"Your goals should stem from your values and then your work will radiate your heart's desire.  This will divert you from all silly distractions that will only serve to waste your time.

Your very life is about time...how much you can grow in whatever years you are given."

                           -Thomas Merton

You started out just like this...a tiny baby with the world in front of you.  All opportunities, yours for the taking.  If you were truly blessed, the dreams of your parents cradled you in their love.

What is the difference between the humble beginnings of your first day and today?  There are NONE.  Just as true as it was on the first day of your life as today, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life.".

The only thing that seems to change as we move through this life is that we tend to pick up baggage along the way, and we choose to carry it.  We tend to make our lives more burdensome than they should be.  We place expectations on ourselves and the people around us, we give up, we give in, we get stuck, we get burdened.  We allow perils to define us.  We allow our packs to get too heavy with worry, frustration, regret.

I implore you to unburden yourself today...how we live each day is most definately a choice.  Choose peace over fret, choose hope over regret, choose goal setting over frustration, choose today over yesterday or tomorrow.

Will you get knocked down occassionally?  You bet you will...just as you did when you were a toddler learning to walk.  Will you get frustrated, down or blue occassionally?  Yup!  Will bad things happen that you were not prepared for?  Uh-huh.  The act of LIVING requires us to deal with the good and the bad, the happy and the sad...all of this together helps us to GROW. 

Growth can be stunted by carrying a heavy pack full of negativity.  So, when you get knocked down (and you will) remember that when you get up and start moving again, you need to leave the bad where it belongs...behind you.  Pick up the positive lessons, learn, and keep going...keep growing.

I love Thomas Merton.  I keep this quote, typeset on Vellum, matted and framed, next to the mirror in my bathroom, a constant reminder of the gift of each day.  A contstant reminder that I am a work in progress.  A constant reminder that my whole life is a journey that I need to continue sojourning on, with a light pack filled with lessons rather than regrets.

Live good. Be happy. GROW.

-Mimi

Mimi Osterdahl / The Muljat Group Realtors / Bellingham, Washington / www.LiveGoodBeHappy.com

2008 President, Northwest Washington Women's Council of Realtors