“Reality is for those who lack imagination.” – Unknown

Remember when you were a kid and you could build anything with Legos, or you were really great at doing your baby doll’s hair, or better yet, you could play in your room for hours at a time creating new things with your mind that were probably so far beyond reach of a child, but yet, you imagined it anyway?

The imagination of a child is astonishing. Fear has yet to settle into the little hearts of children so they imagine they can be anything. My niece is four years old. And some days she imitates animals (and does a great job!), other days she wears a blanket as a cape and becomes a superhero. She drags herself across the wall, standing really close to it and pretends she is a character in a video game. When she was three, she wanted to be a boy. The list is endless when I watch her and she jumps from doing one thing to being another. And I smile. I remember being that creative and playing all sorts of games with my siblings. There was once a time five of us were living at home, and there was never a dull moment.

Unfortunately, that time usually has its limit. Whether it be from traumatic experiences or higher expectation set forth by our parents, we sometimes tend to lose sight of how our imaginations took us from our bedrooms to the stars. The incredible feeling of just being who you wanted when you wanted is now gone because we have to work or go to school or raise children. There is this expectation of what we need to accomplish in life in order to be successful that we forget how to imagine ourselves doing what we love. When we plant that seed through imagination, it can be manifested. That is the miraculous thing about our minds. When we put our thoughts into actions, we can become whatever we imagined. And why wouldn’t we; because fear has set in? Has someone told you that you couldn’t do something or that it is too late for you?

Take a little time for yourself and just imagine. And every day do something small that brings you to that place in your mind that truly makes you feel happy. Without even giving it too much thought, when you look back months from now, I am sure something in your life would have changed due to your persistence and freedom of imagination!

“I’m not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcot

For a few weeks now I have been thinking about how I am going to get to where I want to be in my life. I even talked with someone about personal development just so that I have an idea of how to discipline myself.  My journey has been quite an interesting one to say the least and I am finally reaching a place where I can forgive myself for my past and move forward knowing that I am who I am today because of my experiences.

So here I was, with great things happening in a course of a week that made me realize the crazy connection between my heart, my thoughts and God. Yes, that connection is definitely a feeling. And as I created a vision board for myself I was enjoying my creative time by just cutting and pasting all the items that spoke to me.  The bizarre part lies in how fast certain things began to piece themselves together as if God was saying “Here, I got you.” It’s always the most insane things too. I had to literally look up into the sky and ask “Really?”, because I have never been this aware of anything in my life. And yes! It is real. My life is like a movie. It took me 11 years to decide to move to NY. And within months I have certain pieces of my life coming together that will ultimately have me where I need to be to reach my goals. Sure, I have bad days or some discouraging moments. But the difference between who I was and who I am lies in my reaction towards the things I cannot control. And even if/when I can, I allow myself to work through my feelings and make the adjustments when my mind is clearer. I have been playing a puzzle game on my iTouch where I have to get a red block out of a maze. There are moments where I get so stuck I can feel the tension building inside of me. I place the iTouch down and go back to it when I feel I am calm again. Within seconds, that red block is out of the maze. That’s pretty much how my life has been lately. I am understanding the importance of patience and becoming aware of where my feelings come from.

Life isn’t an accident. Everything happens for a reason. And as much as I always dreaded hearing those words come out of my best friend’s mouth, because I always want to know the reason “right now”, I know that it is true. I pay closer attention to who I am and how I react to certain things. And this is coming from a person who was once very aggressive and angry. I find peace. I reflect every morning and have been experiencing the most amazing synchronicity. Like, when I write in my journal first thing in the morning and then go over to check my motivational emails and for the past 3 days, the exact thing I ask or express in my writing is exactly the theme in my daily inspirations. I know it sounds crazy, but I think it is more that the stars are aligned with my direction. Or rather, I am aligned with the stars of my universe.

Since coming to New York I have met a lot of people. Some who hinder, to others who inspire. It has become easy for me to set my boundaries and move in a direction that I feel in my heart is best for me. Not because I have any ill wishes towards people, but just like a bad relationship, sometimes you just have to know when to let go. I thank God for all the people he sends my way. And then I thank Him for granting me the wisdom to understand who I am today. Because yesterday, I was a young girl lost.

“Even just a little progress, is progress. Even the smallest step forward is very much worth taking, because it maintains a positive momentum.” – Ralph Marston

New York is a fast paced city. From the way the people talk, to the way they speed walk, to the way they work. Everyone is in a rush to get
I still don’t know where though. It seems like I walk at a normal pace and still arrive to my destination with enough time to check my emails.
Sometimes I wonder if these people have a biological clock that they know is about to expire. I am learning a lot about patience. I am learning about
personal development and how to apply my daily tasks to bigger goals. It’s slow. Not everything is coming along at the rate that I would like but I am
making progress in mentally stabilizing myself. I set out with 10 things to do daily. And even if I don’t accomplish all of them, I know I have made progress
in at least on area of improvement.

I gained 15 pounds since being in New York. Not something I am proud of.  But I started going to the gym and now I am taking several gym classes. It may take me a while to lose that weight back but the key component in all of this is determination. And since I know and see what I want to look like, it wasn’t hard for me to make
the decision. It might be hard to get myself out of bed each morning or to leave the comfort of home in the evening, but the progress I will make will be
my reward. And I am not in a rush for it because since the beginning I knew that this would have to be a life change for me. It has nothing to do with
looking great but more with FEELING EXCELLENT! And every time I leave gym, I feel just that, excellent! And it triggers something in my brain that reminds me
that being overweight doesn’t allow me to feel this way. Being overweight keeps me stagnant. I have high energy for happiness and I know what helps me to feel that
way.

So, here is to those who take things one step at a time. Remember that today is the day you have. Write down what you wish to accomplish
and start it. 3 days from now you will be happy that you did. And a month from now, you will see that your life began to change the minute you CHOSE to change
it.

“Action is the last resource of those who know not how to dream.” -Oscar Wildee

GM everyone!! 2days mantra: My actions will be the key to my success! I think many times we sit around and talk about all the things we can do and be. Sometimes we even have a whole vision of what our lives would be like if we ever reached certain levels of success. We talk about it, we envision it, we hope for it. And then we sit. The actions are just as important as the dream. Things dont just happen. We have to make them happen! So why wait until tomorrow what you can do today!?

“Growth comes with time and when we age we remain the same person inside. We just have a different understanding of what surrounds us.”-Grease

Life has been different for me; different because I chose to
face a lot of demons from my past. I never even knew how much damage repressing
my feelings had really done to me. I learned to live my life masking things in
order to never have the people around me see that I was falling apart. It
became my strength in a way. People always talk about facing your past in order
to embrace your future but it’s hard to do when you don’t even realize your
past is what has held you captive from growth in the first place.

I used to blame people for my shortcomings. And I never took
responsibility for my part in my own misfortunes. And I don’t mean that I was
unfortunate in wealth or success. But to say that I had been happy even at a
time when everyone around thought I knew exactly who I was, is a falsified
perception. The most painful losses for me were always in love. I can lose
everything in my life and not have a worry about how to regain them. But when
it came to love, I always had a hard time recovering from that. I never really
understood why. I just always felt devastated at loving so hard and never getting
it back in return, as if I wasn’t good enough to be loved. I loved fast and
often. And it wasn’t at all beneficial to me when I loved for all the wrong
reasons. I didn’t know how to love.

I have love all around me today. In forms that have always
been there. The difference is that I can appreciate the love from my mom, my
sisters and my friends. It almost seems unconditional. And at the same time, it
gives me the strength I need to understand that it isn’t love I am devastated in
losing, it’s the part of myself that I give to others that I miss, like they
take a piece of me with them. And perhaps they do.

But what I recognize today is that even when they take
little pieces of me, they don’t take all of me. And I create love from a
bottomless pit. There is no ending to what I have to give.

So I have learned to love the same way I always have. Never
changing who I am for the next person but allowing the next person in, in a
different way. And even if things don’t work out and he takes a little piece of
my heart with him, I can live with the fact that my love was shared and it was
genuine. And hopefully he can walk away aware of how to love someone else the
way I had loved.

I am not afraid to be alone. I never have. But the most
important lesson for me has been to be patient in love. And allow myself the
time to grow with someone who reciprocates what I give. It is important that
the lessons I have learned can now be carried out in my actions because I am
living my life differently.  And even
though I have had to learn to love the hard way, I love with my heart, but I
have grown to be better at it because of my experiences.

Today is my birthday. I was born 33 years ago. (25 in my
heart) Anyone that knows me knows how much I love birthdays. Not just mine, but
every ones! And why wouldn’t I? it is a celebration of my birth, of the one and
only person that I am and will ever be. Sure I share the day with millions of
people, but in my world it’s my day! (Although, I did just meet someone who was
born only hours before I was. But that’s okay too.  All the more reason to celebrate)

I woke up excited and happy and oh so loved!! I get my usual
texts and calls from my sisters, my mom, my BFFs. And now with social networks,
everyone wishes me a happy birthday so it just makes it even better! It is
exciting!! It is the best day of my year!  But naturally, as the day progressed, I began
to feel the reality of things around me. Trying to meet deadlines, following up
with people and tasks, taking initiative to do things others could not, planning…
What’s new right? Such is life.

I almost blew up! I could feel my blood pressure rising. I
could feel anger taking over me and becoming just as easily a part of my day as
the excitement from earlier in the morning. But I took a step back. I had to. A
few years ago I would have argued and just been frustrated all day because I
have an expectation of certain people. I was never one to just brush things off
and keep it moving. And every time someone challenges me by having the last
word, I will always believe my ending is better.

I think that having moved away for a long time, going to
therapy, and learning about meditation and stillness has somewhat allowed me to
become a different person.  Better yet, not
so much different, but better. Today, it still took for someone to tell me to
calm down before I even realized how distraught I was.  I was in my emotions, feeling every bit of
them. But I needed to let go.

I love life. My life and yours. There is a lot of peace that
comes when you understand that you can’t control other people and what they do
nor can you expect them to be or even think like you. We are all individuals
who carry a different purpose in this world. I am focusing on my own growth and
peace and that is something no one can really take from me.  I began meditating (which I still struggle
with all the time) and then I decided to write. This is coming to me after I
wrote my last poem because the poem is what really helps me to escape and
reveal myself on paper. But I wanted to write this as a form of encouragement
to others. To appreciate the lessons you learn in life and appreciate who you
are. Because we all have to learn to live with ourselves in order to ever truly
find peace. And what is peace exactly?  To me, it’s when my soul meets my authentic
self.  A great lesson to learn on the day
I celebrate my birth.

Peace! And have a great day!