“I would love to be an optimist, but I don’t think it’s going to work out.” — Anonymous

As Sarah Ban Breathnach reminds us in Simple Abundance, “Optimism, like the happiness habit, can be learned.” Well, that is good news for everyone. All we have to do is to let go of our thoughts of lack, our thoughts of suffering, our thoughts of failure. We must also realize that it may not all happen over night.

We must allow ourselves the grace to make these Real Life Changes day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. They may seem like baby steps at first, but even a baby learns how to run if you give it the freedom try and to make mistakes along the way and learn from those very mistakes.

Begin the change to optimism today by smiling at those that cross your path. Believe in yourself no matter what task you plan to accomplish. If there are clouds in the sky, realize that they too will pass and the sun will shine again. It always does. And love will shine in your soul if you give yourself a friendly nudge in the right direction.

“The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.”
—W.M. Lewis

How many of us spend our days talking about the life we could have, or will have soon, or should have. Unfortunately, talking about it won’t actually make it happen. Each day you have to consciously decide on the actions to take that will keep you moving forward and avoid the decisions and actions that keep you stuck in the past. Having a desire for change but not taking the necessary actions to accomplish change will leave you at a standstill and probably also leave you feeling disheartened and dissatisfied.

Debbie Ford reminds us in The Best Year of Your Life that now is the time to set clear, concise, structured goals to keep you moving forward. Take the time to set your goals on paper with specific deadlines attached for each major milestone that you need to accomplish. Recognize the action steps that you need to take and do them. With each new action you take you will be one step closer to fulfilling your goals and your desires.

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on.”
— Robert Frost

Improvement and change occur when you do things repeatedly and consistently. Stopping and starting all the time will kill any of the momentum you need to succeed. Find ways to keep yourself on track and motivated. It is easy to create reasons not to stick to your goals. We get sick, we get tired, we have to travel, we get discouraged, we are stressed.

Here are some tricks to staying motivated and keeping change consistent in your life: Be reasonable with your goals by not taking on too much too quickly. Write your goals down in your calendar and make them as big a priority as every other appointment you have. Find support near by — a friend, a spouse, even a virtual computer buddy to keep you on track. Keep things fun — when it’s fun, it’s that much easier to do. Keep a journal so you can see your progress.

Now that the lightening and thunderstorms have passed and we have our internet connection back up — here’s the daily inspiration again!

“Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself.”
— Alan Alda

Don’t take yourself or all of life’s ups and downs too seriously. Lighten up. We were designed to live by our senses, not by our brains. Be bold and trust your inner guidance without hesitation.

Always follow your instincts, your intuition, your gut. And when things don’t go the way you thought it would, laugh at your mistakes. Being able to laugh at yourself is the key to self-actualization.

None of us is in control as much as we would like to think we are. Go with the flow. Forgive yourself. And move forward.

“Self-esteem is a huge piece of my work. You have to believe it’s possible and believe in yourself. Because after you’ve decided what you want, you have to believe it’s possible, and possible for you, not just for other people. Then you need to seek out models, mentors, and coaches.”
— Jack Canfield

Do you ever feel like you are working so hard to please everyone around you that you lose yourself in their expectations? It is sort of like fitting our lives into little boxes. There may just be one box. Or there may be many boxes… which can really tire you out at the end of the day.

What do I mean by a box? Take each relationship you have or situation in your life and see if you are being your authentic self with them or if you are squeezing yourself in (or trying to squeeze yourself out) of a belief system that is not yours.

It can relate to any part of your life, your career (I am a team-player that likes everyone I work with), your family (I am a super-mom that can do it all), your romantic relationships (I am a passionate lover).

These are all fine… great even, if they are truly you. What if you like working more independently? What if you need help from the rest of the family to get everything done? What if you are too tired at the end of the day to be passionate all the time?

It’s up to you to stay in the box or to feel free to move around and enjoy life as you are…

“The ancient Greek definition of happiness was the full use of your powers along lines of excellence.”
— John F. Kennedy, (1917 - 1963)

Take control of your life by finding exactly what you are passionate about and living it in excellence right this very moment. When we allow ourselves to live each day to its fullest, our appreciation and gratitude for life increases.

Find the joy in the moments of life and have passion for what you do every day. This is our only opportunity to live today and express ourselves to our fullest potential.

Don’t keep waiting, wondering, and wishing. Your life is in your hands. What do you want to do with it?

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.”
— Albert Schweitzer, (1875-1965)

Sometimes, no matter how much you want to change, change just seems to evade you. Perhaps it is willpower. Perhaps deep down, even subconsciously, you do not feel worthy of improvement, happiness, or success. Whatever the reason, something diverts you from your goals and change does not occur. What can you do then?

If becoming the best you can be for yourself just doesn’t inspire you to succeed, then dedicate your change or improvement to someone else and do it for them. Find someone who can use a positive role model and who would benefit from seeing you take yourself and your life to the next level. They don’t need to know that you are doing this for them. But keep that person, or group of people, in mind as you check your progress on a daily basis.

On your way to success you will be an inspiring example teaching others that they too can do the same as you.

“If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.”
— Maria Edgeworth, O Magazine, April 2004

Think back over the last week. How many moments were significant enough that you will remember them right now, or in a week, or in a month, a year, or even five years from now? Most of the time we are so busy surviving life that we let each moment slip by relatively unnoticed. In this rushed pace of living we also tend to take the people in our lives for granted, forget why we are really doing what we are doing, and don’t even sacrifice a moment of time to be thankful for all that we have right now, right here in front of us.

Time is a precious gift. Start living every moment in a more conscious light and you will begin to see how ordinary moments in your life are truly extraordinary. When you discover a particular moment in time that you want to treasure for years to come, stop and truly take it in. Allow yourself to stay in the experience, even just mentally, for a little longer than usual to notice what is so special about the moment. Soon you will be well on your way to building a mountain of wonderful memories of all the special moments in your life.

“Man improves himself as he follows his path; if he stands still, waiting to improve before he makes a decision, he’ll never move.” — Paulo Coelho

Indecision, procrastination, creative block, laziness; it doesn’t matter what you want to call it, it all amounts to the same thing — nothing gets accomplished. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I understand fully what it’s all about. I’ve been there before plenty of times myself. I have used many excuses — some more legitimate than others — for not moving forward.

But there comes a moment when you have to realize and tell yourself (because for some reason it usually doesn’t work when someone else tells you) that if you just keep waiting for that something to happen, or that idea to come, or hey what about maybe just winning a lottery instead, you will never actually move forward in your life.

As simple and yet as difficult as it may seem, the best course of action when you come to inaction is ACTION. As you move along your path you will either stumble upon the missing pieces or they will find you along the way. The main thing is you are always improving if you keep moving forward because there is always something to learn along the way.

“Live simply so that others may simply live.”
— Gandhi

When he said to “live simply” did he mean live a life of poverty, give up your worldly goods, etc.? I don’t believe so. But these days it seems to become harder and harder to get our minds around how to live simply. What I think it means is to live a life that doesn’t overwhelm you. If you find that your life is so complicated and busy that you don’t even know who you truly are anymore, it might be an indication that your life needs simplification.

Simplification might also mean learning to say “no” to some of the requests that are placed on you. We are taught to give and and help others, and that is all very good and true. But if you have nothing left of yourself or no time left to give to yourself, how can you keep giving to others?

Slow down, step back, examine your days and your routines. How much of it do you really feel is necessary to keep on the schedule? When you give yourself the gift of simplifying your life, you will actually be giving others the gift of a more complete (and mentally sane) you.