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You should make a vision board, too. You know you wanna!
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This may sound simplistic, but one of the ways that we live an inspired life is to remain ever aware of the things that inspire each of us and constantly keep them right there within our vision. We do this by talking about it, dreaming about it, writing about it, making lists and taking action where and when we can. We even create vision boards - which is such a fun and inspiring act in and of itself!
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The United States of Texas!
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| Yep, that's about right! |
We recently made a huge cross country move from the South, deep in the heart of (Austin) Texas, where we have lived for the better part of the past 11 1/2 years, to the Midwest, which I pseudo-affectionately call Farmtown, USA. These parts are Bill's (the hubby) stomping grounds. We eventually wound up buying a house in his old college town, Charleston, IL. I mention this, because with a move - especially a cross country one - comes much in the way of change and upheaval. It can be such a challenge to pull up such deep roots, carry them such a long distance, and put them down somewhere new. (I know, because we have done this before.) This was a somewhat unexpected move and not necessarily what was wanted, across the board, so that made an already life altering situation that much more challenging.
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| Just in fun - not really! |
Not only that, we moved from the city where we had always lived, to the country. And, at first, we were not just in the country, but in the deep woods of the country. We could almost hear the banjos strumming each time we made the trip to the local town. We had terrible access to services, so internet and phone coverage was sparse, at best. It was a whole new world.
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| You're going the wrong way!! |
We were hard pressed to find the joy during that time. We could have easily remained miserable about the circumstances we were in and no one would have faulted us. It defied all of the things that inspired us and certainly seemed to be a step in the exact opposite,
wrong direction to that of our dreams. It felt like we were merely surviving and it wasn't really the prettiest picture. Let me tell you, in a situation like that, it's easy to be all kinds of inspired! If you are having any trouble clarifying what you
do want, landing right smack in the middle of what you
don't want will flood you with inspiration!
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See? Awesome quote, unknown author
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And so, flooded we were! We fed off of that inspiration to keep us moving into the direction we wanted to go, and we are still doing that to this day. It takes some adjusting of the sails in the midst of so much change to even feel like you are pointed in the right direction and sometimes in the midst of it, you cannot really see it, but...(I feel a really wise and inspiring quote coming on. Are you feelin' it, too?)
I wouldn't say that our new direction is set. I think we are still moving toward that end. We have re-planted our roots, though, hopefully into fertile soil. If not though, we know what we have to do. By consistently focusing on the things that inspire us, we continually inspire our lives in the direction we want to go. And, while many may think that inspiration only comes under the best of circumstances, I believe inspiration screams much more loudly under the worst of circumstances. It just requires never letting go of the vision and the dreams.
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Ohhhh, pretty!
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There is another significant element to the success of weathering those hard times with our dreams still intact. In fact, it is so significant in allowing the inspiration to continue to shine through amid the contrast, that without it, I fear the inspiration would be lost. Fortunately, we are well trained in this matter and that is in seeing the diamond in the rough, or the glass half full. We simply looked for all that was beautiful in our lives and all we had to be grateful for and that is what, I believe, stoked the fire of inspiration that eventually led us back into a bigger town - a college town, and back in the direction of our dreams.
We are feeling much more settled now. Even though this is not necessarily the direction we would have chosen at the outset, we accept that life is constantly in motion, constantly changing. Many times, we are unable to control our outer circumstances. What we always
can control is our reaction and our perspective. We choose to live an inspired life.
The way I see it, the moments and experiences of life form the questions, of which there are limitless possibilities. Sometimes those questions are delicious and can literally make us swoon. Other times, those questions are murky or downright painful and no answer will ever suffice. Most of the time, the questions fall somewhere in between and can feel like a roller-coaster of ups and downs leaving our overall perspective of life highly dependent on the moment we are experiencing right now.
