Day 367 - 'one' shortcut?

Yes it is a dream...but my priority is standing right beside me. 

I'm sorry to say there is no such thing.  As you get older and yes I am getting older...are you surprised, I think not. I see so many people trying to take shortcuts in life.  It makes me sad because there are no shortcuts, life is hard, we need to work hard to get the things we want in life and there is NO way of getting around that. 

I bet that's something you've never heard...
  There are so many promises of fortunes and fame by just doing this or just doing that.  Well I'm here to pop your bubble and give you the best advice that I can give.  You MUST work hard to get the things you want in life, just to repeat it again.

But working hard doesn't mean that you give up your life.  Working hard will actually give you a life.  What do I mean by working hard...it's dedicating your life to something and giving it all you've got.  That doesn't mean trying to get others to buy into your shortcut, that doesn't mean that you sit and wait for things to arrive on your doorstep either, or hope other people will bring things to you. 

Are you trying to do too much and feeling
 like an ant in a big ant hill?

You can work hard at being a good mother, good father, good provider, good neighbour or good friend etc etc.  To work hard at these things and to do it well means you need to give up some things to get it.  Yep I'm here to burst your bubble again, it's impossible to have EVERYTHING you want.  You have to decide what the most important thing is and then work hard to get that.  For some reason this world has chosen to promote the idea you can have it all. Having it all means that your house is a certain way, you look a certain way, you drive a certain car, you have a job that you adore, etc. etc.  Boom!  There goes that bubble again. 

If you think you can have everything without giving up anything...splat, there goes that bubble again.  Life is not without sacrifices.  Yep, my hubby worked at a job he didn't like for a whole lot of years but what he decided was that he would be a good provider. Those people that say 'you were lucky' really don't understand the sacrifices involved.  Yes, we were blessed but man it wasn't easy! What did he give up?  He gave up evenings with me, but he gained the days with his daughters, that was shift work.  Yes, we had choices, we had dreams, but we chose that our priority was a solid home and family for our kids and that means different things to different people.  So we chose what it meant to us and worked hard at it.  It didn't all happen by itself, something didn't arrive at our door to help us and we didn't expect others to provide it as well. 



The moments where dreams don't matter
priorities do!



Besides there is always time for dreams, always.  Life is unfair, no big news there, but life is fair when you see the years and years of your hard work reveal it in ways you could only imagine.  And yes it took years.  We were not overnight success parents, we made tons of mistakes but we sure see the fruits of our hard work now. 

There are no guarantees that if you give up on your dreams to focus on what is really important that it will all work out, but at least you know that you gave it all you've got and you didn't give up.  So some of our dreams will come true on retirement, many of our dreams were very simple and we've done them or they haven't been as great as we thought.  But the day we decided to focus on our family was the best decision we've ever made. 

So the next time you are tempted by a shortcut, think that you don't have to give up anything to get what you want, sit down, take a deep breath and please have that ah-ha moment and realize that your life will be exactly what you want if you focus on what's really important and give it all you've got!

So what you are giving all you've got?  Is it a possession, a look, a feeling...there is no better investment than giving all you've got to a person and that could even be yourself.  Your hubby, your boyfriend, your kids, or maybe your community.  But decide, don't let media, marketing and the 'socially acceptable' do-it-all concept fog your decision.  It's the focusing that will give you happiness, trying to-have-it all will make you eternally frustrated and feeling that you are forever in that hamster wheel and never good enough.

You are wonderful, you are terrific and when you figure out what you want give it all to you might be surprised at the moment when you realize 'holy crap it's been over the top worth it!' 

signed 'one' dream at a time purple ladybug