An Exercise in Conscious Living – It’s Time to Create the Life I Want

Create the Life I Want, Creating My Life - Live Life on PurposeAn Exercise in Conscious Living – It’s time to Create the Life I Want – Think of this as an exercise to dial in the focus of your life with the things that matter.

What if we saw our life through our images? What would you see? If your life were a movie trailer, how would it play?

Are you living the life you want? Are you doing the things you want to do? Are you eating the way you want to eat? Are you spending time with the people who are important to you? Maybe it’s time to say, I am going to create the life I want. It is time to live life on purpose.”

But where to start? Maybe with a close look at the life we are living.

I love that we all take so many images now with the affordability of digital cameras and with the ready availability of camera phones. But when we look back over our images, are they telling the story we want to live? Did we create the life we want? If we take a look around and look at the images, the family, friends, adventures, and spaces in our lives, are they telling the story we want to live? Are we creating the life we want to live?

Are the pictures that you are sharing on facebook representative of the life that you want to be living? Are you doing the things you want to be? Being the person you want to be? Spending time with the people who are important to you?

Are the pictures that you take of your home representative of the space in which you want to live?

What if I thought about pinterest as a way of having a picture of my life and what I love in my life and more of what I want in my life?

These places are a reflection of the life we are living. Is it the life that you want to be living?

An Exercise in Conscious Living – Create the Life I Want

I would like to propose an exercise in conscious living. An exercise where we peer through the looking glass at our lives and use this perspective to weed out the unimportant and focus more on what is important. It is when we document our lives, that we begin to see where we are focusing.

Grab your camera more this year and begin to document your life. Start a 365 project where you take a photo a day. Is what you are seeing in your images the life you mean to be living? It is when I am conscious of how I am living that I can see where I must make changes.

For 2013, I am taking the plunge and will be participating in Project 365. I am documenting my life one day at a time as an exercise in conscious living to create the life I want, focusing on the things that matter. Join me and let’s commit to conscious living.

Happy New Year – Soak Up As Much Life As Possible

Have you set your new year goals? Do you have a new resolve for 2013? The new year is a time for fresh starts and when many of us refocus. We look at what worked for us and what didn’t. We take an honest look at who we are if we are the person we want to be. Growth is a process, one to embrace.

Change must also be embraced as a natural part of life. It is resisting change and not letting go that brings about much of our inner struggle. This leads me to one of the focus areas that has been on my mind…

…to be in a place where I am focused on the internal and eternal so the day to day does not determine my joy.

Eternal Focus

Life is always changing, and there is always good and bad, but to be in a place where we stay at peace in the midst of an ever changing world is the secret to a life well lived.

Years ago, my sons and I crossed path with a wonderful elderly missionary. We were instantly drawn to him. There is one thing he said to us that has come to my mind many times over the years. It was words from an old hymn.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

There is so much in life that is completely out of my control. This year I want my focus to be more on what I can control, and that is where I direct my attention, where I choose to focus. Will it be the things of this world, or will it be the things that last for eternity?

So this year, as I am creating the life I want to live, may I not forget to focus on what is truly important, inner peace and an eternal focus. Maybe it is when we can let go of this world and the stress of it all and letting go of that which we cannot control that we can truly embrace living. And that is my wish for us all this year…to embrace life….to soak up as much as possible.

Create the Life You Want to Live

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So much more is in our grasp than we ever dreamed possible. We are capable of more than we think. The worst thing we can do is accept the status quo. If it’s always been that way, then that is the way it will always be…for me.

If there is something that you want, or a life you want to have, why are you just wishing for it? What if you see someone well-dressed, and think you would love to do dress well like that, but say to yourself that you don’t know how? Then learn how. What if you don’t have the money? Shop consignment stores and good will stores, or shop sales. Save money in other areas and start a clothing fund. Yes, maybe you won’t be able to go out and get an outfit every time you want, but in time you will have put together a nice wardrobe. The biggest thing is just to learn how.

What if you want a nice house? Yes, maybe that is a much bigger issue than the clothes, but until then, work with what you have, meaning make what you have nice. I have seen amazing rooms put together on a budget when you know what you are doing. Again, the biggest step comes down to learning how. A little cleaning, decluttering goes a long way. Add a coat of fresh paint to that, and you have a great foundation. Many of us are content to say, “I just don’t know how to do that.” Were you born knowing how to read or write? No. You learned how. And you can learn anything else, too. The only thing that is stopping you is you.

And let me offer you a word of caution about the naysayers. Some will say that you need to be happy with who you are, and they will proudly boast how they are. Well, for one, how do we know the way you WANT to be isn’t the real you? Maybe the person you are now isn’t the real you. Maybe right now, you are a product of negative things in your life that got you stuck. And two, these people that tell you to be happy with the way you are, like they are, are rarely as happy with themselves as they say they are. Many times it’s just bravado, and is a learned response. And who’s to say that they wouldn’t benefit from a little change themselves? Ignore them.

What if we want to grow and be a better person, letting go of the things that have held us back for far too many years? Anything is possible. The changes in my life over the last couple of years have been amazing. The things that I have written about on the Be a Leading Lady website are the things I have done or have learned, and it’s been an amazing journey, a journey that anyone can take. My life is far from perfect, but it’s what I am choosing to make out of myself and the life I am creating that makes it a life worth living, a life that makes me happy. We must live life on purpose if we want to be happy. Create the life you want to live.

It’s not the life you’re given that matters as much as what you do with it. If you took any of the people that you admire and placed them in your life, playing your part, they would begin creating a different life. Likewise, if you were placed in their life, it would begin to look just like the life you have now. It’s us that we must change if we want a different life.

What we need is not someone else’s life but a paradigm shift for our own life. And when you begin to change your thinking, you begin to see new possibilities and then start to take action to make it happen. It’s time to change our thinking and begin creating the life we want to live.

What do you want to change in your life today? What do you want to be better tomorrow, and what steps today can you start taking to make that happen?

Finding Your Own Inner Strength

It is so difficult to find a way out when we are suffering from disappointment in life; but we can find our own empowerment. In fact, finding our own empowerment or inner strength is what keeps us from giving up in life. It is what keeps us going. It is what leads us to where we are supposed to be, inevitably.

Often we continuously ask questions of ourselves. Why is this happening to me? How will I go on? How will I survive? While these are all very reasonable questions, and in the heart of our pain we will ask them, and more of ourselves. But really there is no answer. We don’t know why we must suffer in life to find happiness. We won’t ever know why some receive a lot and others just a little bit. Only after we realize this, will we be able to go on. Going on and letting go is the best present you can give to yourself.

You may sometimes feel like you are losing the battle; but when you push through the battle, you come out on the other side and feel like you’ve just won a war. Do you know why? It’s because you are empowered when you conquer life’s toughest battles. Only at these times of empowerment, do we grow into the people we are meant to be. Think about that for a minute. Think of all the struggles you’ve faced, all the tears you’ve cried in vain and realize, they got you where you are today. Who would you be right now, if it wasn’t for the struggles you have been through in your life?

For me personally, I constantly wish I didn’t have to go through the battles life has confronted me with- heartache,depression, financial difficulties, chronic illness and career change to name, but a few. But all of these things have turned me into the compassionate person I am today. It is through my pain, I found the ability to inspire others with my writing. I wouldn’t have ever begun to write, if my life hadn’t changed in the way it has. I’m not sure there is anyone that hasn’t experienced some pain that has made them grow into who they are today. In fact, would you really want to be without some pain? How would you ever know joy and happiness, if you never knew the pain?

We need to realize that our past has shaped us into who we are right now. We need to accept who we are and love who we are. Find the empowerment within yourself to just realize you are amazing, beautiful and worth love and affection, from yourself as well as from others.

Written by: Debbie A. DeVita

Twitter @ImSimplyDebbie
Facebook www.fb.com/imsimplydebbie
website http://www.imsimplydebbie.com

Best Gift Ideas – Christmas, Birthdays, Wedding, Inspirational

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It can be so difficult finding that wonderful and inspirational gift that is off the beaten path, that gift that you just might not think of normally when you are shopping. I know. I just went through it myself. I know that not every gift I give will be inspirational, but I do love to find a great inspirational gift when I can. I think they do more than fill up our valuable space, they give the gift of inspiration throughout the year. So I decided to share with you the gold gift nuggets that I found on my journey and will keep adding more as I go.

These are also great ideas for the difficult person to buy for!

  1. Inspirational Leather Cuff – The PERFECT Handcrafted Gift Idea! Give the gift that will inspire and encourage them all year long!
  2. Flameless Wax Candle – This just makes me feel good, and I don’t have to worry about forgetting to turn it off. Many flameless wax candles come with a remote and timer. How cool is that!
  3. The Things That Matter by Nate Berkus – A different kind of home design book
  4. Wireless Keyboard and Mouse – This is great for the person with a desktop, or a person with a laptop who works a lot on it and wants to get the keyboard and the screen placed more ergonomically. This one may not seem inspiring or comforting, but when you are a writer with carpal tunnel, or wanting to prevent wrist injury, trust me, getting your wrists and hands at the correct level while keeping your head and neck straight is a beautiful thing.
  5. Comfy throw – I purchased one last year or the year before from Target, that I’m pretty sure they do not sell anymore, and I love it so much! I have never loved a throw this much in my life.Stay tuned….as I find more ideas, I will be posting them. Please feel free to post your ideas in the comments! They might even make it to the list!
  6. A Special Box – I have loved special boxes since I was a little girl. It was like going treasure hunting, and to this day I am a huge fan of them. I have some the boys made for me when they were little, and some I have bought. I love them and use them all.

Also, take a peak at our recommended reading list for great book ideas.