This past week has been such a success for the L³ Blog thanks to you guys.
Your comments on the blog giveaway have been such a joy to read on a daily basis and I loved connecting with some of you guys.
It’s amazing to me that in all of the comments I’ve read it’s the little things that count. Whether it’s getting in a good work out, sipping some tea or being with the kids, these are the things that matter most to you guys.
And I absolutely love that!
If I had to answer my own question, the thing that makes my life most lush will undoubtedly be spending time with my family. That’s because I don’t spend enough time back home in Trinidad, so any spare chance I get to fly over the Atlantic to see my mom, dad & sister is always worthwhile to me. They make me happy.
But unfortunately, all the enjoyable comments have come to an end here.
The fat lady has finally sung.
The 1st ever L³ Blog Birthday Giveaway has come to an end.
But I’ve enjoyed doing this giveaway so much that I’m already thinking about doing another one in the coming months. I’m still thinking about what gifts I should bestow on you awesome people.
Nevertheless, I want to thank everyone of you for liking, commenting, appreciating, supporting and being a part of history.
I will be back bright and early tomorrow, the 12th February, letting you know who the 3 lucky winners will be.
Hope you guys had a great weekend enjoying the things that you love…
I recently had a talk with one of my friends about his grandmother. He informed me that he was being guilt tripped by his parents into seeing one of his grandmothers – the sick grandmother. She has been a widow since Christmas Day 2012, and lives alone in a home for the aged, a home that she once shared with her husband. In addition to this, she also seems to have dementia. She speaks of family members of her past that she can hardly remember and is barely active during the day. He felt guilt tripped because it wasn’t in his heart to go – he hated being in such a depressing atmosphere, and never enjoyed being around her because of her condition. He rather turn a blind eye and stay away instead of being present in the moment and accepting of the fact that his grandmother will never be as she used to be, ever again. She was surviving; not living – and he couldn’t take that.
When I heard this I became defensive of his grandmother, almost instinctively. I told him to stop being so selfish, suck it up & go see his grandmother because not only has she lost her husband and is grieving, she’s living alone in the midst of her grief. ‘It isn’t always about you’, I said. Then, for a dash of impactful retrospection I asked, ‘What if that were you or your wife? Would you rather your children put you into a home because they made a conscious choice – a well thought out decision – not to take care of you themselves? How would living there make you feel’? I proclaimed that she still needed to know that he cared.
But what he divulged to me, after my sudden outburst, was shocking. He said that if it were him, he would rather someone put a pillow over his face till he stopped breathing because TIS NOT LIFE! I thought to myself, ‘You’d rather die’? He would rather die than live a life he could not really participate in & enjoy. I understood his opinion but the nanoseconds after his exclamation, so many questions were crossing my mind. Is it fair to give up on life, yourself & those closest to you, in the face of adversity like that? What if there is more that you can teach & show others despite your condition? Can’t one have a disease, an ailment, a disability & still find the power & strength to be positive & hold your head up high through it all? Why give up? But the main question that I kept coming back to was, are we using our able bodies to live our best lives everyday just in-case our futures were to take a negative turn?
The Future
No one knows what the future holds. We all dream of bold, bright, luminous futures where we can change the world – or just our immediate environment, using our God-given talents & skills. Those futuristic dreams are totally worth it! But what if, as with all things in life, change happens? We can develop some kind of ailment. We can be irrevocably hurt by an accident of some sort. Our parents can become dependent on us as they get older. We can suffer from strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, cancer…and so many other things. I know it sounds depressing, and no one likes talking about the possibility of a bleak future, but let’s talk about it. It’s reality! We have absolutely no idea how our futures will turn out so why do we put so much emphasis on it?
Jonathan Safran Foer of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close questions, “Why didn’t I learn to treat everything like it was the last time. My greatest regret was how much I believed in the future.”
George Harrison also declares “It’s being here now that’s important. There’s no past and there’s no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can’t relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don’t know if there is one”.
Question?
Are you embracing & appreciating the full life that you have been given?
There is Always Room for Change
If you answer this question truthfully, you will undoubtedly identify the areas where you know you can do better.
Do you find it hard to make time for the needs of your family because you’re too busy working or doing things outside of the home? – then you aren’t embracing and appreciating the full life that you have been given. Cherish and protect these individuals with your life!
Do you find yourself saying no to the good things and people in life out of fear or anxiety? – then you are not embracing & appreciating the full like that you have been given. Open your arms and say yes more!
Do you desire to travel beyond the boundaries of your country but have chosen against it because you have no money…you have no one to go with you…you’re afraid that you’ll be kidnapped and sent into sex slavery? (The movie ‘Taken’ has seriously brainwashed some members of my family) – then you are not embracing & appreciating the full life that you have been given. Don’t let blocked doors stop you. Get out there and see the world!
Do you have a dream? A dream that you wish to fulfil but you aren’t working towards it as hard as you know you should? – then you aren’t embracing and appreciating the full life you have been given. Whether it’s as simple as passing University exams and graduating with a degree, or as complex as launching a designer fashion label, you are worth your dream.
An Excellent Example of Being Human
The genius motivator & life coach, Tony Robbins, once declared “Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”
So be grateful for the life that you live now. Embrace & appreciate every single aspect of it. Don’t waste time. Focus on today and take massive, determined actions towards creating the life that you aspire to live. A life filled with people who you love, & who love you in return, a life filled with goal reaching and target busting, a life filled with fun and enjoyment, a life filled with stories and tales you wish to tell your future offspring or grandchildren. Live a life that you can be proud of because the future is not ours to control. After all, we usually regret the things that we don’t do instead of the things that we actually do in life.
Art – the essence of new, unique creations. Art is not meant to make us feel comfortable – it is meant to disturb us. Art is supposed to make us feel something. It is meant to leave us with a prolonged emotion…a lasting feeling that has the potential to change us forever. Art causes change. It causes us to relive old memories – some we’d like to forget and some we will always remember. It causes us to want a better life. It causes us to dream. In this article, the prolific writer, Jeff Goins, speaks about art and it’s ability to inspire change. Continue reading below if you want your daily dose of inspiration; and check out his blog as well. It’s awesome. Enjoy!
Writing is easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
—Ernest Hemingway
Ever seen a movie that broke your heart? Or heard a song that shook you to your core? Have you ever experienced something so profound it called attention to a personal issue you’d rather forget? Call me crazy, but I believe this is what good art is supposed to do — disturb us.
Photo credit: menteurmenteur
The other day, I overheard a conversation between two men sitting behind me at a local cafe. And frankly, it bothered me. Here’s what they said:
“They did a really dark play… The Glass Menagerie?”
“That one by Tennessee Williams?”
“Yeah, I guess. I dunno. It was really dark.”
My soul sank. I love that play. The guy who saw it proceeded to talk about how he didn’t “get” it, and the other concurred. Both didn’t like it because of how unsettled it made them feel after watching it.
But that’s the whole point.
Pardon me while I get on my soapbox, but I take issue with the idea that comfort should be a determining factor for what makes art “good.” Making you comfortable was never the intention.
Art tells us what’s wrong with the world
Some of us are not content with the status quo. We know something in this world has gone wrong. We sense this deep in our bones, in our heart of hearts, and it bothers us.
This discontent leads to a distrust of cliches and predictable plots. Those are not enough to describe the situation in which we find ourselves. We need something real, something that sparks our imagination and addresses unresolved conflicts.
I watched Midnight in Paris again the other night, and I noticed this line I hadn’t heard before:
Life is kind of unfulfilling.
That resonated with me. How true, I thought. Part of the artist’s job is to make sense of this, to describe the lack of fulfillment we all feel.
And what better way to narrate the journey of our souls than with words and paint splotches that speak to this dissatisfaction?
Good art is messy
When you create something that doesn’t acknowledge this fact — that life is Act 2, not Act 3 — your audience knows it. They can tell when you’re being disingenuous. It feels too clean, too literal. Our souls thirst for more.
We want broken and beautiful, real and raw. Sure, we want abundant life, but we know it comes at a cost. And when you don’t illustrate that cost well — with sacrifice and toil — we don’t believe the story.
Just as God formed the earth from chaos and babies are born amidst screams and blood, art emerges from the pain of a broken world.
If it doesn’t break your heart or cause you to ache a little, then it’s not art.
Sad, but true
There is an underlying sadness in all art. It’s because humanity is not whole, but should be. We recognize something is wrong and that we can’t fix it ourselves — at least, those of us who are paying attention.
That’s why I love Tennessee Williams. And Adele. Why I resonate with the ache of Mumford and Sons and the unsettled feeling after finishing an episode of Mad Men.
All these stories and songs are trying to teach us something: We are not done yet. What a beautiful mess this life is. Beautiful and broken and begging to be redeemed. And for those who are listening, this truth resonates.
If you create or consume art, I hope you recognize this truth. I hope you remember as you catalogue your own story. I hope you embrace the fact that you are a wonderful work in progress, but still fragmented at the core.
So here’s a challenge: Do something today to remind yourself of this. That you’re not finished. There’s still healing and wholeness to happen. It’s the difference between a message that rings hollow and one that hits home.
My questions:
Does art have an underlying theme of sadness?
Has art, your art or the art of another, ever inspired you to change for the better? If yes, how?
Share your comments below. Don’t be scared, I’d love to hear from you.
In our increasingly border-less society, we all come into contact, in one way or another, with people who don’t share our love language. Be them family members, friends or lovers, that intimate disconnect makes itself apparent every time you touch, speak or share. Someone desires more while the other unintentionally gives less. Someone wants less while the other offers much more than is wanted in the first place. Love is a funny thing! This article, written by Chelsea Fagan of Thought Catalogue (a website devoted to relevant, relatable & creative thought), exposes this reality but offers much-needed solace in acknowledging that just because your love language isn’t identical to that of someone else, it does not mean that love isn’t there. Enjoy!
There are certain aspects of relationships which are never a question of blame, but always a question of hurt. When we love someone who doesn’t show their love in the same way — who can’t quite understand the things we need from them — it will always feel like a terrible defeat, even if it is no one’s fault. We have all had friends who aren’t as touchy-feely as us, or who don’t recognize certain things that may hurt our feelings, or aren’t good about getting back by phone. We’ve had the lover who just didn’t enjoy spooning, with whom it always felt like something of a personal insult when you were relegated to separate sides of the bed. We have had the family member whom we often saw through a wall of our own inability to comprehend one another, with whom communication was always occurring on two very disparate wavelengths that the other couldn’t tune into. It’s a fact of life, but that doesn’t make it any less sad when it happens.
I can remember feeling deeply wounded by a friend once because I felt that, whenever I tried to express my genuine affection, she became uncomfortable or distant. She didn’t seem to know how to reciprocate it, or even make sense of it. When things were light and we were laughing, there was no one else we’d rather be with — but when it came time for a deeper moment of confession or gratitude, I seemed to be speaking a language that she had only learned basic conversational phrases in. When I would talk to her about things I had felt slighted by, or ways in which she would communicate more articulately, she seemed to feel attacked and to want to retreat into herself. She would apologize, but it was clear that she wasn’t fully sure what she was apologizing for.
And it wasn’t until I began looking for reasons why this might be that I realized all of the myriad ways in which she was demonstrating her love for me every day, ways which I didn’t automatically perceive because I would not have done the same thing. But I only needed to look through our email exchanges for example, seeing how nearly every day she had sent me something she thought I would find funny, or tell me something that had happened in her life and ask my advice on it, to see that she was saying how much she cared. When she would write messages to check up when I was hurt about something unrelated, even if the wording was rather sparse, it was clear that she was concerned about me and wanted to make sure that I was okay. It was clear that, while my love was expressed in broad conversations and declarations, hers was expressed in humor. It was in little moments of attentiveness, of remembering me, of asking questions to which she genuinely wanted the answer. Her love for me was clear, but expressed in a very different way.
These differences are based as much in who we are as people as the kind of relationships we are looking for in life. Some of us love touch, some of us love deep conversations, some of us love humor. We are allowed to love all three — and a million more things — all in as many variations as we want. My friend is naturally a more reserved person emotionally, and I tend to be more expressive, but this doesn’t mean that either of us love the other one less. And if another friend gives me an overlong hug and I tense up (true life: hugs tend to make me uncomfortable, I don’t know why, deal with it) it doesn’t mean I’m not happy to see them. I just don’t demonstrate my affection in that way. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
There are people who show their care by making people feel like welcome, tended to guests. They love having people over and making things perfect for them, reminding them that anything they want is no problem. There are people who use humor to bridge the gaps that we can’t always reach in literal terms — they make people laugh when they need it most, and connect with them over things they both enjoy. There are people whose love pours out in complicated, profound words. They could fill books on the way their partner looks when they just wake up, or how much they love spending time with their best friend. People love to cook for the ones they love, or do favors, or pamper them, or compliment them, or just hold their hand in silence. And none of these demonstrations of emotion are wrong, or bad. None are not worthy of being acknowledged and appreciated.
The truth is that there will be a million people in your life who actually don’t love you, whose dismissal of your feelings or tendency to ignore what you want are rooted in genuine apathy. They are everywhere, and make navigating our emotional lives even more complicated. But there are also many people who do love us, and who want to show us, but just may not be able to do it in the way we most want to hear. And it’s important to distinguish between the two, to look at the things people are actively doing for us and take account of the things we’re lucky to have in them. Because we are lucky to have love — in any of its forms — and no way of saying “I love you” should be forgotten about.
My questions:
Have you ever experienced a relationship where your love was not reciprocated in the way you desired?
Have you opened your eyes to the different ways in which people show their love to you?
Share your comments below. Don’t be scared, I’d love to hear from you.
*Have you ever thought about becoming an entrepreneur but was too driven by fear to make that dream a reality? Maybe you were afraid of the hard work and persistence it takes to become a successful entrepreneur? Maybe you were afraid of the possibility of failure? Or maybe it was the possibility of success and the expectations that it would bring? The start-up life of an entrepreneur, the life that exists between the start of the journey and the destination, is never easy. It’s full of turbulence. You’ve got to be passionate! You’ve got to be willing to ride the waves to success! And lucky for you, I’ve got some more bits of entrepreneur inspiration to share with you from The Entrepreneurship Conference 2012 that I attended in November. The notes aren’t the best – I’ll admit that, it’s hard to re-enact such heavy words of wisdom from these millionaires into 4-5 sheets of paper, but my hope is that at least one thing jumps out at you guys from this screen that would help you to do things better, change your thinking or even revive that dream of becoming a wealthy entrepreneur. That goal has been accomplished time and again! If individuals like John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Tony Hsieh, and Mark Zuckerburg can defeat the odds and claim massive amounts of wealth and success, then so can YOU!*
Last on our list for today’s entrepreneurship tips and hints is Bill Walsh. He’s the CEO & Founder of Business Coaching & Venture Capital Firm Powerteam International. His passion is to empower entrepreneurs and business owners to create massive success. He loves helping people understand specifically what it takes to build successful companies. He has a very accomplished background in finance and marketing. He has spent two decades working with a wide range of companies, from start-ups to major global brands; increasing sales, productivity and overall success. He is also an innovator with a remarkable ability to determine and dictate success strategies that seize global market opportunities. For everyone that owns a business or would like to capitalize the entrepreneurial dream, his message will enlighten them with knowledge and action principles to turn that passion into success! Here’s the wisdom he bestowed upon me in his talk called ‘The Foundation’. It’s about turning the dream into a reality and actually launching a business but a lot of what’s discussed below can apply to many other facets that need improvement in your life:
To Launch:
1) Be a leader: People follow the leader, not the team
2) Build a great plan: Be realistic about the numbers and what it takes to generate customers
3) Create an exit strategy: Create a strategy that allows you to get out of your business if need be. Don’t tie yourself fully to it. After a while it would be necessary to let others hold the reins; and this is very important when it comes to either selling your business or letting it go if it’s unsuccessful, in order to move onto another project.
Create value for your customers– DON’T CHASE MONEY
BE FLEXIBLE
Co-ordinate an inside team & an outside team – DELEGATE
QUIT trying to do things you suck at! – If you try to do everything, nothing gets done.
To Market:
1) Marketing = 90% of business success
2) Build a website that makes money
3) Stop discounting your prices, simply add more value for your customers
4) No Money? Need Marketing? – Consider joint ventures. Find industry leaders that have a sphere of influence and believe in you and your business, and add value to them first.
5) Everyone is approachable – Don’t be afraid to make contact with profitable people in your industry. Just remember to add value to their lives first.
6) People want to know you before they get to know your product or service – Who’s the person behind the brand?
7) You are always on the air – Brand yourself to win! What’s your market pitch?
Customer Service:
1) Add tons of value & ask for nothing in return – Serve with no expectations
2) Your customers buy results – They always want to know what they’re going to get for their money
Personal Development:
1) When you work part time on your dreams, your dreams work full time for you
2) When opportunity shows up for you to step up your game – STEP UP!
3) If you have your priorities straight, everything else will fall into place
4) Schedule all of your success today – don’t plan for your failure
5) Don’t fear the dream – embrace it
6) If you don’t have a plan with a target, it’s simply a dream
7) A dream without a plan is a waste of time. It starts with a plan of where you’re going – date it! Where will you be a year from now?
8) If there’s no date, it’s not real! Date your goals and your dreams
9) To be successful you need to be on path & on purpose: Don’t lose your FOCUS
10) Many of us live someone else’s plan or dreams for ourselves– we need to step into our individual visions!
11) Your gut feeling = spiritual intuition: It guides you to where you’re supposed to be going, always listen to it.
12) Don’t start a business if you’re not ready to build it
Success starts today and it ALL begins with your mindset
Here’s what you can begin to do:
Plan: “A small piece of something really big is better than a big piece of something small” – It doesn’t matter how you start planning; JUST START!
Create a great experience for your customers – Keep them coming back for your service
Team: Have an outsource team and an insource team
Action: Stop surrounding yourself with negative people. Surround yourself with people smarter than you – make them a part of your team
Find a Big Cause: aka ‘The Bigger Picture’ – How can you use your success to help others? Do you want to get your family & friends out of debt? Do you want a better future for your children? Do you want to help save the environment or the world’s dying children? – Why do you get up every morning wanting to do what you do?
Forget-Me-Nots:
If you don’t own your space, someone else will! Be the best in class – become an expert at your craft!
You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great
Once you begin to elevate your game, there’s no going back – keep moving forward, don’t be afraid of success
Self-doubt is the ultimate killer of all small businesses
Small victories always add up to big success
Persistence + Failure = Success
Final Quotes:
“I’ve failed over and over again in my life & that’s why I succeed” – Michael Jordan
“When you think about success the way that you think about breathing, then success will show up for you” – Just as badly as we depend upon the air that passes through our lungs in order to survive, that’s how badly we need our determination to succeed to be. If you want it badly, your life will depend upon it.
Last on our list for today’s entrepreneurship tips and hints is Bill Walsh. He’s the CEO & Founder of Business Coaching & Venture Capital Firm Powerteam International. His passion is to empower entrepreneurs and business owners to create massive success. He loves helping people understand specifically what it takes to build successful companies. He has a very accomplished background in finance and marketing. He has spent two decades working with a wide range of companies, from start-ups to major global brands; increasing sales, productivity and overall success. He is also an innovator with a remarkable ability to determine and dictate success strategies that seize global market opportunities. For everyone that owns a business or would like to capitalize the entrepreneurial dream, his message will enlighten them with knowledge and action principles to turn that passion into success! Here’s the wisdom he bestowed upon me in his talk called ‘The Foundation’. It’s about turning the dream into a reality and actually launching a business but a lot of what’s discussed below can apply to many other facets that need improvement in your life:
Lushness Of Luminous Living 