Recently I met my new friend. We talked for hours, walked in a drizzling rain, went to the beach in the dark. We had a great time and conversation.
In talking with her, I realized how far I came. My attitude towards everything has changed. Like the saying goes, “Do not look for me in the past. I am not there anymore.” It rings so true to me.
I realized all the struggles I been through in the past only made me stronger. The people who treated me unfairly are no longer in my life. Some things that I would be dead serious about before, just made me laugh. I know what I want and nothing will stop me.
By talking to my friend, I glanced into my past and right now. I came a LONG way. Wow! I am not afraid of little setbacks anymore. It only makes me stronger. Setbacks are just a little building blocks that goes to the top of the castle of our dreams come true.
By summing up all our conversations about life and people, an enormous gratitude filled my heart. I am grateful for:
1. My family and friends. You are truly amazing, each one of you!
2. My health. Where I was and where I am now – HUGE difference!
3. My pets who give an unconditional bundles of love and joy.
4. A peace in my heart. Forgiveness plays a huge part.
5. My self-confidence. Gosh, even my back is straight and I see clearer.
6. My cheerfulness and positivity. A simple smile makes the whole difference not only for me, but for others.
7. My creativity and curiosity. I LOVE making ordinary into extraordinary, to challenge myself to see in creative ways.
8. Challenges. They teach me lessons and test me how strong I’ve become. It builds a character, so bring it on. 
9. New opportunities that unexpectedly present themselves.
10. LIFE. I cherish every minute that I am alive!
What are you grateful in your life?
Tags: family, friends, fun, gratefulness, health, inspiration, journal, life, lifestyle, me, opinion, past, people, personal, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, random thoughts, reflections, relationships, self-confidence, thoughts, women, wonderocity
Here are some more wisdom nuggets from Robert G. Allen’s e-book The Road to Wealth:
“Ask any successful person why they are so successful, and they will answer in two words: good decisions.
But how do you learn to make good decisions? One word: experience.
But how do you get experience? Two words: bad decisions.
Question: Are you willing to risk making enough bad decisions so that you can gain the experience necessary to be able to make good ones?”
“A negative thinker sees something suspicious on the horizon immediately imagines the worst and follows things to their logical negative conclusion. Something goes wrong, an unexpected bill, and before you can say “whoops” he is preparing for bankruptcy. No wonder a negative thinker never makes any success happen. He’s always too busy battening down the hatches because he thinks the sky is falling down.
On other hand, the optimistic thinker always tries to see things in a positive light – to follow things to their illogical positive conclusion. When he sees a problem on the horizon, he immediately starts trying to find something good with it. If you look hard enough, you know, you can always find something good. No wonder positive thinkers are always smiling.”
How to Develop the Skill of Grace Under Pressure
“When you find yourself in a stressful situation (i.e., a closing that is coming up, an especially important negotiation) you may discover that your normal cool is replaced with panic. With practice, you can learn to handle these situations with grace and poise. Here are some points to consider:
1. Step back and see the big picture. Almost invariably, when you find yourself losing your cool it is because you fail to see things in perspective. Look back ten years from where you have come. See the progress you have made. View your present situation as just another stepping stone in your long-term progression. Ask yourself where you are going to be in 10 years. The stress you feel in your present circumstances will diminish when viewed in this context.
2. Review your goals, Hannah More wrote, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes of the goal.” Keep your eyes on the goal, and you won’t have time to lose your cool.
3. Realize that stress is caused by fear. Fear is not a thing. It’s just a thought. It can’t stop you. Only you can stop you. So get out of your own way. Quit thinking fear thoughts. Start thinking success thoughts.
4. Give yourself a pep talk with phrases like these: Inch by inch, anything’s a cinch. No pain, no gain. It’s always darkest before the dawn. Who am I doing this for? My family. Is their long-term success more important to me than this momentary stress that seems to be holding me back? Yes. Is there any other way? No. Then do it.
5. Do it now. Develop the habit of doing what you need to do when the thought comes to you. Don’t put it off. Your habit of procrastination is really just another camouflage for of fear. You must face it. Do it now.
The ability to exude grace under pressure is the result of passing through many positive and negative experiences in which you finally see that you can handle whatever gets thrown at you. Things are rarely all or nothing, make or break, do or die. Regardless of the outcome, the sun still comes up in the morning. Life teaches that things are never as good as they seem or as bad as you imagine. Even the failures often turn out to be the best answer in the long run. There are good things in bad situations and bad things in good situations. There are just as few reasons to be overly excited about something, as there are to be overly despondent. Wisdom dictates that you learn to be more even-tempered. Moderation in all things, and from this comes grace.”
Tags: books, how to achieve success, how to handle stress, how to handle stressful situations, inspiration, life, lifestyle, opinion, optimist, personal, pessimist, philosophy, photo gallery, photo inspiration, photos, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, random thoughts, reflections, Robert G. Allen, self-confidence, self-esteem, stress, success, The Road to Wealth, thoughts, wonderocity
I love books. There is so much wisdom in each one of them. So much experience, so many lessons to be learned… Books inspire us, and satisfy our hunger for knowledge. They let our imagination loose and answers questions, “what if?” “what is more?” “how come?” They bring us to different worlds. They open our minds, so we can expand our vision.
Recently, I finished e-book The Road to Wealth by Robert G. Allen. He is a best-selling author and real estate guru. Also, he teaches thousands of people real estate tricks and how to start an information empire. He is wealthy in knowledge and very generous with information. This is a second book I read by him and looking forward in reading other books of his, including “Nothing Down.”
Here, I want to share some excerpts and quotes from Robert G. Allen e-book, The Road to Wealth, that will make you think, encourage you, inspire you. It inspired me, for sure. Enjoy these nuggets of wisdom:
“Confidence comes with practice.”
“Don’t look at the immensity of the goal. Don’t look down at the penalty for failure. Just keep your eyes on the next step.”
“You’ll slip and bruise yourself. Maybe even break a leg, figuratively. But you’ll heal, and if you maintain the proper attitude, you’ll emerge a stronger, more courageous and less fearful person.”
“Face your fear. You always find the best fishing holes in the places where the average fisherman is afraid to go.”
“The masses are always afraid. This leaves more for the few who dare. We don’t have shortage of opportunity in America. We have a shortage of courage. The lakes are teeming with fish. But you have to dare to climb the cliffs to get them. Where the risks are great the rewards are greater.
Once you understand this concept, you’ll never lack for anything again. That is, if you’re able to overcome your fear.”
“As in all fairy tales, if you want to marry the princess, you have to slay the dragon. The greatest dragon you’ll ever face is your own fear. ”
“If you can learn to live with the fear, the world is yours.”
“Watch the crowd. Go in the opposite direction. Success does not come by following the crowd. Where there are many fishermen, the lakes get fished out fast. You must not be afraid to go against the grain – to go alone to unclaimed territory.”
“To be successful you must learn to be different. Find true friends who will admire you for your courage. Any friend who encourages you to be less than you can be is not real friend by anyone’s standard. Be different. While the masses seek security, do the contrary. March out into the risk. If the masses huddle in a corner, afraid, stand out from them. Face your fear. Look around you. See the masses standing in lives, waiting for someone to take care of them. Step out of line and form a new line – with you at the head of it.
If fear of failure causes the multitudes to cower, let this be your cue. Like all great people before you, determined to fail way to success if necessary.
If the masses yearn to be loved, strive instead to be respected. It is greater to be respected than to be loved. For respect is the foundation of love. There can be no love without it. When you learn to face your fear, you will come to respect yourself. And you will be irresistible. It takes courage to step out of the line marked “security” into the line marked “risk.”
“You’re already wealthy. You are your wealth. Wealth is not having. It’s being. Nothing you have is as important as what you are.”
“Acceptance is harder to give than advice but infinitely more valuable.”
“From ashes of failure grew my greatest success.”
“If you refuse to accept failure, you cannot fail. You may fall down a cliff or two, but you must learn to get up, dust yourself off and keep climbing. Only those who are willing to fail again and again deserve to make it to the top.”
“The brain is the most powerful computer in the world – your personal Einstein.”
“How do you stretch your brain to accept bigger and bigger ideas? Associate with big thinkers.”
“Often hunches are correct. Try to create an environment in which hunches can be nurtured.
Feed the faith, starve the doubt. Learning how to recognize and follow this still-small voice can lead us to levels of success that we could not attain otherwise.
Thus, by listening to positive thinkers, reading positive books and by learning to follow our hunches, we can actually program ourselves to be more successful.
One of the best brain-stretching activities is some form of regular exercise. Exercise builds self-esteem. And self-esteem is the fuel that keeps us running after other people give up. The better you feel about yourself, the more willing you will be to accept those big ideas from others and those hunches from your own computer.”
“You are obliged to help other people in anyway you can because it’s going to come back to you. Your success is assured if you help enough people get what they want.”
“Whatever you plant in your life, you’re going to get back.”
Tags: being different, books, fear, helping others, How to overcome your fears, inspiration, life, lifestyle, links, nuggets of wisdom, opinion, personal, philosophy, photo inspiration, photos, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, quotes, random thoughts, reflections, relationships, Robert G. Allen, self-confidence, self-esteem, The Road to Wealth, thoughts, wisdom, wonderocity
I love to take pictures, but when it comes to take pictures of me, forget about it. I don’t think so… Or it used to be.
When I look at my younger photos, I look shy, like being caught, feeling uncomfortable. I hated to pose, so that’s how I came out in the pictures: frozen in time – frozen literally. Then of course comes self-criticism and oh, I could be the best self-critic. Just don’t get me started.
Sounds familiar? Usually what stops us are outside or our inner critics. And we can always stop them, especially our self-critics. All others can think whatever they want.
So, one day I decided to change all that – I decided to overcome my camera shyness. I thought how can I relax in front of the camera – in unfamiliar territory? At first, I put my camera on a self-timer and snapped some photos. I felt uneasy and somewhat ridiculous, but I overcame that. I just completely ignored my self-criticism. Hey, in this Facebook age, many people take self-portraits. Right?
Then I made a game out of it. Whenever my friend Sandy and I go out on photoshoot, first I take shots of her. Then, when she asks to take pictures of me, instead of declining, I agree. Instead of standing frozen, I make different poses. I encourage my friend to do the same. Posing is actually fun when we use our imagination. It gives us freedom and creativity. When we are flexible in posing, the pictures come out great. They show our wild side.
Using props are great, too. If none is available at the time, we can find anything in nature, like palm tree branches or tall grass at the beach.
Here is Sandy at the beach among tall grass.
I find candid shots are the greatest. No posing required. When we act normally without seeing camera present, we come out naturally.
Actually, now to take photos is fun: behind and in the front of camera. It is a great game to play. All those advices: you got to look pretty and photogenic, wear lots of make-up is not a real solution. Don’t need any of that as long as we:
1. Make fun poses and be creative;
2. Use any props available
3. Shoot candidly
So, next time anyone will ask you to say “cheese,” make it a fun game. Bring your wild side out. The rest is easy.
Tags: Advice, art, beauty, Camera shy, Camera shyness, family, friends, fun, How to get over camera shyness, How to overcome camera shyness, inspiration, life, lifestyle, me, Models, opinion, people, personal, photo, photo inspiration, photo tips, photography, photos, picture, pictures, random thoughts, reflections, self-confidence, self-esteem, thoughts, women, wonderocity
“Go Big,” my brother suggested when I told him about my project idea, the book I started to write. These simple words moved me. The idea of being big was simmering in my mind just in the morning. And there were those words again, “Go Big.”
This got me thinking. How many of us play a small game? How many of us play big? How do we regard ourselves? If we think we are small and insignificant, that’s what we give and therefore that’s what we receive in the world. We play a small me part, what we think of is mostly about ourselves. Sure, our dreams might be big, but as long as we concentrate only about ourselves, we will not going to go far.
So, how can we shift our perspective? How can we live a bigger than ourselves life, play a bigger game?
First, let’s start from foundation that we built for ourselves. All our life up till now made who we are today: our lessons, our tribulations, our victories, our difficulties, our winnings. Whatever it was, we got to make a peace with our past: forgive, get rid of the stuff we no longer need. Recently, I got rid of my journal writings that do not serve me anymore. I think I kept them, so I would prove something to somebody. I do not need to prove anything. As I tore those pages, my heart became 100% lighter. We do not need our past weighing on our shoulders and definitely we do not need to carry them someplace in the drawer tucked in. We got to make a peace with our past and with ourselves. If not, this stuff will haunt us in our future decisions and might stop us in the tracks. We do not need that to go forward. (To help deal with it, you can read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle and look into Landmark Education. These are incredible resources.)
Next is to go for the dreams – no matter what. Dream as big as we can dream of. What’s the point of dreaming if you cannot dream big, right? Dreaming alone will not get us anywhere, though. We got to ACT on them. Little by little, day by day, step by step – Act on the dreams. Do not be afraid of failure. Failure is just a stepping stone for something coming up great. Need inspiration for action? Read Failing Forward by John C. Maxwell. This will help you to be brave all the step of the way.
These two steps mentioned above are just a prep for a third and the most important step of going Big, Huge, Gigantic: We got to INVOLVE as many people as we can – small people, big people and everything in between. We cannot accomplish anything just by thinking small (all about ourselves). As soon as we open the doors to others, help others, give others – we will start playing a bigger game – a world game. Do we want to make a world a better place? Let’s share our passions with it. Can you imagine a world full of passionate people? We have so much to give. Why are we keeping all to ourselves? We owe the world to show who we are, to help as many people as we can. By helping others, we’ll help ourselves. Let’s think for a moment in simple ways: when we smile, others can’t help but smile back. We water our flowers, and they smile back by giving us the most gorgeous blossoms. We give a kind word to a stranger, their smile makes us feel good, too. Universe works in mysterious ways. The key to giving is not expect anything in return, but universe also gives it back as long as we are open in receiving. Without expectation, we may be rewarded in other ways least expected.
So, let’s sum it all up. Let’s get rid of the last pains, make a peace with our past. Let’s build a new foundation of now and future by dreaming and DOING BIG! Let’s involve and help as many people as we can. Let’s think on worldly terms. (Advanced Course of Landmark is a great resource of that).
Deepak Chopra, Tim Ferris, John Assaraf and other great authors are HUGE because they help tons of people. Why am I any different? It is a time to play a BIG GAME.
Tags: act on dreams, actions, Advanced Course of Landmark Education, big dreams, book authors, books, change, communication, dreams, Eckhart Tolle, education, Failing Forward, how to start over, how to write a book, inspiration, involving, John C. Maxwell, Landmark education, life, mind, new opportunities, past, personal, photos, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, reflections, self-confidence, self-improvement, starting over, The Power of Now, thinking, thoughts, wisdom, wonderocity, world, world a better place, worldly terms, writing, writings
Posted by ineta on Mar 25, 2011 in
self-confidence There is a fine line between being alone and feeling lonely. Yet, some people think it is the same. When we are single, our friends constantly want to “fix us” up with somebody. We are not broken. They think, we are alone; therefore, we must feel lonely.
Being alone is a physical state. It might be a transitional phase when we choose to have a time to ourselves. It might be a time when we need to heal, or we are too busy to think about relationships. Either way, we choose to be that way. We are comfortable in our skin. We are self-reliant and independent. We just enjoy to spend time alone and in the process we grow stronger. We get to know ourselves better, our wants and needs. We do not need to depend on anybody to make us happy.
On other hand, feeling lonely is a state of mind. It is a state when we do not know ourselves well enough; therefore, we are not comfortable. We can have somebody next to us and still feel lonely. When we feel lonely, we depend on somebody for our own happiness; we rely on somebody to tell us who we are. We are not comfortable in our skin. Therefore, we long for somebody to fill that gap, to show our best when the answer lays in our own hearts.
How to heal loneliness? The thing is when we are not happy with ourselves, nobody will bring happiness to us. At first, it might appear that way, but it is an illusion, and it will be a short-lived. To cure loneliness, we got to find our passions, our loves, what makes our heart sing. We got to re-discover ourselves and pursue our dreams. When we are comfortable in ourselves and when the time is right, we might meet someone who will compliment us (not complete us).
Tags: alone, curing loneliness, family, friends, happiness, inspiration, life, lifestyle, lonely, love, men, opinion, people, personal, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, random thoughts, reflections, relationships, thoughts, women, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on Dec 4, 2010 in
self-confidence How many of us can look in the mirror and really like ourselves, without being critical? Or seeing ourselves in the pictures without pressing the “Delete” button? Or even let others take pictures of us? Do we really “see” ourselves for who we are?
We want to look perfect, thin, beautiful, smart, dressed up, with make up on to look somewhat decent. We want to wait for someday to look just right: after vigorous exercise regime, after we lose some pounds, after someday we be happy… The list goes on. We keep chasing that “perfect” image of us that keeps eluding us.
The big question is “Why?” Why do we want to be perfect? Is it for us or for others? Is that our opinion, or others’? What if today we would accept ourselves the way we are? What that would be like? What if others’ opinions do not really matter? Some of us might protest, “Yeah, but my career/relationship… depend on it,” and other “yeah, buts.” It is just a butt. It is all in our heads. Perhaps we got to look elsewhere for our career, perhaps we got to surround ourselves with people who accept the way we are. Or perhaps we got to accept ourselves first. This is where we have to start. When we start accepting ourselves no matter what, others will accept us, too. If they will not, it will not matter to us anymore as long as we know who we are. We ourselves can make us happy anytime we want to. We do not need to depend on others for happiness. It is our own choice.
Why do we want to be perfect (according others’ opinion) anyway? We are not them and they’re not us. We are ourselves, and nobody is like us, which we can learn to embrace it. Nature is imperfect. That’s why it is so beautiful. The same here. We are all unique, all kinds of shapes and forms. Each one of us have unique talents, unique gifts, unique looks. Can we imagine how boring it would be if we all would look the same and act the same? Plastic surgeons already are making some people look the same with big lips, straight nose, fake unmovable smile. Why in the world do we want to look like that?
When we do depend on others and reach for their approval, we become like zombies, not ourselves, and less of who we are. We even start to live others’ lives, lives according others’ opinion. In our minds, we care for others, but we do not really see ourselves. We become unhappy and depressed and we do not know who we are anymore. We hit “identity crisis.” This is an extreme case, of course, when we devote ourselves to others without leaving anything for ourselves.
We all make mistakes. We all have our stories. That’s how we see and learn from life. We either embrace it – our lives, our lessons and dreams, even our bodies, or we let others to control us the way we look, the way we feel, the way we see and the way we act. It is all up to us. Do we want a ship to take us anywhere, or do we want to grab a wheel and choose our destination of our lives and dreams? Do we want to live our lives or others’?
Who are you for yourself (without others’ opinion)? What do you do for your own enjoyment that lights up your eyes, puts you on the seventh cloud and makes your heart sing? What do you have as a result of it?
If it too hard to answer these questions, dream the answers. Dream it big. It is your life. It is your dreams. It is not others’. It is all yours. Keep your wheel in your hands, and lead your heart to your desired destination. Where would you go?
Tags: beauty, identity crisis, inspiration, life, looking beautiful, opinion, people, personal, photos, pictures, post and photos by Ineta McParland, random thoughts, reflections, self concept, self-confidence, self-image, thoughts, women, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on Oct 27, 2010 in
self-confidence,
starting over Many of us in life get hurt. Our hearts get broken, and we close ourselves in the shell. Sometimes we come out of it, and get smacked over the head, and we go back into the shell again. Some of us stay closed in for the most part of our lives.
In our minds we feel safe, unhurt, comfortable in our shells, so why bother to risk? Why to risk to get hurt again? What we do not realize is that by staying inside our shells, we miss out on life big time. We miss out on new opportunities, new ways of life. So, how to come out of this shell? How to stop this vicious cycle? We got to find out why we are in the shell in the first place. It could be one or all these reasons:
1. Our heart is broken and we need time to heal.
2. We think we are not worth it.
3. We think we are not good enough.
4. We do not want to get hurt again.
5. Any other reason.
If our heart is broken, there is nothing wrong to take time off to heal. It might take months or even years to rebuild our heart from the scratch. It is different for every person. Only we can choose how much time we need. It is all in our minds. As long as we do not close ourselves forever, we can take as much time as we have to. The problem would occur if we choose to be in the shell as our way of life or reason one becomes reason 2, 3, 4 and maybe 5, which are a plain nonsense. We usually look at outside world for confirmation for who we are. If we do not know our true selves or we do not see who we are for ourselves, the outside world can give us every stupid opinion. It can turn us in whatever direction they want, and we believe in it. If somebody tell us that we are ugly, stupid, fat, idiots, we believe them. We will start seeing that we are not worth it and we are not good enough, and we will close ourselves in the shell.
Now if we have a firm belief who we are and do not look for acceptance in outside world, no matter who will say anything to us, we will just laugh at them and think they are nuts.
In other way, if we are closed in our shelves, nobody will know who we truly are. We will not be able to show who we are to others allowing them to make wrong assumptions about us. When they do, we get hurt because we know it is not true.
The only way out of it is to get to know ourselves and stand our ground and show the world who we are, and get people really to know us. By sharing us and our gifts with the world, we will not give a chance for people to make wrong assumptions about us.
If we choose to be closed in, we will miss out on the world and the world will miss out on us. We are too good and too important to hide.
Tags: being brave, friends, heartbreak, how to come out of the shell, how to heal a broken heart, hurt, inspiration, life, lifestyle, love, men, new opportunities, opinion, outside world, people, personal, philosophy, photo, picture, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, rants, reflections, relationships, sharing our gifts, thoughts, time to heal, women, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on Aug 7, 2010 in
being different,
self-confidence 
I did it. My friends did it. Lots of women still do it. Men do it, too. All creatures, animals and birds do it all the time. They camouflage themselves in their environment. They hide to escape predators; they hide to save their lives. A lizard’s skin tone suddenly resembles rustic fallen leaves on the ground. Squirrel’s fur color is exact like palm tree’s or any tree’s bark. Robin lifts up his head resembling a tree leaf. Insects become the same color as surface they land on. It’s a trick of survival, matter of life and death situation.
Now you probably asking, “What animals and we have in common?” We don’t need to hide from predators. This does not make sense. Or does it?
Looking deeply in ourselves, we’ll find we do camouflage. The only difference among animals and us is that camouflage saves and protects animals, but it has an adverse reaction to us. To some degree or another, we all have “a fit in” disease, and could be detrimental to our self-image, self-identity and even our health.
All of us probably heard or said to others “Oh, I like your outfit. Where did you get it?” Let’s admit it, we like to wear the same or similar clothes as others wear. Even fashion magazines compare the real designer clothes to bargain look-a-likes, that anyone can “afford.” By “fitting-in,” we camouflage our individuality, our individual tastes. We blend in with others, by avoiding to be different. We wear the similar hairstyles, similar jewelry, similar shoes. We even “copy” movie stars. Our justification is that now we look like famous people, or perhaps even better.
Don’t get me wrong, though. Some of us try really hard to be different, but our society is set up this way that we look at those people who are different as outcasts, odd, strange and eccentrics. Why can’t we accept them as normal human beings celebrating their differences and individuality? They just try to express themselves of who they are and not what society wants them to be. Better yet, why can’t we express unique ourselves in our clothes, our style full-heartedly and would not be judged and not judge others who do the same? Why can’t we just celebrate our differences?
Secondly, beauty is everything for many of us. We do everything we can to stay thin, young and beautiful. Some of us go to the extremes to have plastic surgery, to go under the knife, just to become a beauty from outside. That’s a form of extreme, another form of camouflage. We want to fit-in a beautiful world around us, among beautiful friends in a beautiful society where media plays a huge role in changing “ugly ducklings” to beautiful swans, or showing never-aging actors and actresses. Whatever happened to beauty from inside? Whatever happened to intelligence and creativity and resourcefulness as great qualities? Whatever happened for giving respect to older people who proudly are showing their age and wisdom? It seems that all of this is forgotten. All forgotten of what is important. Outside beauty, no matter what way is achieved, no matter how many times going under the knife is all that matters. To me, that’s a camouflage under the mask. Shockingly enough, still physically not developed teens go under the knife to get breast implants. Everything is just for an image, so they would fit in among beautiful people. All of this fake beautification is just a mask. What people do not realize is that no matter if person is the most beautiful from outside, if he or she does not have a high self-esteem, no boob job or face lifts will be good enough. They’ll feel horrible anyway. The first thing what they need fixing is their self-esteem. If they are proud of who they are, they’ll not need plastic surgery to make them fake beauties. Here is an idea for the media: how about a show portraying how people can be beautiful from inside. There are many everyday heroes doing great deeds. They don’t need to hide under fake masks. They are beautiful all around. It’s what inside that matters, and no makeover will change that. Then maybe our children will learn more valuable lessons in life.
The third camouflage is not that noticeable, but it is as destructible. Many of us don’t even know or notice it until it is too late, and we get easily lost. We camouflage ourselves among family, at our work, at our endless the same over and over again schedule, earning that dollar to pay the bills. We get easily stuck in the same routine over and over again. We become what everyone expects us to be: a great wife, great husband, a breadwinner, excellent employee or manager, great mother, great father… We start to become people-pleasers at no matter what price. We take care of all of the world, and become what world expects us to become, but we never truly find the time to take care of ourselves. We get so involved in the same routine over and over again. Days, months, years go by very quickly, and we lose ourselves in every day life. We lose ourselves. Period. Then, if we’re lucky enough, we wake up one day. Many of us are not that lucky. But if we are, we start asking ourselves, “Who am I? What do I like? What I’m here to do? I did everything for everybody, how about me? What do I want in life? What do I want to accomplish for myself?” We hit identity crisis. When our children grow up and move out, or if marriage did not work or spouse died, many of us start to feel empty. We gave all to others, and nothing is left for us. Some of us hit the bottom and get depressed. But some of us are lucky to still have time to re-discover ourselves.
Life is too short to be unhappy. So let’s be happy for who we are. Let’s wear clothes and hairstyles that express our individuality and makes us comfortable. It’s OK to be different. Let’s not follow the crowd. Let’s be proud of who we are, not hide behind fake masks of plastic surgery. Let’s be proud of our gray hair and wrinkles that show our wisdom acquired by age. Let’s find the time for ourselves to do what we want to do in our lives, and learn and accomplish more, and be proud of who we are. It is great to be imperfect. Nature is imperfect. That’s why it is so beautiful. We do not need to hide from predators like animals do. Therefore, let’s open ourselves like rose opens it’s bud and show the world who we truly are. Let’s come out of camouflage.
For inspiration to be different and self-expressive, you can log into Dalia Koss Unique Jewelry where you’ll find stunning one-of-a-kind pieces that no one has. You can express yourself with her art pieces in the most unique ways. Shoerazzi.com brings you the best of the best in shoes, all in different styles. Here you’ll see celebrities and people on the street wear them portraying their unique style. living on impulse is all about life-style, adventures, living life you can only dream of, unless of course you decide to live it yourself.
Be yourself and inspire others to be themselves as well. World is too boring when people want to be the same.
Tags: beauty, being different, camouflage, clothes, creativity, fit-in, fit-in disease, health, individuality, inspiration, intelligence, life, opinion, outfits, people, people-pleasers, personal, photo and post by Ineta McParland, photos, pictures, plastic procedures, re-discover, reflections, relationships, routine, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-identity, self-image, survival, thoughts, women, wonderocity
Posted by ineta on May 31, 2010 in
Inspiring Stories,
self-confidence 
We usually make excuses to sabotage ourselves. We think we are too young or too old to do anything. When we are the kids, we can’t wait to grow up, so we would be allowed to do something we wish. We can’t wait for that freedom.
Yet, when we grow up we completely forget what we were after. We get overwhelmed by everyday responsibilities, and at times we even forget who we really are. We do everything to pay the bills, take care of partner, kids, parents. We bury our dreams deep and we do not even have time to look at them.
Time flies so fast. We get in older years, and now we regret of not taking chances. We make now excuse that we are too old. We wasted our time. What we do not realize is that age does not really matter. We can achieve anything we wish regardless. All we have to do is to act on our dreams. Dreaming alone does not do anything. We got to back it up with actions.
Here are some inspiring videos from Britain’s Got Talent that shows that anything is possible, no matter how young or old you are:
Six year old angel that moved the world with her singing
80 year old singing sensation
Tags: achieving anything, act on dreams, actions, age does not matter, britain's got talent, burrying dreams, Connie Talbot, dreaming, dreams, entertainment, excuses, family, freedom, fun, grow up, inspiration, Janey Cutler, kids, life, links, opinion, overwhelmed, people, personal, post and photo by Ineta Mcparland, random thoughts, reflections, relationships, responsibilities, sabotage, stories, taking chances, thoughts, time flies, too old, too young, videos, wasting time, women, wonderocity
