What's Holding YOU Back?

Just a thought for today...

Is there was one thing that you've always wanted to do, that you haven't done yet, because something is holding you back?

I talk about fear a lot, but what if we pushed that aside and conquered the very thing we never thought we could?

Here is something to chew on, and maybe could be a start to accomplish that 'thing': Do something EVERYDAY that scares you...

TRUE Friends...

Trustworthy, honest, and TRUE friends are hard to come by in this day and age. Most people either don't take the time to BE a friend, or don't wish to make friends because they are afraid of being hurt.

TRUE friends can be vulnerable with each other; they can be open and understanding...they can brighten your day, even when it's your worst. They care because they want to care, not because they have to. TRUE friends give, when the rest of the world takes.

One TRUE friend is better than having 50 acquaintances.

Hold onto your TRUE friends...respect, cherish, love them...

Leaps of Faith

Everyone gets scared…we all have inhibitions that keep us from something…maybe it’s fear, maybe it’s past failure, perhaps it’s someone...

Not sure what it is for you, but for me it’s failure…it’s rejection…it’s uncertainty at times as well…when I’m about to embark on a new journey, I find myself thinking that I just might not make it because of my inadequacies…I might just not make it because I fear that I can’t…I fear that all of my efforts, all of my ‘tries’ are just not good enough…

But then something happens; something that I’m unaware of…something that I know is the voice and touch of what I can’t see…it often surprises me…and opens my eyes to understand the step that is in front of me…it helps me to make leaps of faith that I never thought were possible…I’m reminded in those moments that I can do ANYTHING through the One who created me…

Be confident and know that all good things will indeed, come to pass…and that you can become the person you always KNEW you could be…and leave fear in the dust behind you…

My Mom...the Writer...

Hey everyone! Check out my mom's new blog! She just began her blogging debut a few days ago, so check it out! Just CLICK HERE to read! Thanks guys! ~Emily

Ahhh...the 80s...

I LOVE the 80s. If you haven’t come across my adoration for that decade, I’ll give you a few reasons…

Number One:
The Movies! Films like the Karate Kid, Back to the Future, The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Weird Science, Stand by Me, the Goonies, Footloose…ok, I could go on forever! I’m not entirely sure why I LOVE the films so much in this decade, but I think it has to do with the sincerity in them. Sure, some of them are for fun, but movies like The Breakfast Club and the Karate Kid, helped us believe that maybe, we could conquer what struggles we experienced in our youth. The Karate Kid conquered his fear of the fight, where in The Breakfast Club, five teens found their way and understanding of those different from them…

Number Two:
The Music! Singers like Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and groups like Tears for Fears and Erasure…each had their own way of expressing themselves and gave us all a glimpse of what was to come…

Number Three:
The Clothes! Whether it was tight-rolled jeans or leg warmers, a ‘sense of style’ was born when the 80s rolled around. It was ‘vintage’ at its best!

I could go on forever about this WONDERFUL decade…but I’ll spare you if you’re NOT a fan! Nonetheless, take some time out in the next few weekends, rent a few films from the 80s, grab a CD or tape cassette of your favorite rockers from that time, and enjoy the sincerity of the greatest decade yet!

Become a HERO Youth Ambassador!

I was recently contacted by a member of the HERO Youth Ambassador program. The program was developed to provide comprehensive school-based support to orphans and vulnerable children living in HIV/AIDS-affected African communities.

Now, HERO is looking for 20 students (ages 16-19) from across the US and Canada to be selected as 2008 HERO Youth Ambassadors. Students chosen will travel to Africa in 2008. The deadline to apply is March 1st, 2008. If you know of a young person who is interested, feel free to pass this information along. Click the links below to find out more info!

You can learn more about this program here:

http://www.beinggirl.com/en_US/heroes/hero_landing.jsp

You can also check out some of the Youth Ambassador’s personal experiences in a series of webisodes here:

http://www.youtube.com/BeinggirlHERO

If you're NOT interested in applying for the program, get involved anyway! Click the link below to find out more!

http://www.beinggirl.com/en_US/heroes/Get_Involved.jsp

The Road Not Taken

When I was a little girl, I often thought about the GREAT things that I wanted to do. For so long in my youth, I wanted to GET OUT of South Bend; I always thought that this place had nothing for me. I wanted to move into a BIG CITY somewhere, anywhere…anyplace but here…

However, as I’ve grown up, gotten married, finished college, and began my pursuit for these ‘GREAT’ things, the focus has somewhat shifted…the ‘GREAT’ has taken on a new form…I am reminded that sometimes, the little things are what matter most. Sure, being in the spotlight might be appealing to many, because really, we just want someone to notice; notice what we do and NOT take it for granted…but deep down, I think we all want to have made an impact on someone…to say someone else’s life is better because we took the time to LOVE them…

I believe that no matter where we're at...whether in a BIG CITY, in a small town, or in South Bend, LOVING someone is the key to being 'GREAT'...even when sometimes, you're the ONLY one who knows it...

The following is Robert Frost’s poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’; maybe you’ve read it, maybe not, but I must say, the words are poignant and give the sense that the ‘road less traveled’ does indeed, ‘make all the difference’! Believe in miracles...

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

'People'...they are Amazing Creatures!

Sorry for the LONG pause in posts...it's been extremely busy with work...life...you guys know the routine!

Anyway, just a thought I had today...

It's rather amazing to me how 'alone' people appear, how transparent they are. Maybe, they are just as unsure as I am or perhaps, they are afraid of connection. It’s a bit hard to read people at times, bit it also is so relevant, vibrant, and revolutionary when you do...

Melt ME Away...

Take my heart, take EVERYTHING that is NOT of You away...

Melt my doubts away, give me strength to withstand the day...

Help me to understand Your ways, Your undeniable love for me, Your dreams for me alone...

I Have a Dream...

You probably know what today represents; what it STANDS for…it’s so much more than a day OFF work, or a day AWAY from school…it’s a celebration of a man that decided to be IN this world and make a difference…

It’s amazing what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did so many years ago. He was a man of action, a man of character, a man that changed humanity.

How lucky we are to know about this man, who changed the course of history; who changed the outlook for so many people in his time...

His words and his actions still speak volumes today, as we are reminded of what he gave each of us...

…Dr. King choose to ACT instead of SIT back and do nothing…he stood LOUD and PROUD for the dream, that one day, WE ALL could stand together, join hands, and work and 'be' as one...

Remember this man of GREATNESS…

...and most importantly, REMEMBER his DREAM:

"… I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

Just To Be Noticed...

Sometimes I like to watch people. I like to watch them walk down the street; I like to watch them as I sit for a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks; I like to watch them when they think no one is watching them. We are amazing creatures and I am reminded of that each time I look at someone.

When you go to a big city, there are a LOT of blank stares; people brush past you, you brush past people. There always seems to be a destination in sight, with no bother to look to the left or right; it’s just straight ahead…

Well…this is just a thought…what if the next time you were in a Big City, or…in the heart of the city you live within, and you DO look to the right and left…with a smile. The thing is…you NEVER know what that could do for someone…you never know what YOU paying attention to someone else could do…not only for them…but for YOU as well.

A good friend of mine recently went to England for vacation. When he returned, he told us of story that I’ve thought about A LOT; Please CLICK HERE to read it.

It basically tells the story of a young girl; a girl who wanted someone to KILL HER. She was so desperate, so distraught from SOMETHING in her life that she asked someone to take her life. It’s a rather heart-wrenching story because the person that she asked this question told her to ‘Piss Off’. After that desperate attempt, and yet another rejection, she jumped from a bridge, ending her life. I don’t understand it…I don’t understand how someone could be so callous and NOT try and ask this young woman what he might be able to do to help her in such a dire moment in her life.

I suppose there are many stories out there just like this one; stories of desperate people taking desperate measures, JUST to be noticed.

So...maybe watching people isn't your thing...but the next time you decide to look straight ahead...your destination the ONLY thought in your mind...PLEASE notice someone…

Ah...hogwash!

So I haven’t written for awhile. Perhaps it’s lack of something meaningful to write about; or, the fact that I’m trying to do more creative writing. I would really like to enter more writing contests. Not sure why…just a desire to write something...something more than just my meaningless thoughts…

…to be continued…