Amintirile au existat din totdeauna. Omul are aceasta fascinanta capabilitate de a tine minte lucrurile care l-au marcat intr-un sens bun sau mai putin bun, care l-au impresionat facandu-l fericit sau din contra, intristandu-l. Amintirile nu tin de cald sau de foame, dar tin de singuratate. Doar aminteste-ti cum era! Si pentru un moment vei fi acolo, in trecut, exact ca atunci, sau poate mai matur, si vei spune: "Ce frumos a fost!". Amintirile fac parte din noi. Ele sunt a doua noastra viata, ajungand poate sa ne ocupe intreaga memorie pe parcursul vietii.

De multe ori suntem intrebati unde traim? In trecut, prezent sau viitor? Nimeni nu ne spune insa clar unde e bine sa traim... Daca te afunzi in trecut ai numai de pierdut, timpul are marele defect de a fi ireversibil asa ca orice ai facut in trecut e bine facut pentru ca te-a adus in prezent unde probabil ti-e foarte bine. Nici in prezent nu e tocmai bine sa traim. Fara nici un ideal maret, fara planuri de viitor, fara visuri viata poate nu ar mai putea fi numita asa. Ar fi mult prea monoton. Prezentul e locul in care te afli acum, e gandul care iti strafulgera mintea acum, e aerul pe care il respiri acum, e tot ceea ce numesti "acum", insa "acum" nu poate fi definit. "Acum" se schimba in fiecare secunda, schimband odata cu el si prezentul. Unii ar zice ca vrem sau nu traim in viitor pentru ca "acum" e infinit de prezent. Poate traim in viitor, dar nu e bine sa ne ancoram in el. Prea multe vise, prea multe cugetari si ganduri ne pot aduce la stadiul de ignoranti, ne pot schimba in oameni tristi (asta daca nu cumva suntem deja) care lasa prea prezentul "acum" sa treaca pe langa ei. E bine, deci, sa gasim un echilibru. Un echilibru care sa ne ofere stabilitatea trecutului in prezent, cu ganduri de viitor. Totusi, cati dintre noi reusim sa gasim intradevar acest echilibru? De cate ori nu luam in seama prezentul gandindu-ne prea mult la greselile trecute si la solutiile viitoare? Oare de cate ori nu trebuie sa ne rezumam la "Carpe Diem"?

Desi "acum" e doar trecut...

Lendo essa bela e verdadeira frase escrita pelo sábio filósofo Sêneca, nos damos conta de que o tempo flui rapidamente e de que a vida se resume em breves momentos.

Carpe diem quer dizer "colha o dia", "aproveite o dia". A expressão foi imortalizada pelo grande poeta romano Horácio (do século XVIII) que, ao contemplar o fluir de um rio, escreveu a "Ode I, 11, 8". Na composição de Horácio, a essência da expressão é no sentido de que o homem não perca tempo e aproveite as oportunidades no momento em que elas aparecem.

Assim, viva o agora. Deixe um pouco as preocupações excessivas com o futuro de lado. A vida passa rápido, as horas são fugazes e o tempo é inexorável.

Carpe Diem, portanto!

 Karina

Fånga dagen.....

Magnolia målad med akvarellpennor

Carpe Diem-stämpel embossad med vitt

Kanterna är rivna med "Edge scraper"

Carpe Diem....

Kjam....

Today is the day I finally let go of even the idea that we will ever be more than friends. And now that the closure is here, I don't care if he reads this. I mean, I doubt he even knows where my blog is, but even still. 

I think what finally did it was the sheer ridiculousness of the whole thing. The trait I value most in myself--my intelligence--is why he rejects me as anything more than a friend. I was standing at the kitchen table, carefully constructing my dinner, and I just laughed, quite literally, out loud at the thought of it. 

At work, Barb asked me if I were in a serious relationship with someone else, and Justin wanted to get together, would I leave that person for Justin. I said in all sincerity that I would not.

And then everyone I talked to proceded to disbelieve me. 

Which I gotta tell ya, makes me wonder what kind of girl my friends take me for. 

I mean, I know that when I fall, I fall. If I like you, I adore you and that's that. I would do absolutely anything for you. 

Anything that would not compromise my integrity. I would never make a serious commitment to someone and then just ditch them because someone "better" came along. 

And someone who has been blind (willfully or not, I am not sure) to my affection for five years is not "better" than someone who would actually make a real and lasting commitment to me. 

I relayed the Barb story to Justin and his response was, "Crystal, you're just too smart for me. I could never be with someone as smart."

The line is, and has for some time, been clearly drawn. I was just too stubborn to see it. 

Now that I've moved past this barrier, it's time to start knocking some of the other walls down.

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count.  It's the life in your years.  ~Abraham Lincoln

Don't be fooled by the calendar.  There are only as many days in the year as you make use of.  ~Charles Richards

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite.  Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance.  Everyone is just waiting.  ~Dr. Seuss

Enjoy yourself.  It's later than you think.  ~Chinese Proverb

Live every day as if it were your last and then some day you'll be right.  ~H.H. "Breaker" Morant

Go for it now.  The future is promised to no one.  ~Wayne Dyer

I have died so little today, friend, forgive me.  ~Thomas Lux

Every man dies.  Not every man really lives.  ~Braveheart

Do not take life too seriously.  You will never get out of it alive.  ~Elbert Hubbard

As you grow older, you'll find the only things you regret are the things you didn't do.  ~Zachary Scott

Spend the afternoon.  You can't take it with you.  ~Annie Dillard

Dream as if you'll live forever.  Live as if you'll die today.  ~James Dean

Why always "not yet"?  Do flowers in spring say "not yet"?  ~Norman Douglas

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.  ~Henry David Thoreau, "Economy," Walden, 1854

Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.  ~Stephen Vincent Benét

There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.  ~George Santayana, "War Shrines," Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies, 1922

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life.  But there was always some obstacle in the way.  Something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid.  Then life would begin.  At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.  ~Fr. Alfred D'Souza

Time! where didst thou those years inter
Which I have seene decease?
~William Habington

Be happy while you're living, for you're a long time dead.  ~Scottish Proverb

To always be intending to live a new life, but never find time to set about it - this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking from one day to another till he be starved and destroyed.  ~Walter Scott

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read and all the friends I want to see.  ~John Burroughs

Never forget that you must die; that death will come sooner than you expect... God has written the letters of death upon your hands.  In the inside of your hands you will see the letters M.M.  It means "Memento Mori" - remember you must die.  ~J. Furniss, Tracts for Spiritual Reading

There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back.  ~Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

To change one's life:  Start immediately.  Do it flamboyantly.  No exceptions.  ~William James

Why must conversions always come so late?  Why do people always apologize to corpses?  ~David Brin

A man that is young in years may be old in hours, if he has lost no time.  ~Francis Bacon, Essays

You will never find time for anything.  If you want time you must make it.  ~Charles Buxton

Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live.  ~Margaret Fuller

Death twitches my ear.  "Live," he says, "I am coming."  ~Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro), Minor Poems, Copa

He has spent all his life in letting down empty buckets into empty wells; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw them up again.  ~Sydney Smith

Fear not that life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.  ~John Henry Cardinal Newman

You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted.  ~Ruth E. Renkl

You may delay, but time will not.  ~Benjamin Franklin

We cannot waste time.  We can only waste ourselves.  ~George M. Adams

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.  ~Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

I would I could stand on a busy corner, hat in hand, and beg people to throw me all their wasted hours.  ~Bernard Berenson

I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument, while the song I came to sing remains unsung.  ~Tagore

Many people die with their music still in them.  Why is this so?  Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live.  Before they know it, time runs out.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Contemplation often makes life miserable.  We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.  ~Nicolas de Chamfort

I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a star, fragile as a flower, a tiny sliver of one hour.  I dripped it carelessly, Ah!  I didn't know, I held opportunity.  ~Hazel Lee

We die daily.  Happy those who daily come to life as well.  ~George MacDonald

Gather ye rose-buds while ye may;
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
~Robert Herrick

Most of us spend our lives as if we had another one in the bank.  ~Ben Irwin

If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.  ~Larry McMurtry, Some Can Whistle

When your life flashes before your eyes, make sure you've got plenty to watch.  ~Author unknown, from a television commercial

In theory one is aware that the earth revolves, but in practice one does not perceive it, the ground upon which one treads seems not to move, and one can live undisturbed.  So it is with Time in one's life.  ~Marcel Proust, The Past Recaptured, 1927

Our time consumes like smoke, and posts away;
Nor can we treasure up a month or day:
The sand within the transitory glass
Doth haste, and so our silent minutes pass.
~Rowland Watkyns

If I could only remember that the days were, not bricks to be laid row on row, to be built into a solid house, where one might dwell in safety and peace, but only food for the fires of the heart.  ~Edmund Wilson

And I mean seriously. I broke out the vacuum and all!

After gathering up all the laundry, separating the clean from the dirty, folding it, organizing it, and putting it away--and then laundering the dirty, I feel an odd sense of accomplishment. Even bordering on empowerment. 

I could actually invite someone over and allow him to see my room. Hell, I could fit another person on my bed. Amazing!

Now I just need to keep it up. 

Yeah... One day at a time.

Here's to Day One.

   Carpe diem är latin och betyder fånga dagen men vi bör kanske tolka det ta vara på dagen eller njut av dagen .....för vem vet hur morgondagen ser ut......då kan det vara försent. Alla måsten och ska bara, som ibland står oss upp i halsen, varför kan vi inte tränga undan dem och göra trevliga och roliga saker lite oftare. Gå en runda i naturen, träffa släkt och vänner, kanske bara sitta i soffan och göra ingenting. Sätten är många att njuta och finna en inre ro.

    Detta är tankar som många gånger slår mig i mitt arbete (som kyrkovaktmästare). Man ska inte ta allt för givet utan vara tacksam för varje dag. Men tyvärr är jag lika dålig på det som alla andra. Men man kan alltid försöka bättra sig......

   Nog med djuphet för idag.

I morgon drar eg nordover igjen. Legg ut førlesinga frå i dag (som ikkje har noko med Newman å gjere!).

This article was first published in Connections magazine, August 2006,  as

"Order, Chaos and Carpe Diem"

“ Today I walked to my office, in pouring rain, and got soaked. Here I sit writing, my jeans  steaming dry on the heater, feeling really joyful. ‘Why?’ you may ask. “Is she mad? What’s good about getting frozen and soaked in Glasgow, Scotland, at the end of May?”

I’ll tell you why. Because normal and ordinary and energetic feel like gifts. Having a normal body, doing ordinary things, having the good health and energy to be able to walk in the rain, feel precious to me now. For years, whilst making the best of the circumstances in which I found myself, I couldn’t help longing at times for normal and ordinary as my body, mind and spirit went through apparently endless bouts of turbulence.

My five year odyssey in the underworld of burnout and retreat, which some of you will have read about in the first two issues of this column, now feels as though it is coming to an end. Quite suddenly, in recent weeks, my energy has sprung back and various unpleasant symptoms have largely gone.

Yes, order seems to have returned. I celebrate that, and give thanks daily.

However – having survived a prolonged period of chaos where most of my familiar landscapes simply disappeared and the usual strategies for managing life ceased to be of any use – a few things are much, much clearer than they ever were before.

Someone observed that life should be lived forwards, but can only be understood backwards. How right they were! One of the many advantages of growing older is that we have more life to look back on. Surviving until middle age and beyond – something our remote ancestors rarely did – offers us an opportunity fully to understand and accept the essential precariousness of the human condition. With this acceptance can come a greater degree of letting-go, and consequent inner peace, than is possible in youth.

Along with many people, I owe a large debt to Buddhist wisdom. Of the many books of Buddhist psychology I read during my time in the Underworld, three stand out which I would recommend to anyone going through crisis. They provide both practical coping techniques and spiritual support:

Pema Chodron’s “When things fall apart”, Jack Kornfield’s “After the ecstasy, the laundry”, (see Personal Book Reviews page for review of this great book) and Bo Lozoff’s “It’s a great life - it just takes practice”.

Lozoff describes a prolonged solo retreat in which day in, day out, he meditates upon the following :

“Anything that can happen to anyone at any time can happen to me, and I accept this”. He keeps this meditative thread running through days of allowing fantasies of the worst things that could devastate him, and those he loves, to rise and dissolve. At the end of the retreat he goes home, more at peace with the realisation that chaos can and does arise at any time to sweep away the order of our personal and collective lives.

Bo Lozoff is now in his late fifties. His spiritual journey began at the age of eighteen. A typical self-absorbed materialistic American teenager (his own description) driving home late one night, a momentary lapse of concentration caused him to crash into a lorry and smash himself to bits. Many months of painful surgery and rehabilitation put him together again – a person much deepened and strengthened in spirit, no longer interested in pursuing the shallow materialistic agenda of his culture, intent on a life of service and of finding deeper answers to the big WHYs : eg  “Why are we here ?” and “Why do we suffer ?”

In essence, the Buddhist view is that suffering is caused by wishing for things to be other than they are. I found reference to this simple, penetrating piece of wisdom – prominently displayed in our kitchen –  bracingly therapeutic, especially at times when self-pity threatened to take me over.

Life requires both chaos and order. With chaos alone, nothing could take form. Order by itself shuts down creativity and ultimately life itself. Chaos and order interpenetrate at every level from the most trivial to the most profound. Most of us who are at all computer-literate have at least once had the experience, early on, of pressing the wrong key or clicking the wrong box – sending our beautifully ordered and pleasing words which we haven’t backed up, into the void. And I know of hillwalkers who, slipping in the wrong place, fell to their deaths throwing loved ones’ lives into chaos in seconds.

How do we cope with this ?

Buddhism advises us to hold very lightly to order, knowing it can turn at a blink to chaos; and to walk into chaos, regarding it as ‘very good news’ in the challenging words of renowned teacher Chogyam Trungpa. Clinging to outdated structures whilst the storms of life are tearing down everything familiar, usually doesn’t work. ‘Leaning into the sharp points’, trying to face and learn from upheaval, is a more fruitful strategy. But its rewards may take time to become evident, and it can be very hard to find the trust that new order will eventually emerge.

At an ordinary day-to day level, the key to coping well with the ever-changing energy pattern of life is cultivating the ability to live in the present moment. “Carpe diem” as the Roman poet Horace famously said in his Odes : “seize the day”. Now is all we’re sure of. Let’s live it fully!

Looking at the bigger picture, it’s also wise to remember that the scientific materialism which has come to dominate our view of life is very recent – a shallow surface layer of a couple of hundred years or so. For many millennia, at every stage of cultural and religious evolution, human beings across the world have perceived the whole of life as sacred, saturated with meaning.

Our distant ancestors realised that humankind could not survive alone. In coping with the often brutal buffetings of life they needed one another, and connection with the divine spirit which vitiates all creatures. Communal social and religious rituals were a vital tool in affirming connection with a greater Order. Despite the unprecedented materialism and self-obsession of our age, which seems to be bringing humanity increased levels of disorder and unhappiness, as a species we remain ‘wired for God’.

It doesn’t matter whether Ultimate Reality is perceived as transcendental unity, Emptiness or the Void in Buddhist terminology, the quantum vacuum of contemporary cosmology, or God of  the traditional theistic religions. There is now much research supporting the fact that the happiest individuals are those who believe that there is a greater Order which embraces everything known, unknown and unknowable, and who are part of a faith community with shared values centred on the Golden Rule : “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”

The great psychologist Carl Jung observed that he had never treated a patient in mid life for whom their spiritual need was not part of the crisis....so here, in conclusion, is a prescription for happy ageing:

“ Hold lightly to order, embrace chaos, realise that suffering arises from the desire that things be different than they are, live in the moment, and find the God of your understanding to honour and serve in the company of  fellow spirits.”

There, my jeans are dry now and the sun has come out. Time to seize the moment and go sit in the park ! ”

1200 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2008
Licensed under Creative Commons - for conditions see Home Page

Sidan sist blogg-post har eg verkeleg "gått meg over sjø og land". Laurdag kveld var det føredrag på kulturkveld i Sauda, arrangert av den lokale kyrkjelyden (DNK). Det oppgjevne emnet var: "Bibelen som kulturberar" - og eg skal legge manuset ut på bloggen så snart eg har fått lese litt korrektur på det. Samtalen etterpå vart svær engasjerande og tida gjekk som ei røyk i auditoriet på Sauda vidaregåande skule! Vakne folk vestpå!:)

Sundagen preika eg i den lutherske gudstenesta (Sauda krk), men fyrst hadde eg vakna til tunge sluddbyger langt ned i fjella, og jamen enda det med blaut nysnø i tjukke lag. Bilturen til Røldal over fjellet, for å nå expressbussen austover, måtte leggjast om; vi drog om Sand og Suldal, og dermed nådde eg i å få skyss med ein som skulle køyre til Oslo! Det hadde alt letta, blautsnøen smelta raskt og sola fekk oktober-fargane i skog og landskap til å gløde. Over Haukelifjell og nedover Telemark og Austlandet vart det meir og meir klårver så reisa gjekk gjennom ein ljos og vakker haustdag utan like.

Til Oslo seint sundag kveld. Tidleg opp i dag, måndag, for å ta flyet til Roma. I morgon og onsdag går med til å skrive ei førelesing. Torsdag er det utspørjing, og så på vengene nordover igjen. For knapp tid til å ta toget denne gongen. Kanskje vert bloggen litt uregelmessig nokre dagar, men eg prøvar å henge med...

Reunir pessoas, trabalhar idéias e motivar colaboradores constituem, talvez, a etapa mais fácil desse processo. A situação torna-se crítica na hora de tirar o sonho do papel e torná-lo realidade. Começa então a busca por apoios e patrocínios. Para dificultar ainda mais, nesse período do ano muitas empresas não dispõem mais de verba para auxiliar atletas e competições. Vem a dúvida, que só não vira desespero porque acreditar nesse sonho é nossa profissão de fé.

E como num passe de mágica, nos vimos cercados por pessoas que acreditaram em nosso sonho e com suas marcas e produtos transformam uma pequena idéia em algo muito além do imaginado. Pessoas como Eduardo Scherer (Hammerhead), Prof. Tadeu Natálio (Pro Correr), Marcos e Léia Pinheiro (Travessias), Carlos Alberto (Réus), Luciana Duniella (Ouro Fino), Daiane Pereira (Trio), Clécio Zenni (Vitao) e Susana Marcondes (Bula Verdde) que tornaram possível a realização do 1º Duathlon Aquático Carpe Diem.

A vocês, nossos mais sinceros agradecimentos.

[dailymotion id=x6bc4f]

I got life, mother
I got laughs, sister
I got headaches and toothaches
And bad times too
Like you

I got my hair, I got my head,
I got my brains, I got my ears,
I got my eyes, I got my nose,
I got my mouth, I got my teeth,
I got my tongue, I got my chin,
I got my neck, I got my tits,
I got my heart, I got my soul,
I got my back, I got my ass,
I got my arms, I got my hands,
I got my fingers, got my legs,
I got my feet, I got my toes,
I got my liver and my blood

I got life, mother
I got laughs, sister
I got freedom, brother
I got good times, good time man
I got crazy ways, daughter
I got million-dollar charm, cousin
I got headaches and toothaches
And bad times too
Like you

I got my hair, I got my head,
I got my brains, I got my ears,
I got my eyes, I got my nose,
I got my mouth, I got my teeth,
I got my tongue, I got my chin,
I got my neck, I got my tits,
I got my heart, I got my soul,
I got my back, I got my ass,
I got my arms, I got my hands,
I got my fingers, got my legs,
I got my feet, I got my toes,
I got my liver and my blood

Got my guts
Got my muscles
I got life, life, life, life
Life !

Etter framkomst rusla eg meg ned til kapellet her, nede ved vatnet. Ein ledig krok i hjørnet ved sakristitrappa på nedsida. Fjellet rett i mot, rett opp, fjellsida utover mot Bråtveit. Fosse-sus lenger innanfrå. Berre vere stille her. Skapar og skapning.

Skal innleie til samtale på ei kveldsamling no. Godt å vere framme. Undervegs.

In making our homes a sanctuary, Rachel Anne suggested making a list of things we could do in 5, 10, or 15 minute pockets of time to make our homes and lives more livable.

Out of that, as happens with a lot of suggestions I come across, I've come up with a list of ways to strengthen your marriage and encourage your wife or husband in 5, 10, or 15 minute intervals on those days when you don't have a lot of time to give. Soon, you'll find that some of these items will serve to enhance your marriage on a regular basis and be a great lead-in to those times that you can devote more time and energy to one another.

So, without further ado ...

• Take a walk around the block together
• Take a few extra minutes to set the table with the "good" dishes and maybe flowers and candles, even if you are serving macaroni and cheese to your husband and kids
• Call her in the middle of the day just to say "I love you"
• Write a note to your in-laws to let them know how glad you are to be married to their son/daughter
• Ask "What can I do to help?"
• Get up 15 minutes early to prepare breakfast and serve it in bed
• Watch the sunrise or sunset together
• Post a positive blog about your husband and send the link to him
• Come up with a small thing that will make him laugh and feel loved at the same time
• Ask her about her day and listen intently to her answer
• Rub his shoulders
• Call the florist and have flowers delivered to your wife
• Enjoy a quickie
• Rub her feet
• Call your wife and ask her out for a date
• Prepare a healthy snack to share while watching TV
• Apologize
• Spruce yourself up a little before you meet again at the end of the day
• Keep the kids busy for a few minutes to give your wife 15 minutes to herself
• Connect over a cup of coffee or tea
• Choose one item on your honey-do list and complete it
• Call a friend to tell him or her something great your husband or wife has done - and do it when he/she can conveniently overhear you
• Mix up a batch of brownies
• Pick up the latest book from his favorite author and set it by his plate
• Make your own list of 15 minute marriage enhancers

There is no end to what you can do to encourage your spouse in 15 minute intervals once you start thinking about it. Feel free to use my list or come up with a list of your own, but I encourage you to make wise use of your time and invest in your marriage with every free minute you have.
Yours for the celebration of marriage,

Claudia

The Anniversary Shop, modern and traditional anniversary gifts and gifts for all occasions.

For more great ideas on strengthening your marriage, check out these incredible books.

Para não enchermos nosso blog com posts iguais, a partir de agora disponibilizaremos a lista de instritos no 1º Duathlon Aquático Carpe Diem apenas em nosso site www.fcbtriathlon.com.br.

Obs: as vagas são limitadas, por isso não perca tempo e faça agora a sua inscrição.

Again a thought
For tossed mind

Even if one thinks forward
Or behind
One's laying in the present
whatever the bind

Today never dines
before tomorrow
And yesterday
Was fine, though
It is passed and shown

What a statement
of the obvious
A thought
For tossed mind
Needless onus
In too many corpus

The time you spend
Reaching an eternity prime
It has rolled on to another one
But still now in the meantime

Carpe diem
Is a non-ending story
Elapsing all wisemen's theory
Again a thought
For tossed mind
Longtime crime
For the brainy

Mae Linat © 2008

The first key to living your dreams is to believe them possible and to foster utter faith in yourself.  You'll find that the crazier your dream, the more likely your friends and family are to think that you will fail, while strangers would be incredibly supportive.

That's interesting information to have but it doesn't matter.  Know thy dream and cultivate the fortitude to bring that dream to reality, regardless of whether others approve or disapprove.

What is the second key?

Action

Most people think the second key is research but it isn't.  I am not saying that planning and research are not important to creating your new life, but that it should not be the second action you take.  If you begin to 'plan' and 'research' before you have taken any action, then the planning is simply a more kinesthetic way of indulging the fantasy of your dream.

Take action first.  Then  begin your research and planning.

It doesn't have to be a big action, just a powerful one that sets your intention.  Update your resume.  Talk with your Beloved.  Join an organization related to your goal.  Connect with people who are already doing what you wish to be doing.

Then get to planning to goal setting.

Why don't we take action first?

• Because we think we have to know the how.
• Because we want to plan the entire journey, step-by-step.
• Because we are waiting for someone else to take an action that will jumpstart our dream.
• Because we are waiting for someone else to make us an authority.
• Because we think that creating a to-do list is an action.

Don't wait for anyone else. 

Start now. 

Start today. 

I've started with a website, a CraigsList post, a "Hire Me!" page.  It's that simple.

I worried that I didn't have a degree or certification to do what I want to do.  "No one will take me seriously!"  I thought I needed someone else's approval to begin.  But the truth of the matter is that both you and I know that a degree, a certification, doesn't make a master. 

What makes a master is someone who has mastered.  What have you mastered?  What ability do you have absolute faith in?  What have you created for yourself?

I know plenty of people who grabbed a certification to become a realtor, a financial planner, a degree and license for counseling married couples.  But are these people living authentically?  Are they practicing what they preach?

You can never be inspired by those who present philosophy.  What is inspiring, how you will inspire, is by living and being the truth in practice of such ideas, so that the principles you espouse are no longer philosophy but conviction.

Who is taking action?

Derek of iWillNotDie kicked off his fundraiser.  Sean of WriterDad began writing (we)e-books.  Kip de Moll is a phenemonal book editor and is ready for more!  Lindsey of EmphaticAsterisk is writing a book on Homosexuality and Christianity.  SanityFound is getting the heck out of South Africa.  Dreemwhrld is engaged in total immersion traveling.  Mssc54 has adopted two beautiful children.  Connie is rocking her 50th birthday.  Marlajayne is writing a book.  Cory of aGoodHusband has expanded his passion for fully integrating men in HusbandsandDads.  Corey of SimpleMarriage has expanded his message to a whole new medium.

You?

Ein skikkeleg petimeterjobb! Slit! Undervegs tastar vi feil og slettar litt, men gyv laus igjen. Og no er det gjort! I morgon gjenstår litt skriving (ein heil del, faktisk) - før eg fredag set meg på Haukeli-ekspressen (buss) og reiser mot Røldal, Nes og Sauda der det skal vere lokale Kulturdagar samt gudsteneste på sundag. Så retur til Oslo og så til Roma. Så her må vi verkeleg leggje til: Deo volente; om Gud vil! Etter sju siders bibliografi m.m. seier eg: God natt!