Dare to Be.

How can people walk through life, day to day, living at surface level. A state of ignorance, possibly denial, to reality and what truly surrounds them or lies deep within. The seemingly happy. But are they really? Question yourself, break the mold, be insightful and reflect. On experiences, opportunities, challenges, growth and be honest with yourself. If you never once look within, how do expect to grow beyond boundaries and become greater? Are you scared to peel back the layers and realize your potential? There is more to life than the box we are provided and expected to live in. Are you afraid of dipping your toe into the unknown? Then what is it all for, really. Going through the motions each day, the routine set before you. Create yourself. Be afraid. Experience loneliness. Be surrounded by love. Explore, grow, cry, hit rock bottom then pick yourself back up, teach yourself inner strength, be awake and present in the moment, smile and feel what is real, what is happiness. The opportunity to reveal your core and follow your heart, no matter the fear or struggles, will be more rewarding than any executive level position or partnership in a firm. I challenge you. Live for you. One you in this world, one life. Be extreme, live to the fullest. Change your outlook and inspire others to grow out of their shell, help and offer support, volunteer your time. Step out of the rat race and live a meaningful life. After all, happiness is a journey, there is plenty of sight seeing and worthwhile experiences along the way you may be missing out on. Trust me, it's worth the risk.

Impossible is an Opinion.

Fear directly coincides with my decision to live a more purposeful and spiritually centered life.

I embarked upon this journey hoping to find inner peace, bliss, rainbows, and unicorns and I seem to experience a fair share of negative emotions, questions and doubt. Seems counter-intuitive.

What I’ve been interpreting as an increase in negative emotions can more accurately be described as a greater sensitivity to myself. I’m hearing the messages my mind, body and spirit are trying to tell me because I’ve made a conscious decision to listen.

It really takes the pressure off if you understand that every experience you have, whether you characterize it as good or bad, is exactly the experience you need to have at that moment. Some choices may lead to more painful lessons than others, but living life in fear of living life is no way to live.

When it comes to survival, fear has served an evolutionary purpose. It only makes sense to avoid things that can potentially harm you.

However, many of us have developed fear from negative experiences in our past. We have built a protective fence around our emotional scars, and learned to ward off anybody or anything that triggers an unconscious fear.

Too much introspection about the past makes us tentative about the future.

Past experiences of fear are the driving factor.. I will not lie down and be, I will live my dream and do what I so choose.

Sometimes our intuition guides us toward those things we fear the most so that we can push past them and become stronger as a result. The next time you feel fear, embrace it, examine it, and if guided to do so, move boldly toward it.

When you realize the limits your family, your friends, your teachers, and your ego have set for you, you can take your power back and choose to go beyond those limits. You can become whoever you wish to become, or do whatever you previously and falsely thought you couldn’t.

First, we must each come to terms with what is real and what isn’t real, what is a self-imposed limitation and what is something we know, in our heart of hearts to be true.

Most of us have spent our entire lives believing that most of those labels are tangible parts of our being, inseparable from the fabric of who we are, they hold everything we are and ever will be. Even if we know deep down that these labels and ideas are wrong or limiting, we are constantly faced with the subconscious war with fear.

This is the hardest obstacle; you must consciously decide to step outside of the familiar box and into the unknown.

We fear the unknown and change. We each fear not being good enough, we fear rejection, we fear failing, and we fear not knowing what is going to happen to us. Life is short, don’t waste it living in fear of failure or judgment. You are not a victim of your past and your labels. You are capable of anything you set your heart, mind, and soul on.

Once you have firmly decided who you are and who you are going to be, you have closed the door to endless possibility. This is how the labels begin to consume our sense of reality; we become set in our ways and in our beliefs. Hold onto your character, integrity and morals, but leave every other part of yourself open to possibilities. Stay open, stay present, meditate, self-affirm.

Do the work needed in order to surround yourself with positive thoughts, emotions, and people, people who will support you and align with you as you shed the old beliefs and leave the confining box of comfort, expanding and evolving the way you are meant to as a human being.

Once I fully opened myself up to the endless possibilities and listened to what my heart and soul were saying, I was free.

Most importantly, I am no longer a victim of my past or my faults. I know I can overcome anything, simply by doing the work, facing my fears, and staying open to the endless possibilities.

There are countless other labels I have taken on in my personal life, each one just as difficult to shed as the ones I have mentioned. Yours will be similar or completely different; it is your work to identify and release them.

I am where I am today because I constantly push myself through. It takes time and effort to overcome years of conditioning, but we all have the power to do it.