Wake Up and Dream Catalyst: Short inspirational thoughts for the day. Raising questions & hopefully opening a dialogue with people interested in learning how to turn their dreams into plans and start navigating their way towards them.
Thought for the Day: As the eastern seaboard digs itself out from a foot or more of snow, I am sharing the 5 top Words of Wisdom Posts from 2013. It has been interesting to look back at all the posts and see which ones readers liked the best. I am honored that two of the top 5 were quotes that I created. It is also a pleasure to celebrate two years of blogging with you. It is amazing that since I started the Top 10 posts for 2013, page views have risen from just under 80,000 to over 84,000! Thank you for reading, liking, sharing and commenting! I decided to find a quote about birthdays for today's post. It is from an author I am not familiar with, Jarod Kintz, from his book, This Book Title Is Invisible. Kintz says, "The year you were born Marks only your entry into the world. Other years where you prove your worth, they are the ones worth celebrating." I hope that we will have many years to celebrate my blog and that it will always be worthy of you spending time reading it.
Thought for the Day: As I have been hurrying to get ready for Thanksgiving & Chanukah, I made a number of photo ads for social media for the Thanksgivica sale that is going on this week. One of them was the photo from today's words of wisdom with a quote I love from Eleanor Roosevelt: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Her quotes and wisdom have always resonated with me. She was a liberated feminist long before women's liberation. I am thankful for her wisdom that lives on. I believe she would be proud of women's progress but encouraging us all to continue moving forward for greater equality and accomplishments of our dreams. have a Happy Thanksgiving & Chanukah!
Thought for the Day: I must admit that I am tired from an amazingly successful free download program on Amazon. I decided to take my own advice & simplify today's post by sharing something I created on HealthTap.com. It is a wonderful site. Check it out.
Thought for the Day: As I mentioned on Friday, I will be presenting this Thursday at the Museum of Motherhood & plan to dedicate this week's posts to the challenges of modern parenting. With more & more mothers joining the workforce out of necessity, the balancing act that mothers need to perform is more & more complex. Making time for children's needs, a social life & for their husbands may leave little space for a mothers' personal needs & even less for their personal dreams. Since Mother's Day is just around the corner, I'd like to make today's post the 1st in a series of posts. As I bring up the issues, I would love to hear how you are dealing with the complexities of modern motherhood. What works for you? What is not working & needs improvements to make it better? Are you able to make time for yourself & your aspirations? If not, why not?
Motherhood Everywhere *1
In my book, The Wake Up and Dream Challenge, I present many reasons it is important for people to make time for their dreams. In preparing for this week's conference, I am focusing on a slightly different perspective, which I did not cover specifically in the book. Why should mothers take time for their dreams? Many women have been taught that helping their children & their husband accomplish their dreams should be their priority. An interesting explanation of this tendency among western women is given in the book, Too Good for Her Own Good, by Claudia Bepko
& Jo-Ann Krestan. They believe that women have been taught to put other's needs before their own. Therefore, mothers may feel selfish if they spend time pursuing their personal dreams.
If all you did was spend time working on your dreams it would be selfish, however, it is a self assertive act, not a selfish one if it is balanced as part of the many things you do for others.
Here are some reasons it is important to make time for your dreams. First, if you give up your dreams for someone else, be it your husband, your children or your parents, you may grow to resent the people closest to you. In my book, I quote the song, "Someone Else's Dreams," a country music song written by Trey Bruce and Craig Wiseman. You can listen to it here performed by Faith Hill to see what happens when you follow someone else's dreams. If you neglect your dreams you not only will lose precious time, but you will feel robbed of your own dreams.
Mother with child at work *2
Another reason mothers need to pursue their own dreams, is that if you don't, you run the risk of trying to live vicariously via your children's accomplishments. Unconsciously, you may be pressuring your children to follow a path that is not their dream, but yours. They may also grow to resent the pressure. It may lead them ultimately to distance both from you & the activity that you have been pushing them towards. Helping a child find & pursue their dreams is an important part of parenting, but it must be done carefully to be sure it is the child's dream & not yours.
On My Shoulders *3
The most important reason to make space for your dreams is for your children's sake. Your actions will teach your children about the importance of taking time for themselves & pursuing their dreams. You are your children's most important role model. Your actions speak louder than your words.
Are you making time for your dreams? If not, what keeps you from working towards them?
Photos:
*1'Motherhood everywhere' http-/www.flickr.com/photos/40145521@N00/3153992046
*2 'Motherhood everywhere' http-/www.flickr.com/photos/40145521@N00/3153992046
*3 'On my shoulders' http-/www.flickr.com/photos/24742305@N00/3699755781
All photos from FlickrCC.com
TGIF & here are Friday's Fabulous Finds. As always the finds come from a mixed bag of articles, services & events. The common theme is empowerment. Today's finds include: an article about how flowers empower your mental & physical health; a site that supports & empowers multiple charities; a free app to empower mothers (and fathers) by helping them to coordinate their families busy schedules; how two moms found a way to change the world & have developed a successful business while protecting the environment; & information on how to learn about & support the battle for equal pay for women. In some ways all wee, I have been posting things about the importance of empowering yourself. On Monday my post was intended to help parents overcome feelings of helplessness even when their children challenge their patience. Tuesday & Thursday's Psychological Trivia Question addressed how posture impacts on self confidence & things you can do to strengthen your own & your children's confidence. Wednesday brought Karen Horney's Words of Wisdom on taking pride in what you do. I hope all these posts will all help you build a sense of pride & give you ways to empower yourself. Hope you come back for Saturday's Songs for the Soul & Sunday's Comic Strips. Have a great weekend.
"It turns out that the 1960s activists who chanted "flower power" were
onto something important, in more ways than they probably knew.
Flowers, just like peace, are good for our mental health."
Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/55948751@N00/4071573320 Found on flickrcc.net
Charity Gift Mart'sMission is to provide socially conscious shoppers with a marketplace of
goods created & produced by charities, with all profit returning to
the charity to support their work.
Cozi is a free app and website that helps you manage your busy
family calendar.
Plus it keeps track of everything from school schedules to sports
activities, meals, grocery lists, and chores, all in one place.
A great story from Marlo Thomas' website. "Today, (these 2 women's) environmentally-friendly product is on shelves at top
retailers and in children's lunchboxes across the country. It's
remarkable how far one little idea can go!" -– Marlo Thomas
Tuesday, April 9, is Equal Pay Day, marking the additional number of days in 2013 a woman must work to make as much as a man makes for the same work – an unacceptable 92 days.
path+to+the+future_pe.jpg)
