A Life you Design

Live a life you design. This line is what started "The Hopefulist". That, along with the thought of creating a life you don't need a vacation have been fueling me for some time. I've worked to make that a reality. I'm pretty close. How about you? Are you anywhere near the life of your dreams? What are you waiting for? If this time of being shut in has shown us anything is that we need to be happy where we are with what we've got. Where do you want to be the next time (God forbid) there may be a two month stay at home order? Start working it out now. I know I just talked about this recently but now that we are facing another few weeks locked in, it bears revisiting.

Is it easy? Absolutely not. Will it take a lot of work, revamping and budgeting? Yes. But what is it you really want in this life? Because you only get one. I consider it my personal obligation to help you figure out what that looks like...exactly. It won't happen overnight. It takes planning and that is only after you ask yourself the hard questions about what you really want. Sometimes that is the toughest part. But ask yourself if something like this were to happen again and you had to spend two months in your home, what type of home would you like that to be? Where would it be? Who would be in it? This is a time where everything is being stripped down to the basics...don't waste this opportunity to figure it out.

As someone who spent a lot of her life unhappy I really want to help other people find their own happiness. Because I honestly feel like, if I can do it....anyone and everyone can. I used to dread getting up everyday. I used to feel hopeless and like things will never get better. I was always waiting for something else to happen before I though I could be happy. Getting married, a better job, more money, a house. And once I achieved some of those things and happiness still didn't come like I thought it would, I would up it again. Okay, once I get the house of my dreams I will be happy. I was, in essence, always putting my happiness off for the future instead of finding joy in what I already had. There are things you can do to make this more a reality for yourself. If you haven't spent any of the last four weeks trying to figure out what will truly make you happy, spend some of the next four weeks thinking about it.

What can you be doing right now, while still at home to bring you closer to the life of your dreams, the one you designed and don't need a vacation from? Now is the time to make plans. Once your basic necessities are met, put some thought into what you want your life to look like from here on out. When you are old and sitting in your recliner, surrounded by photo albums...what type of pictures do you want to see in those albums? What do you want to have accomplished? What type of person do you want to be known as? What can you start doing right now that can make that a reality?

This is when some organization comes in handy. This is not my strong suit. I have all these amazing ideas all the time because I have a highly creative mind. But I lack the skills to put them into an order that makes sense that propels me down a path to all my ideas. It is something I am working on. And when I do manage to get some plans organized and in place, I feel great. I can see it is so much more productive and it will get me where I want to go faster yet I still hate sitting down and actually doing it. But you should think about the end point you are pursuing. What is the ultimate goal? Write it down and then work backwards. What is the step that needs to be taken right before you get to your goal? And what is the step before that? This is worked out really well in "Girl, Stop Apologizing" by Rachel Hollis. The whole book is about goal setting and I have found it to be really helpful.

My ultimate wish for you is to realize that even if you were born a negative, pessimistic person....you can be so much happier. I know because I have done it. It took me a long time. I don't want you to wait so long. This is why I do this. I want to help each and every person who hears this realize there is a different way to live life. A much better, happier, satisfactory way to live life. But you have to be willing to do the work. It takes work. But it is the most fascinating work you will ever do.

It's "I wish it were cocktail Friday" Thursday. I think we may do something a little different tomorrow. It is the Hopefulists birthday on Sunday and I think we may do a little early celebrating. I've had a request to have Joe join me and he has actually agreed. I told him people love when he is on the show...so, give the people what they want! I hope you will join us for a little Good Friday/birthday celebration. Meanwhile, make today, your best day yet!