It’s kind of cheating to create a blog post entirely out of someone else’s writing, but this one was too good to keep to myself.

Jonathan Fields, author, wellness entrepreneur, and speaker on such things as book marketing, embracing creativity, and easing fear and uncertainty in business, posted the excerpt below on his site at the end of October. I subscribe to his posts, received this one in my inbox when he published it, and loved it. Love love lurrved it. As in, I kept it in my inbox for – gasp! – several days, eventually printed it on actual papery paper, and it now resides stapled onto a page in my notebook.

I’m not exactly sure why I like it so much. Perhaps it’s because it makes me think about life, and how I hope that I am living and treating mine day to day. (Hope being the key word there.)

Maybe because it makes me smile. Or maybe I like that it makes a powerful impression with a simple, halfway-oxymoronic statement.

Did I just say oxymoronic? Sorry.

Perhaps I just liked the post so much because it made me think, period.

Anyway, here is Jonathan and his thoughts on planning your down time:

Scheduling Spontaneity

Scheduling spontaneity. It sounds counterintuitive.

But, the deeper you get into life, the more you’ve got going on, the more you need to schedule time to not have anything scheduled.

Ritual is important. So is routine. They help create certainty anchors in your day, moments where you know what’s coming next and you can get into a rhythm that allows creativity and productivity to flow.

But, without fail, the biggest ideas, the most endearing connections, the world-changing insights come not when you’re engaged in the process of trying to make them happen, but when you step away and give your mind a bit of space. When you let your brain breath.

That’s when data coalesces into genius. Conversations blossom into love. And the playful side of life swirls through you.

The busier you get, the more important it is for you to exalt and even schedule time to be unscheduled. To pause.

As John Lennon once shared-

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

Schedule spontaneity and plan to live.

To see the full post on Jonathan’s site, click here.

Pretty good, huh? Let me know what you think.

Go ahead. Be weird.

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[If you can't see the video, click here.]

One of the messages most often heard in personal development is the classic, Think bigger!

Don’t limit yourself to this, think bigger!
Expand your vision for what’s possible, think bigger!
Think bigger think bigger think bigger!

But thinking bigger relies on something; it relies on the fact that you’re not going to change, you’re just going to be bigger. You’re not going to change directions, you’re just going to go faster and stronger in the current direction. Does that make sense?

So the question I want to ask is, when do we need to think beyond big? Should we be thinking beyond big more often?

Like, instead of thinking about budgeting our money to pay off debt, should we be thinking about generating additional streams of income? About building a business part-time? About creating residual income that has legacy potential?

Instead of thinking about cutting out some of our responsibilities to decrease stress, how about considering hiring an assistant or an intern or getting dedicated office space or launching a systemized business?

Instead of thinking about moving to a nicer neighborhood but one still nearby your location of work, what if you determined where to live pretending that work wasn’t an object? Would you want to live in that suburb? What about a farm in the country? Or a downtown condo? Or Paris, France?

Instead of thinking about writing more in your journal, how about contemplating free-lance writing and guest blogging and magazine publications? What about publishing?

When is thinking bigger not big enough?

Let’s challenge ourselves next time to not only step outside of the box but to step away from the box completely. To remove our blinders that we put in place because we’re moving in a certain direction. To open up our peripheral vision. Because if we did that, what could we come up with? What possibilities could emerge?

We might open up the a whole new way of thinking that’s not limited by what we already know.

You know?

Ambitious. Big-thinking. Confident. GUTSY!

Because why limit yourself to only going after the tiny bait, when you have a chance at nabbing the big one?

The bigger bait is meant for the bigger fish, but that doesn’t mean hardworking, ambitious littler fish can’t take a jab at it.

You deserve to go after it. You deserve to at least try to go after it.

Don’t you think?

:)

I was just catching up with one of my favorite bloggers, well, I guess I’d call her a “life” blogger, The Pioneer Woman.

I was reading a post where she was discussing her food photography. I don’t particularly care about food photography, but the last two lines of the post were golden.

The quote immediately went down into my notebook.

It reminded me of myself.
And it made me think of you.

It was:

I’m nowhere near where I want to be.
But I’m a lot closer than I’d be if I hadn’t kept going.
- Ree Drummond, thepioneerwoman.com

I agree, Ree. I one-thousand percent agree.

I was washing a few dishes the other night when, out of the blue, that “Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder” song popped into my head.

Or the “I Hope You Dance” song, whatever you want to call it. Know which one I’m talking about?

I wish I knew why certain songs chose certain moments to pop into our heads, you know? I mean, did I hear that one without realizing it while running past a restaurant’s open door earlier in the day? Or had I breezed over it while flipping through radio channels? Did I pass someone at a stoplight humming a few of its notes?

It’s fascinating to think about. Who knows.

Anyway, it popped into my head, and maybe because I had been evaluating my writing and my purpose a little more than usual this week, or because I was reading The Book of Awesome which celebrates the oft-overlooked, wonderful things in life, or maybe I was just in a sentimental mood, but when it popped up, it really got me thinking.

I’ve never really paid close attention to the lyrics, so I looked them up. And…oh my. If there’s ever a set of words and sentences that when put together perfectly describe my passion and what I want to inspire in others, it’s this set of lyrics.

Self-education.
Perception.
Small joys.
Not taking life too seriously.
Curiosity.
Blazing new trails.
Courage.

It’s perfect.

Here is the version of the song I like best, Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance. The video is very year-2000, and the song is obviously meant as a love letter to her children. However! Listen to it, and perhaps think about it for yourself.

(Can’t see the video? Click here.)

I hope you like it.
I hope it makes you think.
And see.

And smile.

And enjoy.

In sappy sappiness,
AS

Via a series of conversations last night, I remembered that several years ago I had written diary-like emails to my parents/myself while on a trip to Belize. It was 2006, and in 2007 I archived them in a hidden little corner of these here Interwebz.

And I just found them!

This piece, the first, and the shortest, email that I sent, got me thinking:

(P.S. Please try not to be blown away by my 2006 writing skills.)

Well, Belize is definitely a 3rd world country, but it’s unbelievably beautiful. Like something out of a storybook. Practically fake. Blue, blue water, long, streching docks with tiki huts at the ends. My keyboard is sticky with the humidity. Good news – condo has high speed internet so email this week will be a breeze.

Already saw a school of snapper, pencil fish, and a couple sting rays off the dock. Cannot wait to snorkel. Off for a swim…we will be driving into town (10 mins by golf cart) tonight for dinner, reef fishing tomorrow morning.

It’s impossible not to be in a place as beautiful without thinking of those you wish could see it too.

It’s imposible not to be in a place as beautiful without thinking of those you wish could see it too.

This applied to where I was that day in 2006, and it applies to where I am today.

I run my own businesses and have no one to report to but myself. I have complete time freedom. I can get up anytime, go to bed anytime, and travel anywhere at anytime. Whatever I want, whenever I want.

It’s glorious.
It’s beautiful.

But there are moments when it’s frustrating and painful, because there are people I wish could be here too. Namely, my husband.

Yes, I could jet off to Bora Bora tomorrow and work for two weeks from a hut with a glass bottom, watching the fishies, but what fun is that if I have to do it by myself?

It’s not.

I mean, it’d be fun, sure. But, especially for me…it wouldn’t be really fun.

One half of our household is still controlled by expected work hours and vacation time and meeting schedules. It won’t be that way forever, and we knew when I jumped the corporate ship that he wouldn’t be able to immediately follow, but…still. Now, we know that we could drastically change our lifestyle and get there tomorrow, but we’re not willing to do that quite yet. It’s our decision, one we have consciously made, so we’re ok with it.

But…still.

The first few months of 2010, when I was basking in the glory of my newfound freedom, I didn’t really realize it as much. But as time has gone on and this “new” amazing life has settled into becoming my “normal” amazing life, I’m thinking bigger and deeper things for my lifestyle. For our lifestyle.

It has hurt much more that those I love aren’t there with me to see it. To see this. To do this.

Not yet, anyway.

So this is my challenge to you: think bigger.

Think everyone-in-your-household bigger. Think everyone-in-your-family bigger.

Think all-of-your-friends bigger!

Because as amazing as it will be someday when Hubz has all the same freedoms I currently enjoy – and don’t get me wrong, it will be a celebration, baby – it would have been even more so if we were both glimpsing it together.

If we were both experiencing it together.

For the first time.

“It’s impossible not to be in a place as beautiful without thinking of those you wish could see it too.”

Who do you wish could see it too?

What if it works?

What if you end up being ok? And it was all just a scare?

What if they say yes?
What if they say no?
What if they say no…and you’re no worse off than before?

What if you really could handle it?
What if you followed your heart…instead of your head?
What if money were no object?

What if it teaches you something?

What if you gave it a shot anyway?

What if they end up being the one?
What if you end up having a good time?
What if you meet someone?

What if it makes you happy? Happier? The happiest you’ve ever been?

What if you can’t stop?

What if they give you the funding?
What if you failed?
What if you survived it all?

What if you made one more call?
What if you got over it?

What if it makes you stronger?
What if it doesn’t hurt?

What if you’re right?
What if they’re right?

What if you told the truth?

What if it was guaranteed?

What if you could do it?
What if you believed in yourself?
What if it was the best decision you ever made?

What if it was worth it in the end?

What if it works?

What…if?

If I were to have the opportunity to start my adult life over again, I would do one general, albeit very important, thing differently: go faster.

Much faster. Taken action earlier, made the decision quicker, pondered less, acted more. Gone after the bigger fish right off the bat, instead of piddling around so long with the small stuff. Waiting until I had “enough experience” or “more time” before I went bigger, thought bigger, acted bigger.

I spent too much time being careful and thinking small.

Maybe I would have learned even earlier than I did that you get what you ask for. (Err, get what you fish for?)

If I were to start over, I would have read Rich Dad Poor Dad earlier.

I would have taught myself sales and customer service and rejection and leadership via network marketing younger than the old – cough ahem cough – age of 26.

I would have obtained my real estate license sooner. Invested sooner.

I would have networked and prioritized my likeminded friends sooner.

Ohh, the places I could be now. *sniffle*

Sorry. I just turned 30 and I’m feeling old and nostalgic. Bear with me, I’ll get over it eventually.

Maybe.

Anyway, if I could start over with a clean slate at 22, fresh out of college, that’s what I would do.

More. Sooner. Faster. Earlier.

Is this what everybody says, though? I think it is. Hmm. What does that tell you?

Because there’s never been a better time than now.
Because you can.
Because it makes you happy.
Because you’re going to prove them wrong.
Because you’re going to prove them right.
Because it won’t kill you to try…and you won’t know until you try.
Because what if it works?
Because an expansion always follows a recession.
Because it makes you laugh.
Because you can break the mold.
Because you’re looking for the people that are looking for you.
Because if you can dream it, you can do it, and you can find people that won’t laugh at you for doing so.
Because you’re determined not to let someone else define your life.
Because you’re determined not to let someone else define you.
Because you’re not ashamed of what you believe.
Because failing is ok. Really.
Because success is too.
Because what if you didn’t ask them?
Because you’re responsible for you.
Because you decided it was going to happen.
Because he/she/they are simply not going the same direction you are.
Because you’re worth it.
Because you believe.
Because it’s possible.
Because I think you can.
Just…because.