This morning as I walked the bay with my two little companions, I watched a very old man, take his dogs for a walk. He made my morning. He was quirky, he had his hat on backwards, he had a style that was telling anyone who noticed that he didn’t give a rip what anyone else thought of him.

He had embraced his unique and I assumed he is old enough to not to care at all.

You see the man who changed my morning was driving a bright red dingy boat, just a couple of metres off the shoreline, while his two dogs pounded the beach.

With a wave and a hello, I watched him trace the shore with his dogs in his boat, he was running his own race.

This short little encounter got me thinking how much we worry about what others think of us, especially in the arena of creativity and business.

A little idea, a lot of courage and as we put our ideas out there, we are so worried that we may stand on someone else’s toes.

We worry that someone might criticise, we worry that someone may not like, we worry that someone thinks we have copied their idea.

Lately I am becoming more aware of how important it is for me to run in my own lane.

Not to look to the left or the right.

Not to worry about what others think.

That I need to be true to the very essence of who I am and the passions I am developing in my life and stop caring so much about what others think.

What would you do if you weren’t so afraid of others?

What would you try if you didn’t cater to the crowd assessing?

What opportunity would you take up if you stopped worrying so much?

We will never get today back again and some seasons of our life we just need to look straight ahead, don’t look to the left or right and have a big fat go.

Do you want to be happier?

Then run your own race and stop worrying about what everyone else is thinks.

 

 

 

There is a trap that holds so many of us captive. It is a very silent, sneaky one.

It can trip us up at an unsuspecting moment.

A quick flick through the newspaper, a little read of a magazine, a scroll through a beautiful instagram feed, maybe even a read of this blog.

Comparison.

It kidnaps us all at some point in our lives and holds us for ransom until we find the bounty of perspective once again.

Look at her life, she has it all together.

What if she actually knew what I thought of her?

If only I had what she has then everything would be so different.

“How much time he gains who does not look to see what his neighbour says or does or thinks, but only at what he does himself, to make it just and holy.”
Marcus Aurelius

Mothers Day is not a fabulous celebration for most women. There is a fair amount of comparison lurking beneath the surface, waiting to capture the heart that dives into its depths.

“Look at what he bought for her, all I got was this crappy macramé pot plant holder.”

“God, I miss her so much, if only I could have a celebration like what they are having.”

“My Mum never did that for me, why should I even bother.”

“If only I was a Mum, then everything would be different.”

Comparison is a thief that steals the joy of our everyday moments. It is like a ladder competing with our neighbour that ends up nowhere. The problem is that we have missed the amazing view that is surrounding us. We loose perspective of the beauty that is very present.

If days like Mother’s Day are difficult for you, I understand and I see you.

Take time today, to remove yourself from the place where comparison robs you of your joy.

Remind yourself of the beauty in your season for today.

Remind yourself of the perfection in the ordinary moments.

Remind yourself that you are loved, you are graced and you are fearfully made.

Try not to watch the feed of everyone else’s highlight reels and let comparison steal you away this year.

Acknowledge your today and give thanks for hope in tomorrow.

A group of friends and I have a little secret. We have been working on it late at night, sending group texts scheming and planning. I can honestly say this little secret has seriously changed my creative mojo lately. It has me inspired.

It is a simple little something.

It is a creative muse we have started.

Honestly though it has me spellbound.

Everywhere I walk lately I am thinking about it.

I talk about it all the time with my little creative gang.

One could say I’m obsessed.

I have been taking my camera with me everywhere I go and whenever I see anything remotely interesting you can see me clicking away.

I have left my phone home more.

I have been dreaming up little photo shoots in my mind.

I am inspired.

This little secret, is the simplest little idea.

Four of us take photos in our local area of secrets, cafes, sunsets, inspiration moments, people, stories and we post them.

It is that simple but what it has done is completely changed my perspective of everything locally in my area.

I find myself thinking about all the brilliance in my little seaside town rather than the bad.

I keep finding new and interesting things that we could profile.

I feel like we are positively communicating worth to our local people in the midst of the storm and tide of so much negativity.

The simplest little secret that is making such a massive difference.

Shhh, don’t tell anyone.

What is something simple you can do in your everyday to live inspired?