Quote of the Day

“A good friend is a connection to life – a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world.” - Lois Wyse

Within the last two weeks, I have been blessed to spend time with my closest friends from high school and college – which, of course, makes me nostalgic for the days when we saw each other everyday and were intimately involved in one another’s lives.

Nowadays it’s harder to maintain that daily connection and I often wish that I stayed in better touch. But the true test of friendship is being able to pick up where you left off (even after weeks, months or years) and I am fortunate to have a handful of such friends in my life.

Nevertheless, I still have that dream that someday we'll all live in the same city and can hang out with each other as often as we please...and enjoy one another’s snow ramps.

Quote of the Day

(© 2006 Graphique de France – wall calendar)

“What is seen really depends on what is looked for.” - Felix the Cat

I love my Felix the Cat-isms so much that I’ve kept my 2006 wall calendar up for the last four years. He is one smart cat!

Now I’m not a pessimistic person by nature, but at times I feel a desire to dwell on the negative more than the positive. But I think we all have that natural tendency, especially if we are under a significant amount of pressure or stress.

But this month’s saying reminds me to stop those negative thoughts in their tracks and instead shift my focus on what is going right in my life.

While it sometimes seem easier to sink into the downward spiral that is self-pity, I’m done wasting my time and energy on such an unproductive hobby. And I’m finding that with practice, it’s becoming easier to get off that slippery slope and shift my focus to happier thoughts.

I remain, as always, a work in progress.

Quote of the Day

“Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” - Gloria Steinem

I’ve always had a big imagination and often spent time as a child dreaming of my future – what my first boyfriend would look like, where I would live when I grew up and what cool job I would have.

Even today I continue to dream of what my future holds – of my future home by the water, of my successful company and being surrounded by wonderful family and friends.

Dreams are a wonderful thing and help motivate me to do things today to help me reach my dreams for tomorrow.

What do you dream of?

Quote of the Day

(© 2006 Graphique de France – wall calendar)

“Life was meant to be lived.” - Felix the Cat

Okay I’m sold! Felix is one smart cat and I’m going to heed his advice by grabbing life by the horns and getting the heck outta dodge! To Nashville, TN to be precise.

Sound familiar?

Well it should, it’s on my goals list for the year! One of my good friends moved down there a few years ago and I’ve been planning to visit ever since. Perhaps planning isn’t the right word since that would make it seem as if I had done more than just think about it.

But I’ve been meaning to go for the last three years and with the year winding down, I knew I needed to make it happen fast!

So I booked myself a ticket on Southwest (a cheap one thanks to a gift certificate I was saving for the occasion) and I’m heading down today for the weekend! I’m looking forward to seeing a new city, catching up with my friend and, of course, taking some time off from work.

And it’s also momentous because I never travel by myself anymore. The last time I did so was back in college when I flew to visit my boyfriend. So it feels good to be doing this on my own and I look forward to sharing some pictures from the ‘Music Capital of the USA”!

Quote of the Day

“We must always have old memories and young hopes.” - Houssaye

One of my best friends recently moved into her first home and has been slowly settling in. And from the looks of her Facebook account, the last box she unpacked was full of photo albums. Having known her for over twenty years now, I had the “good fortune” (read with much sarcasm) to be featured in quite a few of them.

But while I at first was horrified that cyberspace would be graced with these incredibly unattractive pictures of myself, I have come to relish in reliving those moments. I sometimes yearn for the innocence and ease of childhood, having of course forgotten all the drama of adolescence. And if I didn’t have to revisit the horrifying trifecta of sporting a boy cut, glasses and braces all at the same time, I’d go back in a heartbeat.

But there were plenty of tough lessons learned over the last twenty years to make me appreciate where I am at this moment. I feel more confident and self-assured in my 30’s than I have at any other age.

This quote reminds me to hold my memories close to my heart while relishing in the fact that my past has pushed me to this point – where I am full of hope and energy to take that next big step.

Quote of the Day

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” - G.K. Chesterton

One thing I have learned from 7 ½ years at my day job is how not to run a business.

You see one can’t be so consumed with the bottom line that, at the end of the day, they forget who helps get them there.

Acknowledgement is the easiest - and cheapest - way to retain employees. Appreciation keeps the best and brightest workers engaged, motivated and loyal. Without it, offices turn into high speed revolving doors with a sky rocketing rate of turnover.

I’ve seen a lot over the course of my time at work and most of the problems I have witnessed could have easily been solved with a little bit of acknowledgement, a modicum amount of common sense and lots of communication.

Of course running a business involves a juggling act of epic proportions, but I truly believe that some people are meant to make deals and some people are meant to be leaders. And in order to run a successful business, you have to be able to recognize which one you are and make sure you hire someone to take care of the other.

That hasn’t happened at my company, but I know that’s not an anomaly.

While it has proven frustrating (to the point of consuming most of my focus and energy over the last week and a half) I’ve learned to see the silver lining in it – which is that I now know how not to run a business.

I know that when I finally reach the point of hiring employees, I will invite open communication, criticism, new approaches and fresh ideas. I will also do my best to weed out the incompetent and retain the best and brightest with heaps of acknowledgement, gratitude and the like.

After all these years in my sometimes unsatisfying work environment, I’m chomping at the bit to prove myself as a worthy leader and that all it takes is a bit of common sense to keep those invested in making your business a success…happy and loyal to the task.

Quote of the Day

“Stress is the trash of modern life – we all generate it but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.” - Danzae Pace

Last week was a daily cycle of working like crazy throughout the day followed by evening obligations that left me feeling exhausted and in need of a good cry and a good night’s sleep.

There was no time for thinking or doing anything besides my day job and I was okay with shelving everything else for a little bit. But in the back of my mind, all of my personal responsibilities started to pile up and not being able to do anything about them added to the already overwhelming stress load on my shoulders.

So this weekend, I cut back on my activities and dedicated most of today to cleaning and organizing my apartment – and therefore my mind – because I’ve come to realize that visual clutter adds to my mental clutter…which then makes it difficult for me to focus on the task at hand. And focus is what I’m going to be in need of this coming week at work.

I also need to bring more focus to my other job. Live Love Life Now™ has been pushed to the side for too long and the stress of inactivity is starting to really weigh on my mind. And I mustn’t let that stress pile up to the point of overtaking my life because Live Love Life Now™ is to be the path to a more fulfilling and satisfying life…one without mass client mailings and obligatory days stuck inside a fluorescent light filled office building.

Quote of the Day

“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time’, is like saying, ‘I don’t want to’.” - Lao-Tzu

Lately, I feel like I’m constantly lamenting the fact that "I don’t have [the] time” to do everything I need to do. On one hand, I’m happy that I have more events and activities going on during the weekend and weeknights. But on the other hand, I’m often left feeling like my nights and weekends just disappear and I’m not being productive enough with the spare time in between.

But perhaps Lao-Tzu is right. Maybe I do have all the time I need to accomplish something everyday, I just need to want to use that free time in a productive manner.

Somehow that seems a little easier said than done, but I’m going to keep this in mind and push forward because I want to make a change.

Quote of the Day

“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.” - Anonymous

Brilliant. This quote made me stop in my tracks and really think hard about the truth of the statement. I know deep (deep) down that I am capable of achieving anything I put my mind to, but on a daily basis I let the inane chatter in my head doubt my abilities.

Quote of the Day

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” - Anonymous

I’ve been collecting quotes for a while now and this is one of my favorites. It’s encouraging and motivating and reminds me not to waste time worrying or regretting the past. I can make the choice today to make a change and start living my life the way I want it.

Quote of the Day

“You can plan for the future but what you live is the moment.”

Sometimes the most obvious and simple messages are the most eye opening.

At my boyfriend’s insistence, I have started to read Emilio Estefan’s new book “The Rhythm of Success”. In it, he discusses his life story and how it relates to his business successes. It’s sort of a memoir and a business book rolled into one.

Emilio credits his father for the above quote, because he always taught him to stay positive and to live in the moment. Seems like an obvious statement, but one we tend to forget all too often.

I know I stress about the future, and the past, all too often…and forget to take advantage of the now. But awareness is the first step to overcoming a bad habit and I’m going to remain conscious of the present from now on!