spring fever - memoirs of an extinct childhood

Winter is a rough time for a kid who's growing up on a farm. After spending the spring, summer and fall playing outdoors, having all kinds of adventures, to be forced inside for a few months is tortuous.

Oh sure, you can still go out and enjoy the winter sports, but cold is cold, whether you're having fun in it or not - and sooner or later, the cold wins out!

I remember just longing for spring to arrive. We'd start heading outdoors and trying to force spring. If it was a sunny day, we'd "suntan" in the wheelbarrow, with snow on the ground all around. As soon as the snow started to melt and the water was running, we'd be out in the yard, wading around in our rubber boots, building damns and troughs for the spring melt.

We'd dare ourselves to go wading barefoot through ice cold water and mud.

The lower part of our property would flood in the spring. Sure as anything, we'd be out there paddling around on the flood in a canoe - and as often as not, getting soaked to the skin wading around in the water.

More "prudent" parents would have scolded us and warned us of pneumonia or the cold. Ours knew better, knew that kids will be kids, and let us play. Although I'm sure Mom groaned more than once seeing our dirty, wet clothes coming in to be cleaned!

The bikes were out as soon as possible - or more often before. We'd be peddling around, getting stuck in snowbanks, and sliding off of the narrow paths through the snow that we were trying to bike on. If it really was too early to be biking outside, we'd attempt it in the house or the barn, peddling carefully from one room to another. Although in the house, of course, it was hard to get away with.

We just could not wait for summer. It took felt like it took forever to get there, and we were coaxing it along the whole way!

Then summer would arrive and we'd move on to building forts, exploring, and swimming in cold lakes and rivers. We'd have a tent set up in the yard just as soon as it was dry enough, just so we could sleep outside. We'd build roads and towns in the dirt for our toy cars. We'd wade the creeks, chasing minnows. We'd build hay forts and tree forts. We'd spend the summer outside, romping, exploring and experiencing.

Until eventually fall and winter would come once more, and we'd be forced inside to wait for spring...

sunshine - life or death?

In recent years, the "sun scare" has become more and more pronounced. We are warned from every direction to avoid prolonged exposure to the sun. We are directed to slather on the sun screen and wear sunglasses to protect our eyes.

We are told that too much sun causes skin cancer.

So we often "huddle" inside out of the sun, with our air conditioning running full blast, trying to keep cool in the heat of the day.

And if we do go outside, we smear on the sunscreen (or feel guilty if we don't!) before we head out under the rays.

Why do so few even think to stop and wonder if the sun is really bad for them??

I've been doing some reading lately on how we actually need the sun, how it produces Vitamin D in our bodies, and how sunscreen is actually dangerous! But of course they will never tell you that, because there is no way to profit from it. Sunshine is free for all!

As I sat out in the backyard and pondered this earlier this afternoon, I was taken back to my childhood. Winters were long and cold, and by the time spring was even just a glint on the horizon, I antsy for it to get there! I remember many times going outside to lay in the sun on a sunny day in April, or maybe even March! No, it wasn't warm out yet, but if you huddled down into the wheelbarrow you would be out of the wind and could begin to feel the sun's warmth.

I did this numerous times. Soaking up as many rays as I possibly could. I'd hunker down in the wheelbarrow, wrapped in a jacket or blanket. I'd read a book, or close my eyes and snooze a bit. There would be snow on the ground all around me, but I was cozy.

I instinctively knew that sunshine was good for me - and my body, mind and soul craved it after a long cold winter.

I haven't lost that craving. As I look ahead toward winter, I wish today would never end. The sun feels so warm and good, particularly since I know it won't be this warm again for a few months.

And sure as anything, come March or April, I'll be very antsy for spring to arrive. I'll be soaking up every ray I can possibly get, coaxing my chilly heart out of the hibernation of winter.

autumn reflections

As the weather grows cooler and the
leaves change color on the trees and
fall
to
the
ground,
I contemplate.
A season has come to an end.
My favorite season, farewell summer.
My heart feels apprehensive going into
this cold new season,
knowing the pain of winter.

But seasons are part of the cycle of life,
causing growth, where we would otherwise stagnate.
There is no advance without pushing through
the cold and the pain.

This is a season of reflection and quiet,
the quiet growth of the sleeping giant
A chance to renew and restore,
releasing the bad
-AND the good-
in favor of what is to come.

It is in this somber season that I find myself
after the quick growth of the summer,
becoming reaquainted with the personal I.
Still waters run deep, as my spirit settles in
absorbing the warmth I surround myself with.

Until the new growth and sun of spring come once again
and the cool depths warm into brilliant growth and adventure for another season.

i have a problem with religion...

Yes, I grew up in it. Right up through my early 20's even. I guess it worked well enough for me then. Gave me something to throw my passion into for a while.

But it really held me back in many ways too.

I think my biggest issue with religion is all of the focus on "God" and "heaven". Not that there is anything wrong with believing in a higher power, or believing in life after death, either.

My problem, is that most people tend to let these two beliefs hold them back from realizing their full potential right now.

I've heard it all my life:
"I can't wait until we get to heaven and leave all this sadness behind" or
"I would like to do this, but I'm waiting on God to see if it's His will" or
"I don't need any of those things because I have Jesus".

Yes, I even said things like that at one time - but I'm not sure that I ever really believed it.

I've come to the realization in my own life, that if I don't do it, it's not going to get done! I can sit back and wait for "God's will" until I get old and die - and nothing is going to change.

It is my life, and it is up to me to make it what I want it to be. No "ifs", "ands" or "buts" about it!

I got fed up with wanting to live a good life, have all the money I need and want to build that life, be able to do what I love and never have to work the rest of my life in a dead-end or boring job, etc etc.

I got fed up with being told that it was noble to be poor and that I should be content with working hard in a good steady job.

I got fed up with being expected to seek God's will on everything.

I got fed up with waiting for heaven for things to be good.

What if heaven isn't real?

Now I realize I probably just pulled the rug out from under some of you - "What?!? Heaven not real?" But humor me - put aside those thoughts and just imagine with me for a minute.

What if it isn't real? What if this one life here on this earth is the only shot you've got at experiencing anything?

It's awful short. I intend to live well into my 100s, but even 100 years is pretty short in the grand scheme of things!

What if this is all you've got?

What would you change in your life, if you lived like this was your only chance?

It is changing things in my life, this realization. Even as I am writing this, it is changing things in the way I think and making me realize that I still have more potential, more possibilities, than I had even thought an hour ago!

When you live like today is all you have - what kind of life would that be? What would you focus on and what would you accomplish?

I'm through with planning for heaven and waiting on God to tell me his will for my life. It's my life, and I am going to live it to the fullest and learn to enjoy every single moment, every single experience - and create the lifestyle, adventures, dreams, businesses, etc that I want!

Not only that, but I am going to share as much as I can with those around me, to enrich their lives and encourage them to do the same. So if you're going my way, come walk alongside, and let's boost each other toward where we want to be in the here and now!

my real life heroes

I have found my real-life heroes and role models.

If you had asked me a few months ago, or even a few years ago, who my heroes were, or who my role models were, I would have had a hard time coming up with anyone.

Not anymore.

During our journey into learning internet marketing, in particular where it regards Information Products, we have come across some really great people and teachers in this category. My new role models.

Not only do these guys make a lot of money online, doing what they love, but they do it in a way that brings extraordinary value to the lives of the people they interact with, especially their customers! These guys have figured out how to have the life they want, while enriching the lives around them and inspiring other people to also have the lives they want.

Fantastic!

Who better to learn from than someone like this?

And so I am on a quest to learn whatever I possibly can from these guys. We downloaded Eben Pagan's Get Altitude training course the other day and have started into that. It really twists your thinking when it comes to marketing and how to do business!

For example, instead of choosing a product or service you want to sell, why not find out what your customer's needs, wants, etc are and then create a product that meets those needs!

Not the typical way of doing things - but certainly a better way!

i used to make myself laugh, memoirs of an extinct childhood

We were the only girls in a family of three. Then it turned into a family of four..... five..... six..... And we were still the only girls until number 7. We were best friends. Even the cousins we hung out with were all boys. You were my best friend before I knew what a friend was!

You knew about my first boyfriend before anyone else - and you even knew about the "wished-for" boyfriends! You know things about me that I hope you will never tell. But that's what makes us sisters.

Since we were the only girls, we always shared a room. I guess at that age, you don't really need your privacy, and frankly, a best friend can be more beneficial than your independence then.

I told you almost all my secrets. There are still a couple that I hold dear. But no one else ever knew more! Ahhh, those were the days!

My fondest memory of sharing a room with my best friend, are those of making myself laugh. We made up nicknames for each other, and then we would audibly role-play these really silly scenarios for these "characters" with the nicknames. Oh, you know, like every kid does! (I miss those days of being a kid!)

Ahhh, Dan, I miss those days! Everything was sooooo simple!

And we would make ourselves laugh. It was funny of course... But you start chuckling at the funny part, and then you pretend that it is juuuuust a bit funnier than it actually is... and then pretend jjjjuuuuuusssttt a little more........

I did it tonight, actually.... It was pretty funny, what was said - or at least what I thought about what was said was funny..... But I pretended that it was juuuust a bit funnier than it really was.... and I felt it again... I laughed until I cried. I had tears running out of both eyes. Yes, it was that funny!


And I am now left reminiscing.

If my childhood, as foreign as it may now seem, held that much simple, pure enjoyment, what will the rest of my life hold, now that I have realized that life is all about stopping to smell the roses?

Adventures of the Online Kind

Sadly, I have neglected my personal blog for months in favor of other online ventures. Somehow, I need to train myself to do both, to take the time to do those things that I do just because I want to, not because they might make me money, or allow me to go away for the winter... ;)

I am rather busy. It's good to have lots to do, but I am anxiously awaiting the day when I can quit my day job, quit working for someone else, and really have all of my time to do the things that I really want to do and am really passionate about. That day is coming soon, and I get more and more excited about it as it approaches!

Jon and I sat down and watched a fantastic video last night. It's a series that Tony Robbins is doing, called The Money Master Series. He is interviewing 12 people who are making serious money online - and finding out how they are doing it. We watched the first one last night and it was not only inspirational, it took my thinking to a whole different level. It really made it more real for me and made me really think, Hey, I can do this stuff! I can be successful online, and I can be financially free and live the life that I really want!

It made the people who are already doing that so real - they are just every day folk like you and me. The only difference, is that they took control of their lives and made them what they want. They didn't give up when things got tough - they relentlessly pursued what they really wanted.

Huh. Interesting. Every day guys, just like me - and if they can do it, then there is absolutely no reason why I cannot do it!

Yes, I am inspired and excited! :) Anyone care to join me on this journey? We're building our Mastermind Group...