Go For It
“If you wait for others to tell you what to do with your life –
it won’t be your life you’re living … So … Just go for it!”
Penny L Howe, 2014
just do it
Self Determination begins with SELF!
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a self determination button. You see it sparkling out there in front of you. You reach out and hit the button, and just like magic – you become self determined and ready to take charge of your life.
Well, guess what? There is one. More of a metaphorical button than a physical one, but it’s still real. And it works too.
Self determination begins when you begin asking questions for yourself. Of yourself, of others. And once you get the answers, you act on them. You don’t wait for someone else. YOU make it happen.
So push the button, ask that first question. Here’s a good question to start off with: Do I feel good about myself and where I am in my life? Another good question: What can I do about it?
~
“There will always be those who support you
and those who don’t – more than a few,
but the one person in your life
you should know you can count on
is most emphatically – you.”
~ Penny L Howe, 2014
The Thing About “To Do” Lists!
I’ve discovered the most amazing thing.
In order for the “to-do” list to really be helpful, you have to actually “do” the things on the list! Well bummer, that!
My “to do” list tends to be – “those things that I should have already done but I keep reminding myself everyday to do, by rewriting … and adding to … them” LIST. And then I pare it back down by reviewing the list, thinking to myself “do I really have to-do this one today?” I’ve come to the realistic conclusion that some things belong in a second “to-do” list. One called. “Okay, so I really don’t want to do these things (at all) but I’d better or something bad is going to happen” LIST!
Now, my “to-do because I want to” LIST … well that’s another story. (Actually I don’t have a “want-to” list). I seem to remember to do those things all by my little ol’ self.
And while I’m on the subject of Lists, have you noticed there are lists for everything under the sun – now. Quantum amounts of lists. You name it – there’s a list for that.
And demographically speaking, you’re probably in a whole bunch of them, you lucky you! It’s called gathering statistics and every single social media platform is a busy little bee or “spider” running around collecting data about you – sorting and organizing, distilling and going after you more aggressively because You ARE on their “to-do” list. It’s all about accumulative numbers, ratings, and percentages for business and organic “online growth” … trust me on this one. If you’re online there is no way you aren’t on one or more lists … somewhere!
So what does any of this have to do with making your daily “to-do” list and getting it done? Not a darn thing. Or maybe it does? Maybe there are too many lists accumulating everywhere (at both home and work, offline and on) and not enough “Just Do It”! (quantitative action). Maybe! Just sayin’.
(p.s. – Now that I think about it there are two lists I’d love to be on – “Santa’s Gift list and the best seller “book list”! LOL
Have a great day. Try not to take life so seriously, we have whole lists of people working diligently on that one – so lighten up, smile and laugh.
Hope my post helped you achieve at least a smile or two today.
Thanks for stopping by,
~ Penny
Peaceful Contemplation of Being Overwhelmed!
~
How’s it going?
The photo says it all.
Life can be so darn overwhelming you really don’t know what to do about it. So you do nothing except think and stew and worry and wonder about THE WHY ABOUT THIS!
Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Actually its neither. It’s you experiencing “life in action” thing! Sometimes you can control what happens. But sometimes control slips away when the unexpected occurs. What matters is how you’re going to handle your own feelings!
You can rage about the “unfairness” except life has never been based on being
fair. A truth. You can pout and mope about the “why me … of it all”, except in all probability there are worse things happening to other people, everywhere. You just aren’t aware of them. Well, if those things don’t help – and they don’t – what is there left to do?
Summing it all up there’s one thing you can still do. It’s called the responsibility factor … that’s the really tough one. To get out of the river of being overwhelmed, the ocean of misery and so on you have to take action yourself. Be responsible for your own actions and attitude. Bring about the change you need … right now … make it happen … Go ahead … you can do it!
I’m cheering you on!
~
(yes the first two pictures are of me sitting in the Columbia river on a bench. A few of you have seen these pictures before. They’re from a little over a year ago. The river was flooding (obviously) and I decided to have a few pictures taken. It was spring and the water was melted snow thaw and frigidly cold. Took quite awhile to warm up my feet and legs, but still … got great shots!) 🙂
~ In the river of life, swim, wind surf, paddle your kayak, row your boat, do what ever it takes to keep your head above water! You make it happen. You do!
~ Penny
Failure – What it is and isn’t!
What is failure? Apart from a word none of us like hearing or thinking about!
Failure: The condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends!
Well okay, that doesn’t sound so bad. But it’s how we feel about it that can create havoc with our lives. Not the act of failing in and of itself.
I failed in my first business (financially a huge mess). When I mentioned this to another entrepreneur, at the time, he said to me, “you didn’t fail“!
And I said, “Well if you don’t count closing your business doors, owing a ton of money to a lot of people a failure … what do you call it?”
And he said, “Taking risks while you learn how to do something the right way.” Just so you know, at the time I strongly disagreed with him. I was the one that had to figure out what to do next. I was a single parent 
with no income, ruined credit and lots of bills to pay.
But guess what? he was right. When I creatively (and hurriedly) came up with a short term financial solution (got a job), spoke with each of the creditors and made the best arrangements I could at the time (and asked for short term help from my family – that was the hardest thing of 
all!) I got by.
Within a year. I had put together another proposal, went after more financing and was in business again.
So I advise you to look carefully at the actual meaning of the word failure. Because it isn’t the end of everything. That only happens when you give up. As long as you keep trying, you haven’t failed at all, you’re still in your learning curve!
“Consider failure as a temporary setback, the price you pay to learn until you get it right!” ~ Penny L Howe, 2013Attitude is not a Platitude … It’s a choice!
Attitude!
That word is a big one for me.
Each of us has our own personal belief system and values that we find important, but I think in life it still comes down to what we do with what life hands us.
It really is all about attitude, how we respond to life, others and our personal challenges. I learned very early on the extreme importance of attitude. I believe the following words are true. Even if the author of these words is unknown.
“I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me
and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with us all …”
*
Have a positive attitude today, you might surprise yourself how well it goes,
~ Penny
Motivate yourself – Your own guide
Last fall I wrote a piece about how to be inspired and motivated. The words are no less true today.
And I’ve yet to find someone better at inspiring ourselves than – ourselves. We are, our own best motivators. The one who decides how we’re going to feel about the new day ahead. The one that lays down at night reliving the happenings of the day. That’s You!
And while you may not be the catalyst for positive change, I guarantee, you are the one that decides what “lights your fire” or what “puts it out”.
There is a key here, something to think on. No one just leaps out of bed, happy with the world everyday, thinking all things are wonderful and then goes out and wins all the time. Well nobody I know anyway.
But many understand what is needed and set about searching for that which will
influence and motivate them towards a positive mindset. That could be you!
Make life a mission for finding those things (catalysts) that will motivate you!
Each person’s quest in life becomes either finding the motivation to make things happen or coming up with excuses for why things won’t.
The more you wake up looking for potentials, the easier it is to find possibilities. The more you move forward, the more you believe in yourself. And yes even through your failures, you know what to get right the next time you try.
It has always been about you – you know! You are your greatest motivator!
~ Penny
Are You Thinking Asleep?
When you think, are your thoughts busily reviewing the list of “to do’s” that aren’t done yet? Are you dwelling on things that have already happened or are happening around you now? Are you thinking “awake” or thinking “asleep”?
Our thoughts, become words, (whether stated or written) becoming actions. And more and and more of us today are thinking asleep with our actions. We go through life’s daily chores in an almost robotic type of modality where even our emotions are repetitious in nature.
We are thinking asleep. We are mostly in a response mode. We are stuck in a groove. Yes, most especially the “I have too many things to do, so I’m not sure what to do next” groove. The other popular groove that many are caught up in today is the “poor me, I have too many problems to deal with and other people don’t care” or “I’m in a strictly reactionary mode as it refers to me personally, everything else I relate to is at a distance, from a position of security.” Voicing concerns but staying uninvolved at a personal level, because that’s what’s Safe.
Well guess what? Wake up! Life is happening all around you.
When you think awake, you think a thing and then YOU ACT ON IT! Put it into affect. You stop spending time on what’s wrong with yourself and focus on what’s right. The world’s problems begin with you!
No more thinking on what your missing in life (with a myriad of excuses you give to yourself and others each day) because (here’s the biggy)
… YOU DETERMINE WHAT DIRECTION YOU’RE GOING TO HEAD IN. HOW YOU’RE GOING TO FEEL ABOUT THE DAY AND WHAT YOU CAN MAKE OF YOURSELF IN THE PROCESS. THAT’S YOU. IT IS PERSONAL BECAUSE YOU’RE THE ONE STANDING GUARD OVER YOUR LIFE, AND IF YOU AREN’T, WHY NOT?
You belong to you before anything else. You came into the world and breathed in life as a single entity and you’ll depart the same way. This is a simple truth. No one’s going to crawl in the coffin with you, but I guarantee you there are many out there more than happy to help you dig your own grave, but only if … YOU LET THEM.
The Sleeper must awaken! (always wanted to use that line)
Start by thinking awake. Look directly at what you’ve decided you haven’t been doing AND START DOING IT!
No, life isn’t safe, it’s filled with risks (going after most worthy things have risk involved.) No, life won’t suddenly become wonderful, but it will begin to head in the direction you want it to.
Life happens whether you involve yourself in it or not. You decide how much control events will have over you. YOU DO!
When you start thinking awake a whole new world of possibilities awaken. You become energized with renewed feelings of hope and anticipation.
And you’ll be living your life to it’s fullest, not regretting in bitterness or sorrow what you didn’t do, when you could have, because you were thinking asleep !
~ Penny
Inspiration ~ the value of the written word!
~
~
Inspirational words are so wonderful and uplifting. And whether they are presented in the form of quotes, a sentence or two, a poem, a fable, a true story, even a book; the nature of the inspiration is viewed and appreciated by all.
But what of the value. Well that’s something else, all together.
You see … for the true value of an inspirational piece to be achieved you must really believe the words you are reading, perhaps even reading them again until you do believe and then put into practice and achieve that which was so inspiring to you from the beginning.
And then you, yourself, become an inspiration to others which proclaims loud and clear the value and worth of the inspiration of the written word as you pass it along yourself by thought, word and deed! And so it goes.
~
If you treat an individual … as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he out to be and could be ~ Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe~
Thank you for stopping by, have a good day and a better tomorrow!
~
Yes you can!
A short brief “can do” video! My favorite kind!
Believe in yourself, Oh and enjoy the weekend too! On and Offline too.
Have a great weekend,
~ Penny
The Why About This 