will like anything you do.” “You will never make money at that.” “You will be poor forever.”   On and on, they will go if you let them. It is easy to paint the Ego as the villain in your life, but it is just a mechanism in your mind that you allow to stop you.  Don’t listen and see what happens.

Changing a Belief

The most challenging thing about changing a belief is to identify the limiting thought in the first place. Next, pay attention to the thoughts and feelings you get when you are pursuing something you want to do. Then you have to apply a process of change to it.  There are many different theories on the best methods to change a belief because most of them have profound roots. But don’t give up because changing your paradigm and the landscape of your life will allow you to grow into the person you are capable of being.

I have heard affirmations or short positive statements to change a belief, but the declaration alone is not enough to change a long-standing idea. You need to combine a positive comment using your imagination to visualize what you want along with powerful positive emotion, and your subconscious will start to accept your new belief. So, 1. create a positive statement about what you want to see in your life.  2. visualize this thing happening. How will it look? Imagine all aspects of it?   3. Attach positive feelings to the images you create.  Then do this consistently.

The Choice is Yours

Either you will look at your life and evaluate where you are and where you want to go, or you will accept things in the status quo.  The choice is up to you and only you. We are all responsible for the results of our lives and how we are living them.  The most significant part of the human condition is that we can change everything with a simple thought. We can become what we want to become.  Our mind is a valuable tool, but it is only as helpful as choosing to make it.  Otherwise, it is just a machine running our lives with no meaning.

Choose today to start the pursuit of where you want to go.  Practice a visualization. I dare you.  See what ideas will come to you. Taking action will reveal answers to you. The path will unfold the only way it can. Then have the courage to nurture those ideas, take those actions, and follow those paths. Our true selves are found when we use our courage.

“You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights.” ―Brian Tracy.

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” ―Mary Kay Ash.

“Do the uncomfortable. Become comfortable with these acts. Prove to yourself that your limiting beliefs die a quick death if you will do what you feel uncomfortable doing.” ―Darren Rowse.

“If you accept a limiting belief, then it will become a truth for you.” ―Louise Hay.

Chances are you can do whatever it is you dream of………..you have to believe you can do it.

 

21

Creating

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Most accomplishments in life revolve around the programming we receive in life. Your subconscious mind develops because of it.  From the moment we are born, we are trying to figure out the world, find a place we can feel safe, be with people we love, and where our value lies in ourselves and others.  Some lessons come directly from the words of others, and more often, we take the context clues of how someone behaves in their lives and toward us to create beliefs.  Our subconscious mind takes these experiences and creates our paradigm or model of how to live our lives. But we often made mistakes, misinterpreting things, adding significant meaning to things we shouldn’t. Negative messages can form limiting beliefs that will continue to exist until we change them. Stuff we heard, “You are no good at that.” or “You are not very graceful.” or  “You are not a very good student.” or “You’re not as pretty as others.”  or a million other things someone might have said in passing which for whatever reason you chose to accept as real.  The good news is that you can change any of these beliefs that limit you, and it can start today.

Real Affirmations

Affirmations are short positive statements that state the desired result you want to experience in life. Writing these messages down is the first step to creating something you want to see in your life.  Affirmations alone will do very little, but combined with visualization and intense emotion, it can provide a powerful effect.  Create a statement choosing clear and positive words.  You can bring almost anything into your life.  Change is a tricky thing, even in the best of circumstances. There is a real, volatile reaction to any change, even positive change. However, we successfully exist as we are, so any change is a threat to the all-important status quo.

But change is constant and continual in life, and if you make an effort to, you can guide how evolution works in your life. Remember, things will change one way or another, give change a path, and follow. It starts with a positive statement or affirmation to get things moving in that direction. Most people are afraid to write down what they want because they are afraid of what others will think. Feeling deep down, we don’t deserve to receive our dreams. Or they are worried if they try to get what they want and fall short, then what? All of these fears are just your mind fighting against change. Who cares what someone else thinks? You deserve to achieve things and have things. Fear of not getting what you want is a powerful one because we are afraid of disappointment, but trying is the only way to do anything.  The attachment we create to one particular result is the biggest weakness we have. So let things unfold as they should, and trust it will be a good thing for you.  Learning lessons will happen, accomplishments will pile up, and you will grow.  Only fear stops this.

Seeing It in Your Mind

Our minds are great machines. They create all kinds of images, and learning how to imagine the things we want and visualize our affirmations is the next step. Not only do you write and read them, but you envision them as being a part of your life.  Each day you read the affirmation about your life, then take a moment, close your eyes, and let the scenario of the affirmation play out in your mind.  In your vision, you can control what happens.  Use your wonderful imagination to create the things you want to see in your life.

As powerful as they are, our minds do not know the difference between something happening in the world and something happening in our imaginations. To the brain, it is all the same. If you inject powerful positive images about the things you want, your subconscious will start looking for more scenarios to bring into your life like that.  Many things I have read have stopped here, and this is not the place to stay and create anything. You are on the way, but there is more.

Emotion is the Thing

How does your mind know if something is desirable or not? By the feelings we attach to the experiences we have about the things we focus our thoughts on. You create your positive affirmation, take the time to visualize what it will be like, and then attach real powerful emotions to it.  What will it feel like to have that relationship, freedom, power, joy, or whatever you seek to make yourself happy today?  You will notice I didn’t say money. We all want more money because of what it represents, not for its own sake.  We want money for the freedom, power, or things it will allow us to experience.  It is better to focus on those things and enable them to come to you in the best way possible. Money is just energy.

Emotions are potent connectors between the mind, body, and spirit and tell the subconscious mind what is important to us. Develop your mental connection between thoughts and feelings, and your focus will drive your experience. Thus, helping you bring things you are focusing on into reality.

It Is, and It Isn’t

Some think this is like magic. Well, it is, and it isn’t. At some point, you are going to have to take action toward your dreams. If your goal is to be a musician, you need to learn an instrument, develop your voice, or develop some other skill. The creation process will drive you and bring things into your reality to help, but the real magic is your ability to develop and learn anything you want to experience.  Take your action toward what you state, visualize, and feel.  Taking steps in that direction will bring the reality you desire.

Many will tell you this is not true that creating your reality is impossible. Listening to that message is a choice, but remember, you have been manifesting your reality your entire life. The words you have chosen to believe have shaped everything about you. From the relationships you have or don’t have, the jobs you have held, and the talents you have shared. Your beliefs have brought these things into your life.  It is up to you to create what you want or accept the things society or someone else tells you to take. This choice is always and entirely up to you.

Recap:

  1. Write affirmations and positive words.
  2. Visualize these things as a part of your life clearly and in detail.
  3. Create corresponding powerful feelings about the vision

These will create a swirl of energy around the idea you want to develop and provides a fertile garden to create what you desire.

“The life you want is a manifestation of self-realization.”     Bryant McGill

“When you have done your part, it’s time to release your work into the universe and let it do its part.”   Maria Erving

“Fully inhale your dream and completely exhale manifestation of it.”     T.F. Hodge

“You are the author of your life. If you don’t like how it goes, write it differently.”     Iva Kenaz

 

21

Gratitude Attitude

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Another holiday is upon us, and we are still faced with the same old choices of how to respond.  On Thanksgiving, more than any other day of the year, it is a natural time to pause and consider all of the great things we have in our lives and, more importantly, all of the people who make your life go.  In today’s minutia, it is easy to pass by these things and people without so much as a mental mention. My challenge to myself and you is to find gratitude deep inside yourself and allow the thoughts to bring it to you to surface.  Here is my quick attempt to capture my own gratitude today.

See

How much around you do you notice? Really notice and appreciate it? From the way, it feels when cold snow hits your face to the old, worn-out way a tree looks in late November, with a few stray brown leaves clinging to branches as the chill wind blows them around in the dance of the inevitable. Most moments, we are wrapped up in our thoughts too much to notice much of anything outside of us.  That is a shame and a loss of possibility.  Start right now and put the thoughts of gratitude for the things all around you.  The sunshine on your face shows you all will be ok,  The rainfall and how it feels.  Too many people rush through the rain as if it is a major inconvenience, and in some ways, I know it is, but think of life, somewhere a person is lying on their death bed, wishing that just one more time they could feel that rain on their face. Please don’t take it for granted.

See the world, and appreciate it.  We all will face challenges, and people will disappoint us, and life will push us. Yet, it always gives you these tiny reminders of beauty to help us along the way.  If your troubles are too big to notice the small salve of nature and the miracles all around you, then you are too wrapped up in yourself. I have been there, and unwrapping your mind and letting the meaningless thoughts go is the first step. Be grateful for all the things in your life you never notice.

See Your Cast

Shakespeare claimed all the world is a stage, and we are merely players.  You are the star of your production of life, and you also choose who is cast into the leading roles in your life.  Too often, we allow people who don’t deserve to be even minor characters in your life, assume staring roles.  You determine who these stars are or are not.  Be grateful for the ones who deserve to be in your life. You will know

You have a choice to decide which roles you play and who is on the stage with you. Choose wisely, and your life depends on it.

Because they feel like sunshine. Not just once in a while, all the time. Warm, comforting, and accepting.  A wise person constantly evaluates their cast and makes sure to make changes in the production if warranted.

People are good actors, so sometimes it is hard to know who to keep and who to move on from, which creates all the good drama in your live production. Those who are not what they seem will eventually display their true selves.  Be careful of the attachments you build to the roles you play, they will change, and the people with you may change too.  Allow change to happen, create your cast wisely, allow those who care about you, and contribute to your best self to be in your life. You cast your troupe of players every day and have the opportunity for change. I have learned this lesson the hard way.

You Decide

You make all of the choices in your life, be grateful for that ability, and take full responsibility for those choices’ results.  Too often, we want the choices but only claim them as ours if it works out.  If things do not happen as we envision, we point the finger of blame at the situation, other people, the weather, God, or everything else but us.  We are the driving force behind our lives, be grateful for this gift because it means you really can do whatever you want.

Our thoughts are the power behind the momentum of our lives. A thought leads to an emotion that then will lead to action, and the results of those actions are what we call life.  You are the creator of thought and, therefore, of emotion and action. Choosing thoughts that will help you and not harm you is the first step in accomplishing anything. If you don’t like the results of a certain thought, then it is time to make a different choice and think some other way.  It is a great day to appreciate that skill in yourself. If you are not where you want to be right now, you have time to think of things you would like to experience and start moving toward it.

Next year you will have more to be thankful for and different people to think about, and probably new adventures to embark on.  Understand that you are the creator of it all and with great power comes great responsibility.   I wish you well on your journey.

Word of the Day

100 Day Reflections of Consciousness

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Raising My Consciousness One Word at a Time

Reflection– serious thought or consideration.

On Wednesday, November 22, 2017, I began a project with a simple goal.  To give an encouraging word to others every day for 30 days. What quickly resulted was a change in my awareness and quickly I saw my consciousness become more of a focus.  So then I hoped to raise the consciousness of at least one other person with each word. When I reached 30 days, like Forrest Gump, for no particular reason I kept going.  Here I am.  It has been 100 days since then and that is 100 words and 100 thought-provoking posts, that I have completed one way or another every day.

In that 100 days, I have managed to maintain my normal schedule and find time to create a post a day.  I changed jobs, which led to an entire schedule change but still was able to persevere.  People have entered and left my life.  So this is a reflection of the project at the 100-day mark.  What went well and what could have been better.  It deserves serious thought and consideration.  I will begin by looking at my thoughts, the corresponding emotions, words and actions that have arisen.  Welcome to my journey of consciousness.

My Evolving Consciousness

To me, your consciousness is simply what you are aware of in life. Too many days go by without an acknowledgment of their significance. We move one day to the next, just trudging through life. Hoping to find some distraction from life. Life is the entertainment, not the distraction. Although, I didn’t always see it that way. This project forced me to take a moment every day and set my mind toward something positive.  Each thought leads to a corresponding emotion. So if you think of frustrating things you are going to feel frustration, that will lead to words about frustration and of course, you will act on that.  The same is true for positive things.  They are there for you in every day. If you choose to look for them.

As I looked at the encouraging words for the day, I found them becoming a part of my life.  In times where I might have been angry, I was patient and able to maintain a better mental attitude. The focus on the positive things in life became more of my daily outlook. This was a conscious choice each day and it has made a positive difference in my life.

The Power of a Word

It is strange how a word can create a mindset for a day.  I started with the word kindness, then moved to encouragement, and through the 100 words.  With each consecutive word I wrote about I almost always ran into a situation that day where I could apply the lesson.  Each time, I would be consciously aware that the word was showing up in my life.  Confidence, choice, forgive and choice all came and went and as each day passed I realized that the person really benefitting from this project was me.  I am

Finally, I changed the beginning from “word of the day” to “Raising my Consciousness One Word at a time.”  There are others who have read a word here or there and found some thought from it.  Others who read every word and write to me to talk about their thoughts on that aspect.  All I know for sure is that there is a power in words.  They can lift you up and make the life of those around you better as well.  It all starts with a thought and that leads to an emotion, the words you speak, and the actions that you take.  All from the thought of a word.  Awesome.

What can get Better?

Like all projects, there are always things you learn along the way.  In this case, I would have kept better track of the words as I went along.  At first, I thought the project would only be 30 days, so I didn’t pay close attention, but then as the list got longer, I needed to be careful or the same word would be used again.  It is easier than you think.  I used the same word twice and wrote totally different ideas about it.  On the good side, there were things that I obviously needed to say.

I also would have found a way to share more of the beginning of the project with people and made a clearer agenda of what I was hoping to accomplish. However, if I had done this the project would have only lasted 30 days and would have been called the encouraging word of the day.  Much of the good that I have gotten out of this so far, might not have happened.  Overall I am happy with the result but there is always room for growth.

How will this grow?

There are a few natural paths for growth here I think. One is to do a weekly podcast on the words of that week.  I will publish it on the blog so you can hear my thoughts on the points of interest during the week.  Also could include guest appearances from people important to the blog.

Another way to grow the project would be to create a short video for each word that explains my thoughts on how focusing on the positive aspects of that word can help you become more positive in your life.  Also, I think that this format could lend itself quite naturally to becoming a book.  But that will all be in the future.

Finally, I am grateful to have made it this far, and it really doesn’t seem like a hundred days has gone by.  Because when you take it one day at a time, they just start to fly by.  I am also grateful for what the project has brought to me, what I have learned and how I have been able to express my thoughts.  It has been a great experience to have other people provide their feedback to me and to gain something positive from my little creation themselves.  So take a moment each day and really focus your thought on the words you are using in your life and look at the actions that result.  Raise your consciousness to the level you want.  Be aware of the life happening all around you. It is a pretty good thing.  100 thoughts, 100 words, 100 actions.

“Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”  Charles Dickens

“Sometimes, you have to look back in order to understand the things that lie ahead.” ` Yvonne Woon

Inspiration

Letting Go

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burningFire is an element that represents many things to many different people. To me, it has a symbol of purification. This is because when I looked into the fire, I saw the future ahead of me and the past was left behind.

The Significance of the Fire

There needs to be a bit more explanation than that I suppose.  In life, there are people who come into your life and cause only a ripple in the large tangle of life’s experience. Then there are those that are destined to leave a deep emotional crater, that you are destined to carry in your life.  How much and how long you carry it is up to you.

I started the fire for purification purposes. It needed to be done, a weeding out of cluttered possessions that served no purpose other than to remind me of things that were gone. As long as I held these things, there was the hope in the back of my mind that they would somehow summon those ghosts from the deathly slumber of their existence. It was time for a funeral, it was time for purification.

A Picture is Worth…………….

fire footage
Pictures burned as memories drift into the sky, never to be seen again.

The pyre I started was solely for me to observe and as the preparatory flames burned I said a silent goodbye and started to cleanse my existence of those memories. It was the pictures that went first.  Each happy moment of fake smiles and skin deep beauty were at first singed and then ever so slowly erased from existence.  As they went all of the lies, jealousy and foolishness went with them. Watching them go one by one was fascinating. Playing back entire years of events.  Then wiping them and their cursed impact away.  As the last fake image of yesterday disappeared into the either, candy swirled emotions of relief and fear engulfed me.

Possessions Mean Little to Me

campfireThen it was time for the things. Things that at one time held a vat of feelings and memories of special moments that will never be lived again. Knowing that there was a beauty in the world was great, but knowing that beauty can cut you deep and leave you with nothing but scars and disappointment. Onto the fire went the every single thing that had ever been given or held any attachment whatsoever.  Some of them burned well and caused the fire to burn ever higher.  Some did not, there was a bottle from a special occasion, that only the label disappeared in the wall of flame.

Your Words Showed Their Value

Eyes on FireLast and not least were the words. Words are empty when the emotions that once supported them. Now they are like the crack of a whip every time you read them and realize that they are no more. Let them go, place them in the fire.  Read one final time and destroyed forever.  That is the way of relationships that are born in the fire. They are often ended by the fire. How else could it possibly be?

The cleansing was over, the end had come. The fire went out, the past was gone with its last searing growing ember. Never to be mentioned again in conversation, but the scars remain, not only from the past but from the first moment I looked into the fire.

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French Fries and a Chocolate Shake

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by Jonathan Hilton

ffandshakeI can remember that day very clearly. I was sitting at the restaurant with french fries and a chocolate shake on the table in front of me, talking with my grandparents about my upcoming graduation from high school.

The reason I recall this day is not because of anything that was said, it was the feeling I had of becoming an adult and that my grandparents approved of the young man I was turning into and that made me feel good.

How did I know they approved? I suppose I didn’t for sure at that moment, but there are many other forms of communication that can’t be ignored.

His Name Was Leslie

My grandfather’s name was Leslie, I always thought how tough life must have been with

This is Leslie, I love this picture it shows his sense of humor, which I have inherited I think.
This is Leslie, I love this picture it shows his sense of humor, which I have inherited I think.

that name, but he did not give two shakes what anyone else thought about him.  It was one of the things that I was often embarrassed by as a kid and one of the things I remember most fondly today.

Thoughts of Leslie came up today, I was thinking about how do you know if someone you love who has passed away would be proud of you today? Leslie died in 1993 from complications from heart surgery.  It was unexpected, it was supposed to be a routine surgery, but there is nothing routine about any procedure as we found out.

I Never said Good bye

People of that generation were serious, they didn't express emotions much, it wasn't a proper thing to do. Leslie was great anyway!!
People of that generation were serious, they didn’t express emotions much, it wasn’t a proper thing to do. Leslie was great anyway!!

I never got a chance to say good-bye in person, and I have no idea how he really felt about me then. He was from a generation that didn’t talk about their emotions very much. You just had to kind of figure it out.  There were signs, but you had to look to see them.

Wondering now as I move along in life, I have faced difficult times. I have made mistakes. I have been far from perfect. I accept that, and I wonder often if Leslie and I could sit down and have a conversation today, what would he say?

I would ask, “Grandfather are you proud of me? Knowing all that I have done and been through.  I imagine the response goes something like this.

“I have always been proud of you, because you are the only one who can be who you are. You never saw my challenges and the struggles I had with my parents and finding my place in the world. I am not sure how I would have done in your shoes. I do know that where you are now, only you could get there, and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen in the future. I love you.”  I don’t remember him ever saying that to me in my life, but in my heart I just know he did. Why else would he do so many fantastic things for me?

Gone but Never Forgotten

That conversation is what I imagine and it affects me almost like it were real and not the whispering of a ghost.  In the end I guess it doesn’t matter, because I have to realize that I am a good person, I wouldn’t steal from you for any reason. I won’t lie if I can help it, (how does my hair look? If it looks bad, I don’t want to hurt feelings.) I would try to help anyone who needs it. In fact, when I look at the things like that I realize,

I am just like Leslie, and that makes me realize that even though he is no longer here, he lives inside of me and I owe it to him and all of my family to be the best human being I can be, including being proud of who I am and what I have become.

That is why I have no choice, when I eat an order of fries and a chocolate shake but to remember Leslie.  I smile and feel happy for who I am.

Motivation, People

The Stories You Provide!

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Inspiration
Inspiration comes from who we see and what we experience every day.

by Jonathan Hilton

The more I look for topics to write about and expound upon, the more my writing process comes clearly into my mind.  I write best when I have someone specifically in mind to write about, because it is like I am explaining my thoughts or emotions to them, or that I am giving them advice.  Often I know the advice would never be received directly, so I just give it on the pages of my writing.

Since these people of inspiration are all around me, they may not even know that I have been inspired by them.  I can look at almost every one of the approximately 200 articles I have written on this website and remember clearly the lesson or situation that prompted the thoughts or feelings that caused me to put it to paper.  This clearly  shows me that people do not recognize the impact that they have on others just by  living life as an example.

As we approach the new year of 2013 I am endeavoring to dig deeper into those relationships that I have had in the past to wring out the valuable experiences that I have been fortunate to experience in my lifetime.  That means that if you have ever met me than you will probably be the motivation for some piece of writing that I have done in the past or I will do over the next year or two.

writing inspirations
All things create stories in your mind, all you have to do is tell them.

I have never mentioned a name or directed a thought directly at someone because my intention is not to publicize anyone’s short comings or problems.  I simply have had experiences with people in my life that have taught me lessons from their positive actions or from their negative behavior.  Each situation has value, it is just much more fun to remember the positive, and often more valuable to recall the negative behavior some have displayed.

What this means as we head into a new year is that I am going to be writing and publishing a lot of material over the next year and when you read it, you just might see something of yourself in that writing.  I am grateful in advance for all of the experiences and looking forward to sharing them in the future.  It is definitely true that there is inspiration all around us and all we have to do is look for it, to find it.

I am planning on continually publishing articles about inspiration, but I am also going to be sharing short stories from all aspects of my youth, because they were great and they helped make me what I am today.  I can not wait to get started.

 

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