The Crossroad

   Almost everyone at some point in their lives gets to a place where they come to a crossroads and where they are so burnt out on the hardships that our everyday lives can present from time to time. It can also bring you to a point where you realize that things just aren't working anymore and that changes need to be made in order to get out of the rutt you are in and It can really be challenging to rise above these struggles.

   I have recently come to one of these crossroads in my life. Being a single parent. Not having the capability, know-how, time or financial means to keep up with an older home on my own. Having little time to spend with my son or get anything done. Working long hours, late nights and most weekends at a job that I have no passion for or interest in. Making money for someone else instead of investing my time in my own future. Mostly being alone and spending very little time with my boyfriend who happens to be active duty army. He just got back from a year deployment in the middle east and is now stationed in Germany for the time being. Living paycheck to paycheck struggling every month just to pay my bills and never getting anywhere.

   It's times like these that make us stop and wonder "what the hell Is my purpose in life?" and "what  should I really be doing with my precious time?" I don't think that there is a person on this planet, despite their circumstances that doesn't know exactly what I am taking about. However painful, this can be a good thing because It allows us to sit back and re-evaluate our lives and where we are headed. I think it is beneficial to go through this every so often because it allows us to take a moment to think about what is really important. It makes us question if what we are doing is worth it. That is where I stand today. At a crossroads. A crossroad between money and time. Family and work. Love and lonliness.

   I myself have a hard time waking up day in and day out and going to work for someone else and making them the real money. Being away from my family and juggling a childcare schedule just so I can spend at least 40 hours a week doing something that I have no desire to be doing. I don't want to help you grow your business and make you a nice fat nest egg to fall back on. Following your rules and your schedule. Knowing when something is wrong or needs to be fixed but not having the power or authority to fix it or stop it from happening all together. Dealing with fellow employees that don't care if they are helping the situation or hurting it. Not everyone wants to own their own business or be the boss. Not everyone has an entrepreneurial mindset as I do and that's fine. It's not for everyone. But there are a lot of people out there that do share in that same struggle as I do. For me this is not how I want to spend the rest of my life. Where is the passion? Where is the drive? I know there are so many people out there struggling with the exact same thing and when this happens It can affect every other aspect of your life.

   What do you do when you have lost the passion to wake up everyday and live your life to the fullest, When the lack of passion and drive affects everything else in your life? It's time for an overhaul. It's time to re-evaluate and prioritize. For those out there, like me, who want more, It doesn't have to be this way. We don't have to work 40 hours a week for little to  nothing, doing something you have no passion or drive to do. We have the ability to create our own destiny and make our own choices. We have the ability to start our own businesses and be successful through our own sweat, tears, time spent and still reap the benefits for ourselves. It is possible to be happier. With that said, It isn't going to be easy and you're going to have to put a lot of time into it, at least at first. But when it is for your own future It makes the work a lot easier and enjoyable. No one is going to hand you your dream job or even help you build it. But you can do it and it will be worth it.

   First, you have to find your passion. Take some time to write down all the things that you are good at. Think about what you enjoy doing above all. If you could be doing anything with your time what would you be doing? What makes you happy? Make a list. Take baby steps. Learn as much as you can about your passion. Become really good at it. Talk to people about it. Read books about it. Reasearch on the internet about it. Find other people that have the same passion as you do and It can really motivate you. Get motivated about life again and your future. Pray about it. Whatever works for you. You have to find the will and there will be a way. Take the leap. I can't say this will work for everyone or that this is for everyone. I do know that If I don't want to continue to eek through life barely making ends meat and having very little time for my life that I have no other choice. I am willing to take a risk for my happiness and future. I am willing to work hard to be happy and be a passionate person again. I want my time back.

   The best advice I can give to anyone including myself is to not let this get you to down. Instead allow it to inspire you to be a better you. To go after something that you have always wanted but never thought was possible. To make a difference. To look at your life from an ariel perspective and decide what needs to stay, what needs to go and what needs to change. If you look around you, there are so many things and people that can inspire you. Take some time to re-evaluate and prioritize and see where it takes you. Maybe you will realize something about yourself that you didn't know before. Maybe you weren't even aware that you needed a change. It's always a good idea to better yourself and to take the time here and there to change things up, learn more about yourself and grow. I know that's what I need and what I am in the process of doing right now.

   My plan is to change my life and myself for the better. To better my situation and learn more about myself. To find out what my true passion is and how to acheive my goals. No one else is going to do it for me and no one else is going to do it for you either. Good luck with your search for passion and happiness.

   Until next time. Live your life to the fullest!!! And Go.....

The fears that hold us back

Have you ever wanted to do something new and different or change the way things are but your fears have held you back from doing it? I think most people can relate to that. So many times I have wanted to do something but I let my fears hold me back. So many times, I will sit and think about the negative and about what could go wrong or what could become a problem that it paralyzes me. It keeps me from being as successful as I would like to be. It keeps me in a stagnant place of unhappiness.

Why do we do this to ourselves? How can we change this way of thinking to be more positive. How can we keep our fears from holding us back? How can we be filled with so much excitement and fear at the same time? It's not necessarily a bad thing but I can cripple us where we stand. It's completely okay to be aware of your fears but don't focus primarily on the fears alone.

This is something that I have been struggling with from a very young age. As far back as I can remember I have let my fears over run my life. So I began to change that. I am nowhere near perfecting the techniques, but I work on it everyday. I had to learn how to think about the positive things that made me want the change in the first place. It's more important to try and fail than to not try at all. It's okay to make mistakes. It's actually great to make mistakes. We learn from them. We become better people and better at what we do because of those mistakes. The world isn't going to end because we took a chance and went after what we wanted. If anything you will be successful and if at first you don't succeed try and try again. Soon you will learn to not let those fears hold you back but instead push you to overcome and concur. I don't think there is a successful person out there that didn't make mistakes along the way or get where they are by giving into their fears. So next time you feel those fears building inside you and holding you back, remember what you're fighting for in the first place. Know what you want and go after it with the passion and endurance that you have inside you. Don't let anything hold you back and live the life you want and deserve.
Live your life to the fullest And Go......

"The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure"  ~Sven Goran Eriksson