Quotations Weblog

This quotation is so helpful for me. Whenever I want something, I have learned to stop and think, “What do I REALLY want?” It doesn’t matter what it is, whether a new outfit or camping equipment, there is always an underlying desire underneath my desire. To find your truest intention, ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I want?

• What do I have to do to get it?

• How will I feel when I get it?

• So, what I REALLY want is…

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Yeah, it sounds great doesn’t? Dare to be yourself. It sounds like something that should be on an athletic shoe advertisement. I feel like nodding. Yes, you’re right I should dare to be myself. That sounds like something I can do.

The truth of the matter is, it’s really hard to truly be myself every moment of every day. Not only that, it has taken me so much in willpower and strength just to dare to be a writer. I have wanted to be a writer ever since I was in sixth grade. You would think that it would be easy to work on my childhood dreams, but it was a struggle to get to this point.

What are your dreams? What do you need to dare to do to be yourself? Whatever it is, don’t delay one more day. Every day do something to move yourself closer to your dreams and goals. Even if it’s small. Make sure you do something every day to dare to be yourself.

I spent almost an hour last week plotting treks using the Google Pedometer. I found out that my mom lives far closer to me than I thought (11.6 miles). In my mind, a ride to my mom’s house on my bike suddenly seems so much closer than it did before. I had never even conceived of riding my bike all the way out there, but now it seems doable. It might take me an hour and a half, but if I wanted to, I could do it.

I feel a sudden freedom that I never felt like I had before. I even plotted the trek to where I used to work all the way up in Woods Cross and it was only 12 miles. I could have ridden my bike to work even then, but I was too scared to even try it. If I had been armed with the knowledge that it was only 12 miles, I think I would have tried it. Of course, it doesn’t take into account that huge hill where Beck Street intersects with I-215, but I think I would have been tough enough to try it if I had known it was only 12 miles.

The world seems open to me and the idea of trekking across the United States on my bicycle doesn’t seem so wacky anymore. I remember reading about a man who had done it and thinking, “That would be cool, but I couldn’t possibly do it.” Now I feel like I could get myself across the country, provided that I’m given enough time and armed with the route mapped out on Google.

• eHow – How to Bike Across the United States

How can you tell what a person believes? By what they do. I’ve stopped listening to people. Ok, that’s a lie. I’ve stopped believing people. Ok, that’s a lie too. I have a new filter in my mind. I listen to what people say. I watch what they do. I only believe in the intersection of the two.

The people who I keep as my friends have a high correlation between the things that they say they are going to do and the things that they actually do. I’m not talking about dreams and hopes. I’m talking about the every day things:

“I’ll meet you for lunch.”
“I’ll call you.”
“We should get together next month.”

If someone says these things and doesn’t follow through, it’s pretty obvious that they really don’t want me to be in their lives. No matter what they say, I believe their actions far more than their words.

This is one of my biggest fears. I fear that if I stop, for even a moment, that I will be “retreating into less.” My problem is that I’m interested in so many things that I feel like I’m retreating no matter how much I do.

I’m writing regularly. That much is certain. But I haven’t painted with oils for a couple of years. I’m taking photographs regularly, but I haven’t sketched for a week or so. How can I ever get better at sketching if I only do it every couple of weeks? My crocheting has devolved into afghan-mode. I haven’t crocheted anything more complicated for a couple of years. The sweater that I crocheted bounced off the back of my bike unnoticed one day on the way to work about a month ago. I don’t even have proof that I could crochet a sweater.

If I spend time “growing into more” with one discipline, I feel like I’m “retreating into less” on another. I cannot do everything. I would love to think that I can, but I know that I can’t do everything. It just seems that life is a series of choosing where I will grow and where I will retreat.