Life Lessons Part 2

Focus on yourself. Like I mentioned yesterday, I do think there are some good things about being selfish. First off, selfishness propels us to act. It helps us get things done. I also strongly believe that you must take care of yourself first before you help others. If we focus on ourselves, our desires and needs, we will be better able to help others.

There is no use in complaining; it doesn't do any good anyway. Here's another from my sweet ol' great grandpa. Of course everyone needs a good bitchfest every once and a while. But not only is it better to act than react to situations that arise, its far more empowering and esteem building to find the silver lining in any situation. Looking at things positively makes it easier to make magic happen too.

Don't waste time planning; things rarely unfold as you had planned. Ok so I must admit that this one is seriously hard for me. I waste soooooo much time planning. It's so stupid because all the time we spend planning we are missing out on so many beautiful things going on in this world- we're letting life pass us by! And, seriously, have you ever had a plan for how things will unfold and things happen exactly as you had planned? Not me. Not once.

There's always time to create. Sometimes it's really hard to be creative, especially in the working world where creativity if often squashed by systemization. But there are tons of quick and easy ways to infuse your world with creativity. And your time will be well spent because creative expression is empowering and, to me at least, life affirming!

And an extra I just thought of : ) Do what you say you are going to do. If you want to succeed, in business or relationships, do what you say you are going to do. That means, if you know you never wake up before 8, don't schedule a coffee date for 7:30 in hopes you can drag yourself out of bed. It's worse to make plans and promises and break them than not make them at all because its just not realistic for you. Be respectful of others by doing what you say. Plus, you don't want to be known as that person.

What lessons have you learned in your life? I would love to know.

Life Lessons Part 1

A few weeks ago my lovely friend Danielle wrote this really fabulous and enlightening post called "10 Things I've Learned in My 20s". I had written in my journal quite some time ago life lessons I always wanted to remember and, since Danielle's post was so lovely, I thought it would be fun to share some of my lessons with you. Be sure to head over to Danielle's blog and read parts one and two. You will love it.

You are always stronger than you think. Sometimes things happen to us that we never could have imagined or planned for. These are the times when we surprise ourselves and realize our limitations aren't what we thought they were.

The world would be a boring place if we were all the same. My great grandpa always says this and it's one of my favorites. Its funny that we spend so much time growing up trying to be like everyone else. As we get older and more mature, I think we come to realize how powerful and exciting people's quirks can be! Though I am, of course, continually working on accepting and appreciating my own quirks, it has become clear to me that if we pretend to be something we are not, our lives will be filled with people who are not right for us; people who cannot build us up and help us become what we were meant to be.


Show gratitude in everything. This one can be pretty hard sometimes. Sometimes I find myself (Gah! I don't even want to admit this!) thinking oh poor me. I think, I am a good and hardworking person so why don't I have this, or why doesn't my life look like that, or I would be happier if... While everyone deserves to have a boohoo pity day once in a while, we can't expect good things to come to us if we are not grateful for the lives we already have.


Creating happiness for others creates happiness for yourself. Ok so I don't want to sounds like a  nostalgic old lady or go off on a rant but let's get real- now-a-days people are totally selfish. And I don't blame the individual person because that's just how things are. Culture and society have created this in us. While I do think that being selfish is good to a degree (read more about this tomorrow), back in the day communities thrived because folks were looking out for one another, they respected each other. Truth is, we need each other!  Helping others and making them happy not only spreads the love and makes the world a better place, it makes you happy too!

Things To Do This Summer

Are you looking for something exciting to do this summer? Well the blogosphere is bursting at the seems with cool classes and crafty events this summer. Here is just a few of the fun things going on.

Home Ec Online Sewing Class for Beginners


One Life Photo Online Class


Great Owl Crochet Along


Sublime Stitching Combo Contest


Ice Cream Social Oliver and S. Sew Along


Pop Fizz Academy Online Yoga and Burlesque Classes



I have taken classes with both Leigh Ann (who is co-teaching Home Ec) and Nicole (one of the lovely ladies behind Pop Fizz) and both classes were wonderful and I suggest you check 'em out. Which would you like to do? Know of any other fancy things to do before the summer ends?