Clarity

Lately I've been doing a little bit of personal soul searching, I guess that's probably the best way I can describe it. I've been working on tapping into parts of my mind that are unused.. parts of myself that I didn't know existed.

I began starting very small, simply waking up in the morning... stretching, closing my eyes and putting my mind into a state of relaxation, a state of …. Clarity. From there, I began making an effort to pay closer attention to the people around me. It's funny, you'd be really surprised at the amount you can learn by just observing people in your every day life, the people you see often as well as people in the general public. Every individual is so different, we all have different stories, passions, worries, doubts, and most of all... we all have different things to offer. I'm learning to be curios, not judgmental. I'm learning to look at people differently to a point of appreciation for them....

While on the Cruise ship I spoke about in the last blog entry, we were seated for the nightly dinner with some very special people, a huge group of Puerto Rican friends & family members. This group plans trips together, weekend themed parties, fun events, and they treat each other as if they are one big family. During the seven days on the ship we became very close with them, we were even blessed to take part in one of the couples' renewal of vows ceremony.

 Towards the end of the week it occurred to us that these people had opened their arms to us like we were their own, so we exchanged information and planned to attend one of their “crazy Puerto Rican” Christmas parties they had been planning for weeks. Seeing as how they all live in the Orlando, Florida area we knew we would have to make the 7 hour drive down to attend … but as always we were of course, DOWN for the adventure. They were generous enough to offer us up one of the guest bedrooms for the night of the party so we wouldn't have to drive back directly after....

…...When I say I am going to do something, I do everything I can to commit to that plan. So Saturday morning we drove through an insaaane rain storm to attend this Christmas party with our newly “Adopted Puerto Rican Cruise Family”.....

We arrived and were greeted with sheer excitement, these people were genuinely thankful for us. There were dozens of them, all so happy to be with each other. All I could see was dancing, singing, laughing, drinking and people truly enjoying the moment.

My point in telling you all of this is because I saw something that night.....

The woman (Yvette) that was hosting this party, was a single teacher with two children (Both 23 & 19.) When we met her on the boat, it became so abundantly clear that she was an insanely positive and happy person who loved her children very much. No matter what I noticed that this woman ALWAYS had a HUGE smile on her face, and it was crazy contagious. She had a glow about her, a light that is hard not to follow.......

…..later on we gathered that she had been divorced from the children's Dad for over 18 years and had been seeing the same man for about 4 years now. This man she was seeing began to play ridiculous games with her, saying things he didn’t mean in an efforts to get a reaction out of her. Yvette, being the strong confident Mother that she is, ended things with him.... after 4 years she felt it wasn't right, so she parted ways.... only a week prior to this party.....

… What really absolutely intrigues me about all of this, was her demeanor, it did not change. She was still that out-going, excited person we met on the ship. She was dancing, singing and enjoying herself just like nothing happened.....I had to ask her what the secret was....

….like I said before, I am making an effort to learn from the people around me...... So when I asked her how she genuinely maintained such a happy amazing personality even during rough patches... she said this...

“Sweetheart, nobody ever got anywhere by moping around. Sometimes, life throws challenges your way, and it's not the challenges that effect you, it is how you react to them. There are just some things that you can't change, and being hysterical about it will not get you anywhere. A long time ago I made a personal decision for myself, that decision was to NOT waste the time I was given on this earth by being unhappy. Cherish your moments.”

What she said stuck with me, I think it's inspiring to meet people like Yvette. I know some of you may understand why what she said was so empowering, and some of you may brush it off... but what I want to stress in this entry is the power we all have to control our own thoughts. Once we realize this, things become clearer.

… You may be wondering the same exact thing I pondered after my conversation with her, HOW does she do it... not just why.. but how does a person change their way of thinking to pure positivity....

And the answer came to me just as simply as the question did.. You. Just. Do.

I want to end this entry with a musical reference. Most recently I've been shuffling my entire 1000 song music play list and allowing the shuffle to choose the song for me. I've been focusing more and more on what the artist is actually saying, hoping to learn from it...

After this Christmas party ended, I put my head phones on and went outside for a moment to look up at the stars.

….My song-shuffle chose “Airplanes” by B.O.B, Hailey Williams & Eminem.... granted this is an older song. I decided to listen, and I mean really listen. The ending of the song makes a very powerful point, during Eminem’s portion he raps .....
”Lets pretend”......... “he never risked shit, he hoped and he wished it but it didn’t fall in his lap, so he ain’t even here, he pretends that..... 
Airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars.”

How many of us wait around for an opportunity to fall into our laps but are never really proactive on it... due to our own personal walls we put up for ourselves. Nothing ever comes easy, it really doesn't matter where you come from, you have the power to make the life you want.

Don't believe me? Try it....

Ending with that thought, just a few weeks ago, I was in a music video for the musician B.O.B., I had the chance to speak to him for a very brief moment, I asked him just one question. 

“How did you get to this amazing point that you're at in life?”
He smiled and said to me...... 

“We all have the power to create our own reality......”

Lets pretend.....