Sunday, May 29, 2011

Success

SUCCESS GBE2 Week 2

 Elizabeth Grace sure does know how to challenge us with these weekly topics and we are only into the second week! Yikes! Success? I suppose if life were easy, the topic would be EPIC FAIL (God knows I know that well) and what not to do, or success through being the opposite of Trish, known to some as “Dances With Vodka”. I could write you all a novel and you would all be winners if you bought it and I don’t mean the Charlie Sheen kind. Shame I’m too lazy for all that though.

 HOWEVER, before you all unsubscribe or unfollow (pretty sure that isn’t a word, BITE ME, red squiggly line!) I am going to try to take a fun approach to this week’s topic and then I'm going to write something boring that you can skip over. Besides, I was lying about being an epic fail, my life isn’t too shabby and I’m happy.

I stepped on the scale
 Kicked it, threw it in the trash
Cake not burned. SUCCESS!



We are practically given a manual (especially once we reach adulthood and leave high school to approach the “real world”), on what defines success and how to achieve it. I don’t know about you but I was never good at reading instructions, thought manuals to be boring and last time I checked, I was a human being and not a machine. There are no straight definitions on success and following the instructions that someone else gives you could very well lead you to a successful life; it could lead you to THEIRS, but since we are all individuals and not robots (I think I’m speaking for everyone here??) and have various interests, wouldn’t it be better to stop and think about your own talents or what separates you from the majority and then figure out a way to make that flourish?

 I figure even if I’m doing my 9-5 but also doing what makes me happy… even if only for a few hours or less, on the side and sharing it, contributing it to the world, well then I’ve been successful. I’m not saying quit your boring job and become a starving artist, I’m definitely not saying go for broke, just don’t allow your abilities to go undernourished. If you can find a way to capitalize on what you love and are good at, monetarily, then great! Go for it! The important thing, however is that you are doing, in some way shape or form, what you are meant to do.

Happiness is one of THE most important things in life, it keeps us mentally and physically healthy, which in turn keeps us moving uphill. Success and happiness go hand in hand, so before you look at and try to follow a three time NBA Championship winner, or someone who won consecutive Academy Awards, realize that each of those people took their individual talents and put them to use, you have your own. Put your talents to use in the best way you see fit and you could very well be the next person that someone else tries to follow.

If I were to define success, it would be about making a positive impact on the world through your own individual talent, whether that be making others smile, knitting scarves and hats that will keep people warm on a cold day, painting a picture that will show someone what they wouldn’t see through their own eyes, or writing a story that will travel to the minds of those in need of a brief mental escape. We as human beings feed off of each other’s talents and the success that stems from them and that means that one is no more or less important than another and we ALL have something that we are successful in doing. If you think otherwise then you aren’t thinking hard enough.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I Am Not

I am not what you see
I fall short
Of expectations
It’s not easy
To look at your eyes
And see all that you think I can be
And then fall
Short
And I’m sorry for what I’ll never be
I am sorry

Covers are my friend
I can crawl underneath them
And disappear for a while
But every now and then
I pretend I’m worthy of your smile
Those are good days
When silver traces white clouds
But then the rain storms in
And reminds me that I am not
What I could’ve been.

I can take in the world
And in my mind
Carry the vision
And its quiet beauty
But what is a vision worth
If it isn’t my very own?
And I offer no paint
 just a dry brush touching the canvas
my hands hold no place 
their only use is to hide my face

The pressure
The intense desire to be
The clouds
 pushing fast towards me
the thoughts
of giving up
then realizing I have
it’s all too much most days
I’m surrounded by brightness
Hiding forever in the shadows
so I won’t dim your eyes with my grays.
and in many ways, I am a shadow
I am not what you think you see.


Monday, May 16, 2011

Beneath Your Bright Thoughts

If I were the lonely pond on a still day
and you the rock
that fate suddenly tossed my way
Ripple after ripple
 there would always be
I’d never allow you to sink
So please forever have that effect on me?

If I were a puddle on a relentless, rainy day
You’d be a child’s rainboots
Deliberately splashing all of my blues away
But when the sun comes out
I wonder, will you forget about me?
Or will you guide me to a river?
Will you follow me to the sea?

And if I join the ocean and you become the bird
I’ll be in constant motion
Rising with your song… yes, each and every word
just beneath your bright thoughts
While the air kisses your wings
Forever trying to chase your breeze
Making waves to reach
The highest branches of your trees

I suppose no matter what form
of living we choose
we’ll have a bond
that we will never lose