Blog Archives
Famous Quote Friday (Helen Keller)
“Life is either a great adventure or nothing.”
– Helen Keller
That is it right there! Life should be a great adventure. Life is what you make it. If you want to make it nothing go right ahead. I may not have a lot of money; frankly my life feels like it is going down whitewater rapids sometimes. If money is what mattered I would be sitting in a great job with graphic design and great people back in Illinois where almost everyone I know live. But that is not my life. Everything in life is not only an adventure it is a learning experience. Through heartbreak I discovered new passions, and I am still discovering more. I want to be a motivational speaker…THAT is my great adventure. Will I get there? Will I stick to it? Will it take me places I have never been? Will it make sense? I will fail, I will fall, I will cry, I will take steps toward the edge of my life, but there is one thing some people don’t know about me. Through times of weakness I ALWAYS DO MY BEST and I NEVER GIVE UP!!!! Everything happens for a reason. I moved down here to Florida at a chance to take a job as a Zip-line tour guide and it turned into something much greater and completely different. Now I am a ESE Paraprofessional working with children with autism. My job goes beyond that title with all the kids I interact with at the school. In an adventurous life you always have to be ready for it to change. Just so you know I love whitewater rafting and oddly enough when I balance myself back up I realize how much I enjoy the challenges.
I sit here, on the patio of life’s next great adventure, knowing I have choices in my very own choose your own adventure lifestyle, and it makes me feel pretty awesome. No one can stop me, all anyone can do is help and support me. What is next for me? Where will I end up? What holes will I fall in and what trips to the sky will I elevate to next? I know one thing; MY LIFE IS FAR FROM NOTHING. I hope every one of yours is too. Take a look at the menu, are you hungry for life? What kind of adventure will you order next?
Famous Quote Friday (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
I may not be popular now, I may not be intellectual enough for some, I have not mastered everything I am interested in, but I will in time be able to inspire everyone willing to listen. Not only will I leave a trail but I will leave directions on how to get where I am. I am not sitting on the achievements of the American dream, I am sitting on the adventure of the unmapped trail of my life. I have taken risk after risk, experienced failure after failure, but also lived through success after success; Ralph left us a trail through individualism, naturalism, and the freedom of your soul. Especially in this day in age, now we get wrapped up in what everyone else is doing and in where everyone else is going. It’s a fine line to realize if you are doing what society and social media have planned for you or if you are doing what you want. I am not rebellious of what people of this world have taught us toward our future I just realize there is so much more this world has to offer. If you are ready to live your life take a step sideways and create a brand new experience in your life. Take a risk outside of the safety of your regular life. Do something you have never done or something you never thought you would do this weekend and see what happens! Live your life on your own trail.
Famous Quote Friday (Bess Hardwick)
“The greatest gift is a passion for reading.”
– Elizabeth Hardwick
Elizabeth Hardwick, also known as Bess, was a writer as well as a writing teacher was certainly not shy to the benefits of reading. She was also a critic to American literacy. We all should be grateful to have the resources to read and we all should be grateful for the ability to read. With the ability and resource to read the greatest gift is the passion for it. What Bess realizes is all of us have this passion. We are gifted with the desire to want to read. You take for granted the amount you read every day. We are always reading everywhere but your true passion for reading is inside a book, magazine, or even a blog. When you role past a paragraph and you want to know more that is your passionate side talking to you. You cannot wait for the next chapter or the next month issue, that is passion. Passion is all positivism, you find something you love and you want more. When you read you learn, that is what makes it such a great gift. Not only do you have that passion for reading you have the passion to learn more. We are all reading all the time, don’t you owe it to yourself to find reading material that will inspire you? Gift yourself this weekend and go to the library to find your passion.
I love all of you.
Famous Quote Friday (Homer Rice)
You can motivate by fear, and you can motivate by reward.
But both of these methods are only temporary.
The only lasting thing is self-motivation.
– Homer Rice
Former football star and coach, Homer Rice’s words could not be any more simple. Self motivation is the key to anything astounding in your life. I think we can all relate to all part of Homer’s quote though. Fear is not a very pleasant feeling but that fear is when survival techniques start to kick in. That fear motivation is not going to get you were you want to be in life. It will turn into more of a struggle then a reward. Now to be motivated be reward seems great for sure. Nothing like positive feedback on something you were working on. Rewards give you that motivation to move forward, but the lasting motivation comes from rewarding yourself. You can easily motivate yourself. With determination you can build that can do attitude to conquer those fears. You can build a routine of goal setting and achievement and reward yourself along the way. Your self-motivation will last as long as you want it to last, the only variable is you. You have the power in you to do anything you want but you ultimately need to motivate yourself to get there because any other motivation will always fall short!
Famous Quote Friday (Unknown)
No matter how slow you go,
you are still lapping everybody on the couch
-Unknown
Ah yes the wondrous Unknown quotes! Are they famous? I don’t think that matters because most of them worth repeating are very inspirational. This quote is really summed up in two words, “keep going”. Everyone takes a different time frame to do things. Whatever you are trying to accomplish; it does not matter when, it matters that you keep going for it.
Sometimes I feel like things are going slow for me, but in reality I am learning so much in lifes journey. At the pace that things change in life sometimes you just need to slow down and take things in. You need to enjoy your journey or accomplishment. To do that you need to achieve things at your own pace. The greatest part is, you are getting farther in life and achieving more then those that are doing nothing with theirs.
Famous Quote Friday (Oprah)
“The only courage you ever need is
the courage to live the life you want.”
Oprah Winfrey
Do you have the courage to live the life you want, or do you let laziness get in your way and take life’s easy route? I am not going to dabble in the definitions of an easy route to life but to the individual that defines it I am sure the word boring comes into play. We have tons of thoughts and ideas in our heads. We have tons of dreams that we wish would come true. The best part about living the life we want and making our dreams come true, is that all we need is the courage to make it happen.
Do you have the courage to stand up for what you believe in? Do you have the strength to venture beyond the norm of your life? Having courage is about taking risks. Fear not that it will be difficult at times. Be ready to fail, be ready to learn and be ready to live.
It is Friday people, the end of some peoples work week and the end of some people’s school week. UPwithmarc wants you to grab a hold of your courage this weekend and venture beyond your comfort zone. You want to be a painter, start painting. You want to travel, start a plan for where to go and how to save for it. You want to meet new people, there are dozens of ways to do it you just have to get off your butt and go. Do something new this weekend, maybe it is risky maybe not. If you fail try again, if you succeed GREAT!
Have a Courageous weekend everyone.
Famous Quote Friday (Howard Thurman)
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
– Howard Thurman
Howard was a very influential African American author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader. When you’re ready for change you don’t ask of the world. You have to ask yourself, what do you need. What do you need to come alive? Our reality is becoming easier. Or world is offering so many things that are drowning us in pointless futures. How many times can you watch over exaggerated reality shows before you learn anything valuable? How many times can you reach the top level in a role playing game before you feel like you accomplished anything that changed your life? I could keep going but I don’t need to upset too many people with my examples.
Howard has passed on about 33 years ago and I really am taking a modern day view of his inspiration. My point is, what Howard is saying here is we need to get out there and find what really gets our blood pumping, what really makes us original and creative. These are the things that this world really needs. Dig deep within yourself and discover your own creative ideas instead of looking to Pintrest for everything. All of us have the ability to come alive with our own ideas. The only thing current conveniences in our generation do is void us of challenge. Without challenge you cannot truly come alive. Without failing you cannot truly get to know the real person you are within! Originality is where we will come alive.
Famous Quote Friday (Billy Cox)
From all that I have seen, time and time again, at least 90% of success derives from having a dream and knowing what you want.
Billy Cox
Everything in our life starts as a dream. It is entirely up to ourselves if we want to live by those dreams or not. If you know what you want out of life and you go after it, the success of your dream coming true is huge. Now success just does not happen and it does not happen overnight. You have to work for it; you have to work towards it. You need to earn your successes. Most importantly you have to be brave enough to tackle all of life’s obstacles to get to where you want to be in life. You have to be willing to try new things. You have to be willing and excepting of change. A good life is not easy I guarantee that, but doing whatever it takes to have a good life is well worth the effort. What are your dreams? What are you going after? Live your life the way you want and you will triumph over your challenges.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Famous Quote Friday (John McLeod)
“Life holds so many simple blessings, each day bringing it’s own individual wonder.”
John McLeod
John McLeod has gone through many challenges. He had a very big learning and reading disability and as soon as he knew how, he began writing poetry to cope with his situation. He would write about his own life experiences and he began to realize the real power of words and how inspiring they can be. John passed away a few years ago but he left behind plenty of wisdom an inspiration for future generations.
All of us have challenges through life. How we are reacting to them is what shapes our future. I can relate to Johns life. I had a slight reading disability when I was younger. Very few people know about this but in High School I sacrificed my lunch hours to take a special reading class. That class was another life saver for me. Because of that, I was able to read and comprehend better and get better grades in my classes. Still today I have my few grammar follies and get hung up on big or new words, only now I just laugh when people call me out or make fun of me because they have no idea how hard I worked, who I was then and who I am becoming now. All they see is the negative. Every book I read every blog I write strengthens my abilities for improvement each time. I am grateful that none of this has held me back from being a great person, trying my best at everything I do and achieve all that I want to achieve.
I have discovered just as John that each day is a new day and each day has so much to offer. There is so much wonder in our lives but we need to be open to see it. We get hung up on our big goals and big changes. We don’t realize the small blessings in life. What makes you smile, how many times has someone said thank you or how many times have you said it? Be yourself, be generous, and be grateful; you are building wonder within yourself and at the same time blessing others with setting them up to find their own wonders. We live in a wondrous world why not encourage that wonder as much as possible.
Have a great weekend everyone. If you have not already please follow my FACEBOOK page for more positive inspiration.
It’s The Journey That’s Important . . .
Poet: John McLeod
Life, sometimes so wearying
Is worth its weight in gold
The experience of traveling
Lends a wisdom that is old
Beyond our ‘living memory’
A softly spoken prayer:
“It’s the journey that’s important,
Not the getting there!”
Ins and outs and ups and downs
Life’s road meanders aimlessly?
Or so it seems, but somehow
Leads us where we need to be,
And being simply human
We often question and compare . . .
“Is the journey so important
Or the getting there?”
And thus it’s always been
That question pondered down the ages
By simple men with simple ways
To wise and ancient sages . . .
How sweet then, quietly knowing
Reaching destination fair:
“It’s the journey that’s important,
Not the getting there!”
Famous Quote Friday (Wayne Dyer)
“There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there’s only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.”
Wayne Dyer
In my search to love everything in life I was introduced to the writing and speaking of Wayne Dyer. My new friend Tammy only told me about him a few weeks ago. He is a very well know American self-help author and a spiritual motivational speaker. Early in his career he had resisted his spiritual title only to fully embrace it later on. He has been put under fire many times for his views in writing and speaking, but I believe he has such a new way of thinking that the world is just not used to. I think he has a lot more to prove than your average speaker to be accepted.
His quote here certainly speaks true to his career. Opportunity is everywhere you just need a strong determination to go after it. However, sometimes what you want to do with the rest of your life does not seem like it will pay out to your wishes. This thought is that lack of resolve in your lifestyle. Put your thoughts of money aside and put your head down and go after what you truly love, your life will shape around that! If you really want something you will do whatever it takes to get it. If you are falling short of determination for something then your falling short of a great passion for what you seek, and maybe it is time to seek something new.
Find things in life that you really love, then you will find a career path that gives you that joy you are looking for. They say it is hardly work if you love what you are doing. The thing they don’t say is sometimes the road to what you love is hard and full of challenges. A journey worth while to pursue what you love to do.
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