Ooh La La | Kristen's blog

Follow my footsteps

2009-09-28T21:37:00.003-04:00

I've forgotten how hard it is to walk in the sand. While walking down the beach the other day, my sister Megan made the comment that it is way easier to walk behind someone, stepping right in their footsteps. Because the sand has already molded to their imprint, it makes walking an effortless task. I tried it and it's true!

Sometimes we feel the same way when it comes to situations in our day to day life. We would rather follow what everyone else is doing than be different and go against the flow. Sure, it's easier to just follow right along! It's more work to make our own footsteps in the sand, it might hurt a little. Our muscles might even be sore the next day. But when we just follow the things others are doing, we will most likely get hurt in the end, or do something we did not want to do.

But I'm already so comfortable walking along right where I am, you might say; stepping out now might upset my routine. I might experience discomfort or pain.

When it comes to our path in life, the effort of making our own footprints is always worth it in the end. It's hard to step out of the status quo, or do something differently, but it's important to remember the many things yet to be accomplished, usually because of our fear to step out. Don't restrict yourself to the footsteps that are already carved; make your own!

Busy Signal

2009-09-11T23:10:00.002-04:00

An inspiring quote for the day:

"I keep the telephone of my mind open to peace, harmony, health, love and abundance. Then, whenever doubt, anxiety or fear try to call me, they keep getting a busy signal." -Edith Armstrong

poster designed by me =) (click to enlarge)

Are we there yet?

2009-09-07T20:52:00.003-04:00

"Are we there yet?" I have found that asking this repeatedly on long trips is something that is exceedingly annoying. That's why I like asking it so much. =)

When I was little we used to take LOTS of long road trips (and I do mean long). I would ask this question frequently to check how long it would be til I could disentangle my limbs from my cramped position and get outside of the car. I even made up my own trick to make the hours seem like mere minutes. If they told me it would be an hour til we got there, I would tell myself, "It's only half an hour more... Yes! And then after that it's another half hour." The truth is, it actually worked! I could convince myself that it was only a short time til we arrived. (Bear in mind, I was only six.)

Just imagine... if a six year old can come up with something like that, why can't we do it? Why do we worry so much about the future, fixing ourselves on hard decisions that are coming up? It's way easier to adjust our focus to what's right in front of us and allow ourselves to live the moment.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," is what my mom always says. This is a pretty wise saying because it summarizes it all so well. Just wait for the future; it'll come on it's own. If we spend too much time worrying about tomorrow, we aren't going to enjoy today!

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength." Corrie Ten Boom

Normal?

2009-08-28T16:53:00.009-04:00

"We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love." -Author Unknown

I use the word weird a lot. Sometimes I even find myself saying it or thinking it multiple times in one day. And usually if something is "weird" it's because it's not normal. You're probably thinking, duh. But when you stop and think about it, what exactly is normal?

I believe that sometimes our perception of normality is distorted. We deem something normal only if we are used to it, if we have heard of it before, or if it's similar to something we know of. This can vary depending where we are and what our circumstances are. But is what we consider normal actually normal? Or do we think of it that way just because we are accustomed to it?

This "what-I'm-used-to" definition of normal blocks us in to what we have already experienced; it prevents us from stepping out of our comfort zone to have a new adventure and it hinders our desire to venture forth and expand our outlook on life.

There are a lot of synonyms for the word normal, but one in particular jumps out at me: ordinary. Think about it... that can have a bad connotation at times. Something ordinary is common, simple, even--dare I say it--boring. We weren't made to all be cookie cutter people, alike in every way. It's definitely not bad to be different. Except, wait.. wanting to be different is sort of... normal.