Daily Ramblings – Spread Your Wings Sunday – Weekly Challenge May 10, 2020.

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Different, Mother's Day, Spread Your Wings, Unique, Weekly Challenge

Ok, folks. Here we go for this week’s challenge: It’s simple because today is Mother’s Day.

Challenge: Do something extra nice for you Mom this week. Today is Mother’s Day, so you probably already have a card, and all the rest. This week do something unique to her. Maybe you connect via ZOOM or Skype, or maybe you send her a delightful gift, or maybe help her with a project you can work on while separated. Whatever you come up with, post in the comments. I’m curious to see what you come up with.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Do What You Love

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Engaged, Love, passion, Time stands still, Unique, wisdom, Wisdom Wednesday, Yours

Where does your joy come from?

What is the one thing you would do for free and feel completely fulfilled?

Is there one thing you could do that makes the time fly by because you are so engaged with it?

All of us have that one thing we love to do, but never have time for. I realize many in my readership still work, still have responsibilities, and that requires a certain amount of your time. What do you do with the rest of your day?

The “rest of your day” is what remains when you’ve handled the things you “have to do”. Maybe you work. Maybe you have a family to take care of. I just finished a Master Class course by James Patterson. When he began writing his first book, he wrote every day at 5 am before he went to work.  By the way, his “work” at the time was copywriting. So writing is James Patterson’s one thing.

If you look at any of the greats, you’ll see they gravitated toward what they loved and made it work. If you find that one thing or a few things you really love doing, no one will have to tell you when to do it. You won’t be able to wait.

If you want to pursue something in your life, pursue that thing you love doing. You’ll naturally put everything you have into it. You won’t need to drag yourself to do it. You’ll outwork everyone else in the field because it is just that much fun—to you!

I wish I could wave a wand and tell you what yours is. I can’t. It took me many years to figure that out for myself. Your area could be drawing, pottery, playing an instrument, or playing video games. It could be reading. It could be collecting stamps, coins, or something else. Heck, it could be blogging.

Take some time to think through this. Maybe on a Saturday or Sunday when you have more time on your hands. Whatever your day is to do this type of thinking/contemplation, take some time to do it.

How did I find my “thing” you ask? Well, I looked at my life and sought out that thing I did when time evaporated. What was I doing? What did I do? When I was young, I played Dungeons and Dragons. I had to create adventures for a group of my friends. This creation called for drawing out maps, creating characters, putting together plots, and doing enough of that to keep four of my friends busy for up to 8 hours every time we got together. Writing. Writing is the time I lose myself. Writing is when I gain the most joy. Writing is my thing.

Am I a great writer? Who knows? Will I be a best-selling author? I don’t care. I love to write and create worlds that I enjoy. This is all for me and no one else. I’m taking Dan Brown’s Master Class (he wrote the Da Vinci Code and many other books). He stated the same thing in one of his classes. “Write what you would want to read. If other people like it—terrific. If not, who cares. It’s your book.” (I’m paraphrasing).

The whole point of finding what you love is for you. It isn’t about making a lot of money or being famous. It is about doing what completes you. What is that thing? You find that and you’re on your way to a very fulfilling life.

Well, that’s all I got for today, folks. I hope you have a terrific day!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Follow Your Path

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Adventure, Explore, Naysayers, Regrets, Social Pressure, Take Charge, Take risks, Unique

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do you succumb to social pressures? I think we all do sometimes.

The topic I wanted to talk about in this post is the ability to pursue your dreams without being influenced by others. You know the folks I’m talking about. The friendly naysayer, the practical parent or sibling, or even a trusted mentor. Sometimes you just have to follow your gut and go for it. What’s life worth if you are constantly towing the line with society, your friends, or social pressure in general?

It took me a long time to learn this. I used to always be concerned with the type of car I drove, the size of my house, the clothes I wore, the restaurants I went to, or how many likes I get on my recent Facebook post. Yeah, I was one of those guys. The guy who was always worried about the Smiths, the Jones, or whatever pseudonym you want to use. I was that guy.

I have nothing against making a lot of money and sucking life dry. What I do have a problem with is the pursuit of things because of what people will say. It’s not worth it. Trust me.

Pursue the life you want. Chase after the dreams that are important to you. Who cares if no one has done what you want to do? Do it. Don’t be the guy or gal on their deathbed, wishing they would have done that thing they always wanted to. Do it. The only way you are going to find out if the path you choose is right is by walking it. Get out there and have an adventure.

Be the person in your family who starts a business, who decides to travel the world living frugally and with only what you have in your backpack, or writes that book you’ve got inside you. Go out to eat on your own and enjoy the company of strangers, sit in that coffee shop and write, go to that craft event and interact with the people running the booths. Whatever you decide to do is yours. No one else’s.

Life is a grand adventure. Your life is yours. You will get all you need to while you’re here. Take a risk, forge a new way to do something, ask that girl or guy out, go to that concert, or ride that roller coaster. Try new foods, listen to new types of music, explore a new genre of books or movies, you have nothing to lose, but the great experiences waiting for you.

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Thankful Thursday – Gifts

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Blessings, Gifts, God, Grateful, Gratitude, Life, Reverence, Unique

Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. – Leo Buscaglia

We all have talents. We are all good at something. Today, I am grateful for the natural gifts I have been blessed with.

One of my greatest gifts is my affinity for learning. I have always enjoyed school and learning new things. Now that I am done with formal schooling, the freedom to learn new things is important. I enjoy learning about everything. Obviously, I am focused on learning more about computer programming, writing, and continuous self-improvement, but I am always interested in finding courses on topics ranging from history to philosophy. I consider this ability to learn and my curiosity to be great gifts.

What gifts do you have? What God-given gifts do you have that you are grateful for?

If you are unaware of them, take a moment and do a personal inventory. What do you do for a living? What hobbies do you have? What do you enjoy doing? Your gift is in there somewhere. Maybe you have an affinity for exploring and adventure? Maybe you enjoy the gift of great motor skills and video games are your forte? Maybe you like a good story and you love to read and watch movies and television shows. Maybe you are a great organizer and a master at raising your kids. Or maybe your gift is an endless well of patience and love that you give to everyone around you.

You see, the gifts you receive are going to be unique to you and your life circumstances. They may not be as concrete as mine, but you will have them. You just have to look at what you do, where you are, and what you naturally gravitated towards. These gifts are priceless. They are what make us unique. They allow us to participate in life, adding to the quilt of our reality, where each of us plays a part.

Take some time to think about this today. You may have never thought about it before. I think you’ll be amazed at the gifts you have been given and how you use them in your everyday life. Still having difficulty? Check out this article: Self-Worth: 5 Ways to Identify Your Unique Gifts, provided by Tris Thorp from the Chopra Center. I think you’ll be surprised and you will get a huge A-ha when you begin thinking about this.

Once you know what your strengths are, take some time to see if there is anything you could do with this gift that you are not currently doing. This may provide you some direction that is lacking in your life, or you may just get a confirmation that you are doing exactly what you should be doing.

There are so many things to be grateful for in this life. Life is precious and a gift. Take full advantage of what you have. I wish all of you a terrific Thursday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Motivation Monday –

Tags

Content, Contributing, motivation, passion, Unique, Walt Disney, Writing

“I believe in being an innovator.” Walt Disney

Read more at: Brainy Quote

There is so much content available online and it continues to perpetuate itself. Making your own contributions online is daunting, particularly when you second-guess yourself. You ask yourself questions like: Who will find my work? Who will like my work? Am I good enough?

You are unique. You have a voice. This voice is different. There are people who want to hear your words. Get it out there.

I love blogging. I love writing. I blog and write because I have things to say. I like to put my “two cents” out there.

When Disney came on the scene, there was no such thing as a theme park or full-length animated film. He brought both ideas to the market. Today, millions of people flock to Disney’s theme parks and watch his movies. Mickey Mouse is an icon known across the globe.

You never know who will read your words. You never know who will enjoy them. Get them out there. Pursue your dreams. You’ll never know until you do it.

Some people don’t like to write. That’s ok. Pursue the things you love. Pursue your unique interests. We all have a place in this world. Your passions are where you need to focus your time and effort. There is a need for your unique contribution.

Every single person we consider great, started with an idea. Henry Ford’s idea was the automobile. Edison’s idea was the light bulb. Disney’s idea was creating products that allowed people to escape their normal lives and experience “The Happiest Place on Earth”. Disney sold happiness and wonder. Who wouldn’t want to buy that?

If you know where your passions lie, pursue them. Even if you only have time to dedicate an hour a day, use that hour to pursue that passion. You’ll feel more alive during that hour than the rest of your day.

If you want to make money pursuing your passion, research. You could write a book about your passion, write a blog about your passion, or even teach others about your passion by creating course content for YouTube or an online education hub like Udemy. There are people who have monetized their passions in the same way. Look around. You’ll find these people and learn how they did it.

My Week

I’ll be working on my 2^nd draft of my book. I’m doing a chapter a day. This week will be chapters 6-10. My daily exercise regimen is in the home because of the bad weather we are experiencing in Michigan. I’ll be getting back to the gym in March.

I’m reading 5 books. I enjoy reading multiple books at a time. I read one fiction book, a book on history, a religious book, a self-help book, and a book on philosophy. I use a service called Scribd. Scribd is a service that gives you access to books, magazines, audio books, and papers. It is a terrific service for the $8.99/month. I recommend this service if you read as much as I do.

I read digitally. It takes a while to get used to reading this way. My folks have had a real difficulty reading digitally. They still enjoy reading paper books. Print books take up too much space. Digital books allow me to get as many books as I want. They take up zero space, other than the digital space they consume on my phone or computer.

I hope all of you have a great week!

Until next time…

Dave