Are You Proud of Your Life?

I have seen this on several friends pages on Facebook but hadn't clicked yet. Today, I decided to watch it - knowing in general what it was about.

Part 1

Part 2

Part way through Part 2 he says, "I was proud of myself, of my entire life, of everything I had done." What an amazing thought for an 18 year old boy to have. And then, he passed just a few weeks later on Christmas Day.

I want to be at peace when it is my time to go. I want to say I was proud of myself. This is just another example to live life to the fullest, enjoy each moment and don't take anything for granted. Powerful message through the words he displays and the music playing in the background. I am so sorry for his parents, but they must truly be grateful for the years they had with him and that he was able to pass this message along to others.

Defining the purpose of my blog

I have spent the past 15 years learning using many of the features of the Internet. I have done forums, blogs, social media, chat rooms, and more. My social use of the web has evolved over the years. I was very active in iVillage forums with the birth of my 2nd child. I later started a LiveJournal and joined a birth group for my 3rd child. I joined, and quit, MySpace. I blogged publicly and anonymously for a while. I found various other forums for my needs - weight loss, parenting, travel, etc. I joined Meetup and it was through there that I finally met real life friends that changed my life. Then, we all joined Facebook and it is still my main form of Internet socialization. I do have a Twitter that I once deactivated, yet decided to reactivate so I could read my daughter's tweets. I have many photo sharing websites and am on SparkPeople. I joined Google + and I have two other blogs for my house and my personal life. (Not used recently...) I have an eBay seller's profile as well.

This blog was at first an anonymous attempt at a Mommy Blog a few years back. I then deleted everything and made it a public family blog, which I also deleted and started over from scratch. When I had the idea to start a new blog, not anonymous and not a place to rant, I searched up and down for a good name. Finally, I logged in to this old blog and found that the address still was appropriate. Mom - Wife - Me. I am a Mom and a Wife, but ultimately I am ME. I named the blog "Being Me and Living My Life." It's the basics of who we are. I am me, I am living the life I am living. I am not living anyone else's live, nor should I try. 

My prompt to start this blog was a reversion back to some of my old anxieties and insecurities. I had spent the past few years feeling really good about where I was in life, and that I was focusing on my personal mental and emotional health as well as making a culture and environment for my family. However, the stresses of the holidays and the presence of friends and family had me questioning myself again. It was then I wanted to write about living in the world today while being happy with who you are, how you are living and what you are doing. I want to continue my mantra of "Live in the Moment." It makes me sad to have beautiful moments we spend ruined by the demons in our head. 

So the purpose of the blog is to #1) Keep me sane. Writing was very effective when I was on LiveJournal and a mother of a baby. It helped me vent and think through many things. #2) Help keep myself on the path I started a while back of enjoying each day for what it is. Live in the moment, don't sweat the small stuff and just breathe! #3) I feel that maybe my words, thoughts and actions can help someone else or someone else can read what I am going through and have words to inspire me. I have already found a few blogs that have a spirt that I want to emulate. I hope that through them, and others I will find later I can create a community of like-minded people. 

One thing - a disclaimer. My goal for this year is to be positive. That is not to say the negative things don't happen. I will probably be down at times, but it is my nature and my goal to try to see the silver lining in all things. I have been told that being a "Pollyanna" isn't being genuine, but it is my personality. Of course there are emotions and thoughts that I won't put out there for the world to see, but know that all of my posts are genuine. At the same time, I don't want to come off as everything being picket fences and warm chocolate chip cookies. Of course we all have our struggles. I may chose to not have them all in a public forum, but know I go through them the same as everyone. 

And lastly, please be nice. :) We are all in this world together, and I know that most people don't mean others any harm. I truly don't understand the venom that can occur online and in the comments section. I have an article I will link to in a few weeks that talks about this, but I am asking my readers to respect everyone's thoughts and opinions - including my own. 

Thank you - I realize this is a new blog and there isn't much to go on yet, but I hope you stick around and see what I have to say! 

Finding Inspiration - Gratitude

I was awake the night of Christmas, well the early morning after Christmas, with thoughts racing through my head. It was a good Christmas, but I couldn't help feel that maybe things could be better. Don't we always think that? I don't mean better like we got better presents, but I felt that over the years we had slipped away from the true meanings of the holidays even though I attempt to instill it in my children's head. Overall, I do think it was a great day but there was a nagging feeling about a lot of things that evening. This year has been wonderful for our family, yet I felt feelings of anxiety about the year to come. I laid awake and thought about starting a blog. I've had personal and family blogs before, but there were thoughts I felt I wanted to share. I knew the feelings I had weren't my own, and that other parents out there struggled with many of the same feelings I had. Insecurity, anxiety, guilt, depression, stress, worry and more. I don't like when those things get in my way - and I decided I was going to actively work on reducing those from my life. My thoughts turned to all those articles and websites about "simplifying your life." Yes, that is what we need - information about how to go back to basics and simplify things. But wait, I realized that many things in my life aren't simple and I don't mind that at all. So, chaos exists - the question is how to live in the chaos and enjoy it! That is my goal for this year. Being mindful, appreciative and accepting of all that is around me. Live in the moment is my mantra, and I'd like to find ways to enhance that spirt for the new year.

 Today, I found a website and book that I think might help me along this path. I am ordering this book, One Thousand Gifts



She has a website and blog - which I am following A Holy Experience Also, there is a free app - One Thousand Gifts, which I just downloaded. There are many ways to access this, also at this website One Thousand Gifts 

I encourage you to look at this, and see how it can fit in your life. I look forward to having more gratitude in my life, and also be an example for my family.