“Instead of wishing you were someone else, be proud of who you are. You never know who has been looking at you wishing they were you…”

I love this! And DAMN! It’s true! I didn’t believe it myself, but writing this blog for a few years now has proven to me that we are all loved, needed and are valued far more than we realize. And each and every one of us is deserving of this love and admiration!

I always have that moment of hesitation before hitting “publish” on any post that I talk about my abuse survival and other struggles. But the responses I get always show me that I shouldn’t hesitate and I should keep doing it! People have shown me their inner weaknesses, beauty, willingness to listen and our universal desire to be heard. We all just want to have a voice, be heard and understood and valued.

I am constantly shocked and amazed by the people who come up to me at fat events or write me outside of this blog (notblueatall@notblueatall.com, hit me up!) to say how much my writing has meant to them, touched them or in some way connected with them. Some have shared stories of how what I wrote impacted their life directly. Others have been grateful for my willingness to make an ass of myself and how it’s made them feel so much less othered. It is the ones who think I have some amazing life though that always give me pause. Me? I’m nobody! I’m just the poor kid from RWC barely getting by…WTF?!

But that’s the thing, perception! Our perception of ourselves is so different than others. We cannot control how we will be perceived by others. It’s an odd world we live in in that way. But hearing from these people has been such a gift. It has opened my eyes to the world, to myself and to the concepts of impact and intentions. I now see that I’m not just the poor kid still struggling to get by…

I live a life of abundance! I choose my own adventure and ride my own melt! Crazy talk? Okay, sure, fine, whatever…but hey? It’s workin’ for me, so there! *SticksOutTongue* My “abundance” is what I want it to be. Love, friendships, activities, knowledge, growth, nature…whatever! But it’s all because I CHOOSE IT! Not everyone even realizes that it is that easy. I chose the life I have not because it was easy (it wasn’t), but because I wanted it. I wanted the chance to choose my future instead of losing my identity to someone else’s notions of what that future should be.

When you picture your dream life or your best life, what does it look like? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? Is it filled with people? Animals? Adventures? Do you want this life or do you simply enjoy dreaming about it? That is the biggest difference, I think, for most people. We are always dreaming of a future that will never arrive and thus we will never enjoy it. Even if we get a taste of it, something we’ve long worked towards, we’re still only living for another future that will never arrive.

Find a way to incorporate aspects of this dream life in your real-right-now life! In my dream life, I used to fantasize about wearing pretty dresses and dancing the night away. Now I do that…and often! I used to dream of having lovely painted walls and pretty flowered curtains and a grown-up looking bathroom (okay, bathroom just needs painting, but I’m almost there…need a very tall friend!) and now I do! It wasn’t as easy as buying the dresses, but if it’s your dream you’ll be willing to work for it or won’t even give a thought to what you must go through to get it.

Don’t dream it…Be it! <3