Lamisha Serf-Walls

Fearless Living…The “How”

by

Let me first apologize to you lovely readers for taking so long to continue my thoughts from last weeks “fear” theme.  Sometimes the things we plan are not the things we must do in the moment and I am learning that more and more each day.  With that said, I am back and I am excited to update you on some recent developments in my world.

I ended last weeks post with a promise as to how I was going to begin living a fearless life as a way to teach my son (and future children) to do the same.  At the time my thoughts were on taking some much-needed action toward my goals and leaving fear in the dust.  Before I do that, let me give you a little insight into why I haven’t been moving forward as much as I would have liked.

I have talked a little bit about my plans to write a children’s book and I set the intention to begin writing on a certain date.  I thought the best way to do it was to jump right in, but I soon realized (after scheduling conflicts) that maybe I should wait until I have more inspiration before I begin writing.  I still stand by that decision, but the more I found myself waiting for the inspiration to hit me, I realized I was also allowing fear to dictate my plans.

I had a moment (or two) where I thought if I don’t start this book, I can’t fail.  But then again if I don’t start it, I can’t succeed either.  So, in order to accomplish my dream of writing a book, I have to write, but in order to write the best book, I have to be inspired.  To be completely honest with you fear was not only dictating my plans for writing a children’s book, but also my plans on starting my business and many of my other dreams.  Looking back, I can see my vision was a bit skewed.  I thought I needed certain pieces to fall into place in order to execute my plan of action.  I realize what that really was, was fear.

I was procrastinating and in a way sabotaging my dreams by not even getting started.  I did a lot of good talking about my dreams, about my plans, about the many things that had to happen first, and then I could start working on my dreams only to find they were excuses.  Excuses not to start for fear of failure.  Excuses not to begin for fear of not being good enough.  Excuses not to dream bigger, for fear my reality wouldn’t live up to the picture in my head.  And when I jumped off the boat of self-pity and self-sabotage, I remembered this…

The best part of our dreams is the journey we take in reaching them.  The mistakes we make, the lessons we learn, and the amazing experiences we have along the way make our lives worth living.  And to be completely honest with you, if all of my dreams came true in the blink of an eye, what fun would it be?  Sure my book series would be a success and my business would be booming, but would I appreciate it as much without the journey?  Probably not.

So, with that said I am accepting the journey ahead of me with open arms and while fear may accompany me a little bit along the way, I vow that I will not allow it to become the captain of this ship.  Instead, I am moving forward with my dreams and as I do, I will go where my inspiration leads me and I hope you do too.

(Tomorrow I will give you a little insight into the inspirational nuggets that have appeared to me in the last few weeks. )

Fearless Living

by

At the end of last week I decided I wanted to write a post about fear as far as dreams and goals are concerned.  In light of the events that happened in Boston on Monday, I know that this is the right topic to write about for there are various forms of fear that take place.

When I first heard about the tragic events on Monday, I was deeply saddened and as I posted on my Facebook status yesterday, I kept asking myself “why?”.  I don’t know if it is the common violent occurrences that are happening around the world or if it is because I am a mother now, but these things are taking a toll on me.  I have never been one to particularly fear for my safety, nor have I ever been ignorant to believe that bad things can’t happen to me.  I purposely do not watch the news for I don’t believe it adds to my life in any way and because it is nothing but “bad news”.  As you can tell I am far from the realist.

As I felt the sadness for what is happening in our world, I was reminded of the many people who ran to help the victims of the bombings.  Those dear souls that ran toward those in need instead of running away are the heroes.  They are the light in this dark event.  They helped strangers simply because it was needed and didn’t think twice about any other danger they may be putting themselves in.  They gave me hope.  That hope quickly fueled my decision to not live in fear.

As a parent, I am responsible for the safety of my child.  I have been given this wonderful opportunity to care for this incredible life and to make decisions that are right by him.  One of those decisions is to teach him to live the fearless life with a good dose of discernment.  I want my son to grow up and weigh the risks for his dreams.  To live his life fully without fear of rejection, fear of failure, and ultimately without fear at all.  I want him to be able to live in a world that honors his uniqueness and choices.  I want him to be able to live in a peaceful world.  And while I cannot stop the violence on my own, I can teach him that no matter how much negativity and violence we see on television and in the media, it will never outweigh the goodness that is in the world.

And the best way to teach him all of this, is through my actions.  More on how I will be doing that tomorrow.

100th Post and Feedback Request

by

I have thought a lot about the content of my posts and with this being my 100th post (yay!), I thought I decided to make a bit of an adjustment to how I post.  The last 99 posts have really been about me getting my feet wet in the blogging world and going with what was on my mind, and while that won’t change too much, I wanted to create content that is a bit more organized for my readers.  With that said, I am setting up a theme for each week to help guide my posts and to help make my content more usable for you lovely readers.  This is a bit of a loose experiment so if you don’t like it, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

I have also thought about the reason I started the blog and the direction I may be headed in the future.  I initially began my blog with the intention of inspiring and uplifting others as they reach for their dreams, while sharing my journey as well.  Looking back, I see I have moved away from that a little bit and as I play with my weekly theme (and other ideas I have brewing), I hope to continue to create posts that will be useful and inspiring to my readers.

With that said, I want to say thank you.  Thank you for reading, commenting, following, and liking my posts.  Thank you for taking the time to read what I have to say and for allowing me to accomplish one of my dreams by starting this blog in the first place.  I am proud that I have not only made it to my 100th post, but also that I have been actively blogging for about 6 months now.  I hope this is the first of many celebrations on my blog and that you know how grateful I am for you.

Feel free to share with me in the comments anything you would like to see more of, less of, or any ideas that you might have of material you are looking for.  Please share your thoughts as I am looking for ways to improve upon what I have already created and with that comes change.

 

Gratitude: Beginning and Ending With Peace

by

This week has been a week of lessons.  Lessons about work, personal life, and finding balance with it all.  Along with those lessons came a much-needed epiphany of which I am grateful.  That epiphany is the importance of beginning and ending with peace.

This week was a little crazy in terms of my schedule and getting everything accomplished, but I began my week with a pause.  Knowing all I had to accomplish and ready to take it all on.  I took a deep breath and dove in and while the middle of the week got a little hairy, I am back to the place I started.  Peaceful.

It seems beginning each day with peace in my meditation practice sets the tone for the rest of the day and if things tend to get a little crazy, I can find my center again at the end of the day with more meditation, yoga, or some quiet time.  Beginning and ending with peace is essential for me to be the best me.  I am so grateful for that realization.

I believe I can apply the same concept to beginning and ending my week.  I can begin each week with an intention for how the week will go in terms of my schedule, work, and appointments.  As things come up (and I am sure they will) I can handle them accordingly.  In the event things get a bit busy or overwhelming, I can find my center and balance by ending the week with some mindful reflection, similar to what I do with my gratitude posts each week.

There is something about the idea of beginning and ending with peace that I think will ultimately bring more peace to the time in between.  As I am mindful of the beginning of each day and at the end of each day, I believe the peace will become a habit and as a result, I will feel much more centered and balanced.

I hope you too begin and end your weekend with peace.  Have a great weekend!