WANTED: That Saturday Feeling Everyday

Ah that Saturday feeling. It is not hard to stay optimistic on a Saturday, its the first day of the weekend, and no matter what happens, aint no one gonna kill your vibe.  It's not that someone wont try today, it is just that somehow on a Saturday we find it easier to elevate our mood away from negativity because Saturday's are our time and our time is precious.

Great motto, but what about the week days? How often do we allow negative people and negative things to own our moods, our dreams and our energy in the week? Too often we just expect to wake up miserable on a weekday because 'hey, its a weekday'. Our mood spirals from the first moments we wake up and we carelessly allow our mood to spiral from there.

We engage in bad news when we read the paper, we bitch about work and our colleges and when something goes wrong, instead of elevate ourselves, we hold on to the negativity and carry it through our day.

But no more. I say start everyday with that Saturday feeling, and protect your happiness through out the day. Happiness is not a destination, it is a journey. It is a decision you make every moment, and you need to fight for it and protect it because it is fragile. 

Own every day and live it on purpose. Rise above negativity, don't dwell in it. Maintain an aura of good vibes consistently through the week, and your outlook on life, your stress levels and your productivity will improve.

Good vibes or positive energy are so important, as they form the environment in which your growth takes place. Picture a plant, whether or not it grows to its full potential or grows at all is entirely reliant on its environment. You are the same. You will never reach your full potential if you allow your environment to be polluted on a daily basis. Fight for your happiness, every day is your life.

Happy Saturday,

Life by Lois

TGIF? The whole system is wrong.

Thank God it is Friday. Of all the days of the week Friday receives the most love. We may be considered a thankless secular nation yet Friday has us thanking God- because on Friday the freedom bells ring. Each week on the 5th day we band together with colleges and friends to celebrate the end of the week as if it is the end of a jail sentence. 

If that is exactly what it feels like to you,  I want you to ask yourself an honest question- does your living for the weekend equate to you living life JUST on the weekend? Have you signed away the other 5 days of your life in exchange for 2?

We live in a culture where it is totally acceptable to not love what you do. In fact that is putting it mildly, many people openly hate what they do. In society the things we love doing have been assigned the frilly word 'hobby', and should not be taken seriously. Work however, is a 'chore' and 'chores' should not be fun. 

When choosing a path in life, many of us navigate on the default assumption that happiness is an illegitimate factor for consideration. Perhaps this is because growing up, throughout religion and in school, we are taught that sacrifice is the holiest of deeds. We are taught that when it comes to work, sacrifice is required, and we all too readily sign away our happiness for 'practical' reasons. At some point in our 20's we killed our childish dreams, stopped stargazing and just kept our heads down. 

Well today I am challenging the status quo.

I say it is actually more harmful to society to sacrifice your happiness. As Marianne Williamson says, "Your playing small does not serve the world". Where would we be if The Wright Brothers had not pursued their passion of flight, or Beethoven of music or Einstein of science? Where would we be if Richard Branson had stayed in school?

It is a proven fact, you perform at your greatest potential when you do what you love, and the whole world (including you ) benefits too.When you love what you do you are more creative, more innovative and more successful. The sky really is the limit. 

You are an individual and you are unique. It is not OK to be a square peg in a round hole and just keep going on that way. Somewhere there is a square hole just for you. 

It is never too late to rethink things, Samuel Jackson only started acting in his 40s.

It is time to love Mondays. It is time to do the world and yourself a favour. It is time to be happy.

Choose a job you love, and never work a day in your life (Confucius)

Life By Lois

The New Year Escape Plan... A different kind of resolution

One good thing about a recession is that it gets people thinking.  The sea of uncertainty separates the rodents who can jump, from those who prefer to go round in a wheel. A recession builds as much as it breaks, demanding initiative and independent determination from the individual who sees opportunity.

Unfortunately such an individual may go unprovoked for the majority of the year, distracted by the monotony of the yearly cycle, justified by the supposed worthiness of their contribution to the wheel of society. Yes, they silence that nagging voice that urges there could be more by plodding away in the system, allowing the years materialistic and artificial milestones to allow the illusion of progress. Yet ever so often something wonderful happens, circumstances align to awaken the individual to hope...a hope for more. And I mean a real more, not a more as in more things, more money, more clothes. More as in make more of a difference, more as in more happiness, more as in more success. This awakening is perhaps never more widespread as The New Year.

The New Year is an opportunity to pause and review, to look back at what one has been doing and evaluate if it is working. Typical New Years Resolution’s tend to favor a todo list of self improvements such as loosing weight or being nicer. Such resolutions are fine for the person who is more or less happy with their position on the rat wheel of society. However I would argue that for those individuals who know in their heart there is more, such resolutions are a cheap temporary filler for a permanent gaping hole.

Let me break it down some more, if you hate your job, if you are under appreciated and under paid, if you have a dream or a vision for contributing more to the world, if you have a business idea- if you have any of these, and your New Years Resolution is along the lines of ‘be nicer to Sally’ or ‘drop 10 lb’s’  you’re selling your self short.

Let your resolution be to sort your life out. I know thats daunting. I know thats a lot. I know that it is certainly more of a challenge then a neatly packaged pre suggested generic resolution, but it is what actually needs resolving. Each time you sit in that job you hate, with no plan of escape, or put off your traveling or charity work, or shelf your big idea you are abusing your spirit. Now let me be clear, I am not saying quit, sell up thy things and follow my teachings. I am simply saying make the resolution to water the seed of potential in you.

What does that look like you ask? Picture your mind is in a prison (thats right, I am getting all Matrix on your ass). When you first got into this prison, you had dreams of escape, dreams of more than the existence thrust upon you, but as time moved on reality took over the dream, and like a broken horse, you accustomed yourself to your surroundings and accepted your lot.  I am trying to help you escape.

The first step of escape is to realize that one is trapped. I think we have established that. The second step to escape is to visualize life on the other side, feed your dreams and acknowledge their realness. The third step is to plan escape, and the forth is to actually escape.

This year put into place a plan to get closer to your dream. That may take the form of sacrificing your ‘free time’ to research, plan and build. That may sound like a bummer but let me say this- it’s not free time until you are actually free, and doing what you were born to do.  

So, if you feel that New Year Itch, scratch it. Work hard, Act fast. Set goals and work towards them now. January is like a rapidly closing window of awakening. If you don’t establish a plan now, pretty soon the monotony of the wheel will have entrapped you into its superficial routine. Time is precious, and so are you. If you know you are not living to your full potential, resolve to rectify this in 2014. I know times are tough and uncertain and blah blah blah- but these are the times you were dealt. And news flash the world has never been easy. You owe it to yourself. Escape.