Its Not About the Destination, It's About the Journey...

In my previous post I talked about the satisfaction of achieving your goals. Something that is more important than achieving the goal itself, is the journey you take to get there. On your journey you will have to evaluate yourself; Am I working effectively? Is this helping me to progress to where I need to be? By doing this, you're paving the road to your success and believe me, this road is cluttered with all kinds of obstacles that teach you life lessons. That's why the journey, dare I say, is more important than the goal, the goal is just the reward to show for all your efforts.

One thing to keep in mind, is to stick to your goal if you plan to realistically succeed. Write your goal down so it becomes tangible and understand the reason you want to achieve such goal. If you’re straying away from the ultimate goal, go back and remind yourself why you need to achieve that goal. Actively work towards your goal everyday to get it done. Take for example something as simple as leading a healthier lifestyle, one can’t expect to do a 180° turn on their lifestyle, they have to gradually build their way up to it. Start small, 15 minutes of working out, switching out one or two junk foods and replacing them with a healthier option will get them closer to achieving the goal. You will come across procrastination and obstacles, but that is part of the journey. It's important to choose your goals wisely, remember the post on SMART goals? That's exactly what needs to be done. Set your goals wisely! Make sure they're Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. No goal is easy, however, if you don’t make your goal SMART it will only make the goal harder to attain.

Every mission you decide to take on, becomes an opportunity for you to grow as a person. When you start your quest you will inevitably gain experiences that will assist you in completing your goal. Sometimes things don't always go as planned and you have obstacles in your way that may make you lose faith in your goal. Use these obstacles to help develop your skill set, to prepare you for the work that lays ahead. The experiences that YOU go through are priceless, you are the only one who has EVER gone through your specific situation. Everything you have ever gone through in life has shaped the person you are today. All of your past life experiences come with you, they help you progress in life. When it comes down to it, all you will have are your moments, they are intimately yours, no one can take them away from you. Unlike materialistic things, they can break, get lost, get stolen or mess up, however, the experiences you gain throughout your life stay with you and play a huge role in your character’s development.

Hard work does not go unnoticed, if you put in a hard day’s work you will see results. The only way to fail at your goal is to sit there and do nothing! As long as you're moving and grooving, towards your goal that is, you'll be on your way. No goal is easy to attain, it takes dedication and determination to get there. When someone get’s a promotion at work, it’s because they have come a long way and have proven that they the experience under their belt. LEVEL UP!

Set SMART goals, write it down! Start working towards your goal everyday, dedicate some time and you’ll eventually get there. Take everything you come across as a learning experience. Life is a rollercoaster ride and you will get dings along the way that will affect your outcome. All experiences are specific to each person, no one can take away anyone’s experiences away. The level of hard work invested in achieving ANY goal will show in the results. Don’t give up, all the work you do will have been for nothing if you don’t see it through till the end. You will never know what lays ahead so it all begins and ends with you!

Lets Take a Trip Down Adventure Lane

3am:  I’m sitting with my friend in the dorms and we look at each other. He says to me, “Edith I’m bored let’s go do something!” I look back at him and say “Okay, let’s go” We get up off our lazy asses and head out the door. We couldn’t decide what to do but we just kept walking on campus and talking about our long and strenuous day. When we get to the top of the hill, there are two individuals talking to each other. One of them was laying flat on the floor as if he were bored out of his mind. The other guy was standing idle looking straight at my friend and I. We approach them and say “Hey, what’s up?” the one on the floor said “Bored as fuck, what about you guys?” My friend and I looked at each other and we both giggled and responded simultaneously, “same.” We followed up by introducing ourselves and they introduced themselves. The guy that was standing asked us why we were walking around campus at 3am and my friend proceeded  by telling them that we wanted to do something. I returned the question and they told us that they felt a strong desire to be outside. I immediately introduced the idea that we should go exploring and everyone agreed, the guy on the floor shot up from the floor and screamed “LET’S GO!”. The night was young and we set forth on an adventure less than half planned. We were going to go to the cave on campus :O. None of us had flashlights but we didn’t need them, the moon was high in the sky and so bright that it lit the path all the way through. When we got to the cave we had to use our phones, everything was pitch black inside but we were having a blast. Finally, we finished exploring inside the cave and decided it was time to head back out to the world. We walked our new acquaintances back to their dorms and my friend and I parted ways. When I got back home it was almost 5am and I was EXHAUSTED to say the least but it was all worth it. Even though I never saw those two explorers again I knew that all four of us shared an experience together of a life time.    

Some of the best adventures are spontaneous and risky, but that’s the best part about them. We need to be more spontaneous, life is short and we never know when we will seize to exist. Don’t let let life happen to you, make life happen! One of the most fulfilling experiences one could go through is to feel alive, filled with enough adrenaline to take over the world. Take chances and see where life takes you and what it has to offer you. Feel ALIVE! DARE TO BE ALIVE >:D If you haven’t felt scared shitless or excited beyond belief, you haven’t lived yet. Don’t be afraid to feel emotions and don’t let your fear of the unknown prevent you from living life to the fullest.

Ask yourself this, when was the last time you took a trip to the beach? When was the last time you went star gazing? When was the last time you tried something new? When was the last time you said ‘fuck it! I’m going to drop everything I’m doing so I can do what I want!” Now ask yourself, Why? … What is preventing you from taking a spontaneous trip down adventure lane? Part of living life is about experiencing the unknown and taking risks. You will accumulate so many meaningful memories that in the end you can say it was all worth it.

Instead of spending money on a bunch of designer clothes, designer shoes, designer bags, expensive jewelry, spend it on experiences. Those materialistic “things” won’t help you grow as person nor will they help broaden your perspective and they won’t give you something to share with the world. You can’t say much about a designer bag other than how much it costs, whereas when you talk to someone about an adventure, there are endless stories and make for intriguing conversation. There’s nothing wrong with designer items but I personally do not find them very interesting.

Enough about bags back to the topic. One day you and I will die and that is the sad truth. When you have memories of well lived moments with people you love, it fills you and helps to complete you. People aren’t going to remember you for the ‘bling’ you wore, they will however, remember the experiences they shared with you. So, find a group of people that you know you will have a great time with … and do something adventurous, planned or unplanned, just go outside and have a great time. Make your life what you want it to be.

Live life don’t just exist.  

Our Paths Crossing Was No Mistake

The other night I dreamt I was having a good time catching up with a friend of mine from elementary school when suddenly I woke up. I haven’t spoken to her in years, but this dream sent me down memory lane. I began to remember moments during my childhood. I realized that it reminded me how long it’s been since I’ve seen or contacted her. It also helped me see how the relationship we had has transformed over time and how we changed as individuals. We become so busy, sometimes we don’t stop to realize how we are changing. Change takes a while and happens slowly that the currents in our lives have a way of washing away that notion of change.

Given that everyone comes from different walks of life, everyone’s experience is different and therefore their changes are unique to their experiences. We each take our own paths and those paths cross someone else’s, like Flavia Weedn says “Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same.” Let’s face it, Flavia has a point, people make changes in the lives of others, hopefully they are good ones, check out Hareena's post on  how we can make a difference in peoples lives.

Needless to say these changes don’t stand in the way of continuing a relationship with the people of your past. However, in some cases, the changes in either party or both are so drastic, even the attempt at a rendezvous is in vain. They say time heals all wounds, but time can also create a void that if it goes unfilled will drift both people away to the point of no return.

I have to remember that I am surrounded by people that love me and care about me NOW, and not make too much of the past. Memories only serve to remind us how we got here and can help us learn life lessons, but let’s not reminisce for too long for there is more to uncover on your path. Move it along beautiful people make your life happen.

Love always,

-Edith