Welcome to my first blog post! I hope to periodically post things to make you think, perhaps inspire you and help you move forward, both in your creative life and in your personal life. I will often use my own life experiences and those of my coaching clients (anonymously, of course!) as examples to help those of you who are reading my blog. So get ready to ride!
The past few weeks have produced interesting life experiences for me. On the up side, I traveled to NYC to stage manage an awesome show at the legendary Birdland jazz club
www.birdlandjazz.com showcasing the original music of the incomparable Ron Abel
www.ronabel.com and several of his Broadway friends. For the first time in my professional career, my cousins came to see the show and see what I do! Next I traveled to Phoenix, for my first ever art retreat - Art Unraveled
www.artunraveled.com where I knew no one and had no visual art experience.
On the down side, my mother had an accident in her home. She woke up in the middle of the night and either tripped or fell and was injured with a few fractures to her face that resulted in a black eye and a very sore arm. Thank G-d it wasn't worse! Then her significant other, George, was hospitalized with pneumonia for several days. The husband of a client and friend of mine, was diagnosed with cancer and has to have an operation to remove a large cyst in his neck and then have chemo. My first mentor, Merv Griffin, passed away at 82 of cancer. And, just today, I learned of the passing of the mom of my dear friend, Ron Abel - composer and musician extraordinaire. Quite a list for one week!
I write of these things not to wallow in doom and gloom, but rather to speak of how they can be the catalyst to my own gratitude and to move me forward in my own life. Life is short...shorter than we think as witnessed by the above list. When we are young, we feel invincible and that the future will always be around just waiting for us. But as we grow older, we realize that time is of the essence and life is very precious. No amount of wealth, status or celebrity can buy us more time.
I believe that we can create the life we want. It starts with knowing what you want your life to be and begin to visualize it. Break it down into components: Health, career, significant other, money, personal environment, family & friends, fun & recreation, and spiritual growth. Where are you with each of these areas of your life? Sit down and actually rate each one on a scale of 0 - 10. Nothing is written in stone. Everything can change by action taken by you. In designing your life, I encourage my clients to create tools to help determine what they want and how to get there. Write a daily gratitude list. Try journaling about a subject by asking yourself a question or just write "stream of consciousness" and see what comes out on your paper. Create a vision board by cutting words and pictures out of magazines to make your design and your dream tangible. Ask yourself questions, like what did you dream of when you were a little girl or boy? Have you accomplished those things as an adult? Why or why not? Do you still dream those dreams? What's stopping you from attaining them? What's in your life that's contributing to stagnation or procrastination? Is it clutter, your weight, addictions such as smoking, drinking, drugging, gambling, or shopping, etc.? Are you willing to get help for these? When? What are the "rocks you're carrying in your imaginary backpack" that are weighing you down and keeping you from following your dream? Are there small things in your life (the things you've been meaning to take care of) that you are tolerating? What would happen if you started taking care of this list? Who do you know that could help you with your dream/life design? How can you use "six degrees of separation" to move forward towards your dream? What's one small step you could take TODAY to do things differently and start on your new life path? Are you stuck in fear? What would it take to let it go and do these things anyway?
What will it take for you to do something you have always wanted to do without letting others steal your dreams? Remember this is YOUR life. No one else has the exact same gifts you have and no one else has the exact same dream as you. So you must be proactive in creating it for yourself. Don't wait another minute. Do it now!
Challenges both big and small are presented to us almost every day. What we choose to do with these life challenges is the difference between moving forward in our lives and reaching our dreams and sitting stagnant and wishing. Most dreams take time to achieve. We need to break them down into "baby steps" so that they are not so overwhelming and feel impossible to reach. The people who succeed in reaching their goals and living their dreams are the people who start with just one small step. Will you be one of those people? It's entirely up to you. Someone much wiser than me once said, "If you can dream it, you can attain it." I believe that for myself and I believe it for you. I send you off on this first ride with many blessings...Reva
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