Tuesday, February 9, 2016

What If?



What if money were no object?

What if we all did for a living what we said we were going to do when asked as a child?  We might have a lot of clowns, ballerinas and astronauts...and we all might be really happy.    

If I followed my inner child’s desire, I'd be a truck driver or a vet,  a writer,  an animal sanctuary owner,  an interior designer,  a superhero,  an elephant caretaker,  an animal energy healer,  a human energy healer,  a doctor,  an artist, or an adventurer.  Or, maybe all of those things!

What if clouds were things we could float on until we felt more confident?

What if we all had clear skin so doctors could figure out easily what wasn’t working inside of us?

What if all we needed to be physically healthy all the time is to be comfortable with who we are and follow our dreams?

What if we could talk to animals and they could talk to us?

What if we had rainbow-colored eyes?

What if we could communicate telepathically with others without having to know their language?

What if borders didn’t exist?

What if our biggest concern was how to make others happy?

What if I was sure of what I wanted to do when I grow up?  What if we all were?

What if there were enough hours in the day to do everything we wanted to do?

What if traveling across the globe only entailed dreaming of the place we’d like to visit?

What if we never followed our dreams?


What if we could change what if to why not?

What would you do, if you could do or be anything?

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Adventures Make Life Richer

A Sea of Potential
I just finished reading a blog by a woman named Kendra who decided to chronicle her #yearoffear challenge where she spent a year trying new things or stepping out of her comfort zone.  It resulted in, she says, one of the most rewarding years of her life.  I want one of those, a most rewarding year of my life.

This is just exactly the premise of my blog, Life as Dessert.  But, while I had started the blog in an effort to document experiences I was going to have, it fell short.  I started this blog a year before one of the most challenging years of my life, and I abandoned my blog as well as anything that resembled my normal life.

I developed two herniated discs in my neck that necessitated nearly a year and a half of recovery and physical therapy.  Two neurologists suggested surgery, but I wanted to heal on my own with a little help from epidural steroid shots.   During this past year and a half, I have had a lot of time for reflection about how I want to live my life going forward.  Sure, my roller coaster days are over (too bad), but I feel like many other doors have opened for me.  My life as I knew had changed and it has been a year of self discovery so enlightening that I consider it one of the best years of my life.   My neck is healing too!

Why do we seem to slip into a rut over and over again?  It's like watching a bowling ball heading toward the gutter and then, once it falls in, it rocks back and forth for a moment, but never gets back out.  Sometimes we get stuck like that.

I remember flipping through the pages of a beauty magazine when I was fifteen or sixteen and thinking about all those models whose hair and makeup were perfect and why couldn't I have my hair cut and styled by one of the same people who do their hair?  Why couldn't I?  I walked out into the living room and announced to my parents that I'd like to go to New York City and have my hair done by a famous stylist.  After a short pause, they both said, sounds like fun!  Six months later, they taught me how to hail a cab and figure out a tip and they put me on a plane to New York.  I came back home that evening with the best haircut I'd ever had and one hell of an awesome memory.  My peers were all very jealous, I found out later at a high school reunion.

So, let the adventure begin!  I hope you have many adventures too.  Life is what we make of it.  Don't get into your eighties wishing you had done that one thing you had always wanted to do.  Do it now. I can't wait to hear about your adventures!