#Because Your Dreams Matter

What If We Pursued Our Childhood Dreams

She’s the little girl you see with a smile as big as the Ohio River.  With long, flowing pigtails she’s determined to make her mark on the world.  Everywhere she sees is possibilities.  She doesn’t know limitations…well not yet anyway.  All she knows is that just like the fairytales she’s heard over and over, her dreams can come true.  Inside, her soul screams “Dream Big Little Girl!’…Because your dreams matter!

Wherever I go in this world, I meet people all the time who have dreams that are unfilled, destinies not pursued, and opportunities not realized.  Somewhere along the way we lost our path in life.  Someone told you that you weren’t good enough, not creative enough and my favorite they said you would never make any money doing the thing you were designed to do.  But they were wrong.  You matter!  You have something important to contribute to this world.  Because your dreams matter!

Maybe it’s not just other people but ourselves.  Maybe we’re the culprits putting our dreams on hold.  Maybe we let fear control us and interfere with what is destined for us.  We neglect to take risks in life because we fear what lies ahead of us.  What will our family think of us?  What will our peers think?  What if I can’t live up to their expectations of me?  But rather than allowing fear to ask “What if I fall?”….ask yourself the question…”What if I fly?  The more we can confront our fear and other anxieties, the more we can pursue the thing that gets us up in the morning.  Imagine the possibilities on the other side of fear.  Someone needs your expertise and are waiting for you to give it to them.  Because your dreams matter!

Now just think about all the people who are sick in the hospital or who have passed away never having achieved their dreams.  They may have lived a decent life but imagine what could have become of them if they only took a chance.  It only takes making the first move to start a ripple effect of living your dream life.  There’s some little girl out there watching you to follow in your footsteps.  Because your dreams matter!

In conclusion, I encourage you live out your dreams.  I am fortunate to work in an occupation where I help people to pursue their dreams, discover new ways of thinking and help empower them to make better decisions for their lives.  I encourage you to revisit your childhood dreams and take a chance on them even if you think nothing can become of them.  You’ll never know unless you try.  All eyes are watching you!  Because your dreams matter!  They really do.

Thanks for reading!

Please contact me at info@liveloveaspire.com for more information on my life/health/wellness related coaching services or visit my website at www.liveloveaspire.com.

Work Hard, Love Less In Maryland?

Is having the title for the hardest working state in the union a drawback?

According to Zippia.com, a site that tracks millions of professionals using career maps across the country, Maryland (my hometown!) is the No. 1 state for hard working professionals.  This state was among others including Virginia (No. 2), and New Jersey (No. 3) that topped the list.  Their criteria included the total average hours worked, the total hours spent in commute to work, labor participation and other educational pursuits.  Overall, Northeastern states were found to be the hardest working states in the Union. 

Now, of course, you didn’t need some site to tell you this information!  But bear with me for a minute.  I found the most interesting part of this analysis is that as Marylanders, we spend 32 minutes to and from work each day (1 hour total), plus the 38.8 hours we spend actually at work.  Then when we’re not working, an average 20% of us are educating ourselves to find more work!

While I think this is good news for all of us hard working Marylanders, I often wonder how it impacts our love lives.  If we’re spending so much time at work, this means we’re definitely not spending it with our loved ones.  More time at work means less time at home.  And it turns out, it really doesn’t bode well on our relationships because according to the 2013 demographics data by towncharts.com, Maryland has a divorce rate of about 10% and the percentage of singles never married is 35%.  Overall, singles accounted for 51% of the population in the entire Maryland area.

And to my hopeless romantic singles, this really puts you at a disadvantage.  Because when you’re single, you’re not only trying to put food on the table but also find the love of your life.  You have dual duties.  As a professional coach, I generally find that the majority of my clients work a LOT!  Sure, they acknowledge they need to make their love lives a priority but doing something about it is a whole other issue.  This is especially the case when the cost of living is going up while our quality of life may be going down.

And there lies the conundrum.  What do we do?  It’s really all about balance.  Sure, it’s great as Marylanders to be recognized for all our hard work but as Steven Covey puts it, if we don’t prioritize our lives outside of work, we begin to “kill the goose that produces the egg”.  In other words, we need to take the time to enjoy having romantic, intimate relationships because they tend to be the foundation of our lives well into our older age.  This impacts our health as well.  When we’re in loving relationships, we feel better and we tend to do better in life.

In short, the purpose of this article isn’t to excite you nor depress you but to make you aware that working hard in our careers is a beautiful thing when we can balance it with our personal lives as well.  It’s all about the balance.  When we can take some time away from our busy schedules and enjoy the other parts of our lives, I believe we come into harmony with the universe and our souls within. 

Thanks for reading!

Please contact me at info@liveloveaspire.com for more information on my life/health/wellness related coaching services.