Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm* is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas.
-Henry Ford

*Enthusiasm (en·thu·si·asm ) noun:
- intense or eager interest; zeal; fervor
- something arousing such interest or zeal
Etymology: Greek enthousiasmos: to be inspired, be possessed by a god, inspire; enthous, entheos, possessed by a god; en: in, theos: god

Control

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”
-Brian Tracy

Flexible

Inflexibility is what makes things brittle and easy to break. Look at a tree and a blade of grass in a wind-storm. The trees are more likely to break while the grass just waves in the wind.

The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.
-James Yorke

Grow

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations." -Anais Nin

And so, a birthday is a celebration of many things in various orbits.

Instant

Your whole life can change in an instant.

How your respond to that change is what matters.

I suggest celebrating the instantaneous changes and finding the beauty in the Plan B. And at the risk of sounding redundant, remember that everything happens for a reason.

Fly

You got to learn how to fall
Before you learn to fly
And mama, mama it ain't no lie
Before you learn to fly
Learn how to fall

You got to drift in the breeze
Before you set your sails
It's an occupation where the wind prevails
Before you set your sails
Drift in the breeze

Oh and it's the same old story
Ever since the world began
Everybody got the runs for glory
Nobody stop and scrutinize the plan
Nobody stop and scrutinize the plan

You got to learn how to fall
Before you learn to fly
The tank towns they tell no lie

Before you learn to fly
Learn how to fall

-Paul Simon

Friend

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”
- Anais Nin

A friend is someone whose happiness is imperative to your own. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts. Someone who has your back and you theirs. A friend is someone to be celebrated, enjoyed, and appreciated.

Tomorrow

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Uncomfortable

At the beginning of any new venture, project, unprecedented experience, or trip to a new land, I find myself feeling uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that I hesitate moving forward, consider not doing it at all, or worse even, turning back. It's strange because I have always said that I love beginnings, it's endings that I am not fond of. I am a perfectionist (or so I've been told), and want to be good at everything that I do. I want to do everything right and when it comes time to embark on something that is brand new to me, the risk of making a mistake is sometimes unbearable.

If we don't try new things or welcome these brand new experiences, in spite of the onset of discomfort, we will not enjoy the fruits of growth. But don't take it from me, take it from some wiser souls than I:

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.
- Alan Cohen

Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.
- Anias Nin

The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
-Charles Dubois

It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.
- Epictetus

Vibrations

It's not your work to make anything happen. It's your work to dream it and let it happen. The law of attraction will make it happen. In your joy, you create something, and then you maintain your vibrational harmony with it, and the universe must find a way to bring it about. That's the promise of the law of attraction.
- Abraham Hicks

Reflection

I have heard it said that friends are the mirrors reflecting the truth of who we are. They reflect our values and the values that we aspire to. It seems that my values, and the values of others, change over time or they just become clearer the more that we evolve. So it only makes sense that our friendships will change along with our personal evolution.

Higher

"The lower I feel, the higher the heel!"
- Giovanna Battaglia

Picky

You're picky about the car you drive. You're picky about what you wear. You're picky about what you put in your mouth. Be pickier about what you think.
- Abraham Hicks

Happen

Let life happen to you. Believe me: life is in the right, always.
-Rainer Maria Rilke

Five

5 Ways to Stay Inspired (by Tara Stiles).

1. Open up. Inspiration doesn't respond well to tightness we can practice softening our strong opinions and our desires. Once we learn how to be easy in our bodies and minds, all the good stuff pours in our direction. If inspiration is like water then we can carve out a path for it to flow.

2. Allow others to inspire you. We get so caught up in doing everything for ourselves, including inspiring ourselves, that it's exhausting, and not at all useful. Take a look around you. Look at your friends. Open up to your friends and take in the caring and good intentions they hold toward you. We spend so much time closing ourselves to protect from scary things that we forget that when we do open to the world inspiration can flow.

3. Take care of yourself. When your body and mind is healthy and functioning correctly, all things necessary are lined up for inspiration to flow through you. Eat well, sleep well, and practice well. It's best to give our bodies and minds as much opportunity to live to the fullest as we can. If we are healthy and vibrant we also can live longer, and be inspired longer. Bonus!

4. Make a change. It takes a huge amount of courage to actually take a good look at yourself and decide to make a change. It's easy to talk about it, think about it, and even plan to do it. Compassion, reflection, action. Make it happen.

5. Have a good time. The universe is set up to work in your favor. It takes loads of self-work to realize, and continue to realize that. The world is full of amusement. Enjoy yourself. A good start is not taking ourselves so seriously.

Courage

You, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking. You are under the unfortunate impression that just because you run away you have no courage; you're confusing courage with wisdom.
- Wizard of Oz

Delay

While our thoughts are the keys to unlocking what we experience, there is a buffer zone. Thoughts do not have the ability for instant manifestation without true intention. This gives us the opportunity to consider, amend and specify. So rather than experiencing an upset when you aren't seeing instant results from your focused efforts, look at it as a time for you to really hone in on the specifics of what you want.

Try

You'll never do a whole lot unless you are brave enough to try.

Judgement

I do not understand, or really even believe in right vs. wrong. They both seem to come from a place of judgment. But as long as we act from, and our intention is focused on coming from, a place of love then we can be at peace.

Action

Fake it till you make it. This strategy is uncannily effective. (I guess it is one of the things that I admire so much about Diana Vreeland, but I digress... this isn't about Diana, for once.)

Feelings follow actions. Actions create momentum towards obtaining what we want. The idea is to go through the routines of life as if we already had what it is that we want, despite the fact that initially it feels forced. And continue doing this until the desired results become real.

So if you are feeling blue but spend the day with a huge smile on your face, you will inevitably feel brighter. If you are feeling aggressive and hostile yet talk in a hushed, kind, and slow tone, you will feel calmer and softer. If you are feeling angry at someone, and then do something thoughtful for them, you will find yourself feeling warm towards them. If you think that you can't do something and then take the steps necessary to do it, it will be possible.

By breaking down the state you aspire to into small manageable pieces, a larger shift occurs towards the sense of well being you desire.

Could

Could is the new should.