Take A Chance, What Have You Got To Lose?

I recently found myself re-reading my last Post and it struck me as not so much being incomplete as it was lacking in telling the entire story, if that makes any sense. While I started off with a particular thought in mind and I felt I said what I wanted to say in that regard, I also touched on a couple other 'points' but I wasn't able to delve into them as much as I would have liked to.

Not so much as an excuse but with my Moms passing a couple months ago, I haven't written anywhere near as much as I had been writing prior to that. To be honest, my heart just wasn't in it. Well, that's not exactly correct, it's more like my heart was too far in it. I was feeling so heartbroken that I knew that no matter what came out of my heart through my writing and 'landed' on the screen was gonna be at the very least a tear jerker and when I'm feeling that way, I end up spending more time sobbing myself than I do typing. Extremely unproductive as you can well imagine. And so I avoided writing to a degree. Matter of fact, I've only written two Posts since the end of September and prior to that, I was on a roll and writing two or three posts a week. And when you're posts average 2000 words, that's alot of 'thoughts' to suddenly keep bottled up inside.



And so even though I'm by no means 'healed', I find myself back at the keyboard. Unfortunately, my heart is still feeling rather heavy and as such my subject matter might take on a similar tone. But at the risk of being glum, I needed to get back to my writing. And since everything I write is from my heart, as they say, it's not gonna be all sunshine, lollipops and roses.

Trust me, I wish it was. I have the same desires as everyone else, to be happy 24/7 and I'll be the first to admit that I know damn well that that's not anywhere near possible but I'd like to see if I can come close to that anyway. But I can already tell by what I've written so far that my heart is still hangin' way lower than usual. Not quite in the dirt like it was a couple months ago but without a doubt nowhere near where it should be.



And that is kinda what sparked me to write this post. I noticed a status update on a Facebook friends wall a bit earlier tonight and it reminded me of a Post that I had written quite awhile back. For those that are unfamiliar with my Blog or my writing in general, everything I write about comes from deep within my heart and soul and everything I write is based on a thought I've had or am currently thinking.

No doubt I do my best to add in a bit of humor here and there whenever possible, doing my best to lighten the mood. I have enjoyed making people laugh, or attempting to anyway, from as far back as I can remember. It makes me feel good to be able to 'take the edge off' for someone else and quite often that's at my own expense. Yes, I'm not afraid of self depricating humor as I seem to be a 'factory' for things to laugh at about myself. No doubt sometimes it helps me as well to be able to laugh at myself.



Which is why everything I write has basically two motivations, to help myself deal with a thought, a feeling or a mood that I'm encountering at the time and secondly, if I can help to ease the 'pain' of someone else that is or has experienced a similar feeling, then that just makes it all the better. My goal has always been to spill my guts in hopes that someone else can learn from my experiences. And I find that when I jot down my thoughts, I can deal with them better as well. Especially when I can go back and read them again, a year later.

Sometimes I find that I've learned a lesson and made some progress in a certain area and other times, the news isn't as good and I find that I'm still 'stuck' or even worse, have backtracked on a subject that I had hoped to at the very least make progress and possibly even conquer. Which is exactly what happened this time. After browsing over an earlier post, it appears I haven't learned anything at all. At least not what I set out to conquer anyway. I'm still in the same boat, possibly even taking on water and missing an oar at this point.



So, that brings up the question. Now that I have no way of hiding from it, because as we all know, no matter where we go, there we are. And we can stick our heads as far down in the sand as possible but knowing that we have to come up for air at some point, there's a pretty good chance that the reason we went underground will still be waiting for us when we pull our head out. Out of the sand, that is.

I found myself wondering why I haven't gotten any further in this department. Is it fear? Probably. But fear of what? Fear of failure? Fear of success? Fear of rejection? Fear of the unknown? Fear of fear?I would have to believe that fear of some sort is what stops most of us from just about everything in life. And we've all heard the acronym False Evidence Appearing Real and no doubt, it does more than apprear real, it IS real! Why else would we be so afraid?



I'm sure that I fall prey to most of those 'reasons' except for perhaps the fear of success. I don't think I'm so much afraid of success as I am afraid that I will never get to the point where I have enough of it. I have extremely high expectations of myself. Which is in itself kinda scary but it's quite possible that that's a good kind of scary. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But success or lack of is not the number one thing on my mind and so I have to feel that there is some other form of fear holding me back from being and doing all I want in life.

That's when it dawned on me. It's not exactly fear of one thing in particular, it's what happens 'after' that I'm afraid of. Yes, what happens after is what scares the hell outta me! I'm sure you know the feeling. The feeling that comes draggin' along after you fail. At whatever it is. The disappointment, the letdown, the bummer of it all. Finding out that whatever it is you were hoping for, working towards, bustin' your ass to accomplish is basically over and done. No more need to continue working towards that goal, it's over. Finished. The End!




All your hopes, dreams, plans, everything that you had to look forward to, all of the fuel for your fire is wiped out in a split second. All of the 'tools' that you used to get up out of bed each and every day, used to spur you on to bigger and better things, a better person, all gone now. Then what do you do. How do you find anything to go forward with after that?

That's when you begin to think about just how difficult it was to come up with all the gusto you had to muster up in the first place just to get you to the point where you were standing now, crushed and heartbroken. All that effort.....and for what? Just to stand there (or lay there, as the case may be) and be in an even worse place than you were before you began the journey. The journey of hope. The journey of manifesting a dream.


How many times had you told yourself, this time it's gonna happen. This time it's gonna all work out. I just know it, this is finally gonna be the time everything goes my way. And yet, sure as hell, there you are, feeling as if you have just totally wasted all that time and effort. In fact you would have probably been better off had you never even made the attempt in the first place. At least that's how you're feeling right then but is that necessarily true?

I mean, sure you could have avoided the failure or the heartbreak or whatever lousy feeling you're experiencing but if you really give it some thought, I'm sure you'll begin to realize that you must have been feeling some form of discontent in the first place to have even taken on something with such a large possibility of heartache if you were to fail. Being 'new', the disappointment is at it's strongest at that point which only makes you question your decision that much more. But again, you must have really needed to 'know' if it was a possibility, otherwise you never would have taken it on in the first place.

And this is what triggered me to write this post. I have been doing alot of thinking lately, alot of should I or shouldn't I about something that, depending on whether or not I continue further with my thought process, could either turn out to be a major positive in my life or a huge disaster. And this is where my evil nemesis, fear comes into play.



Common sense tells me not to even attempt to take it any further. Based on the 'history' of how things similar to this have gone for me, common sense says to just cut my losses and forget about it. Learn to live with all the wondering and the questions that already bombard my brain and hope that eventually all of that 'noise' will begin to fade. And jeez, if it was that easy to forget about I probably would have already done it. But it's anything but easy to forget about.

Yet the 'penalty' for risking it, for taking a chance, for putting forth the effort to find out if it could be a possibility is huge unto itself. The loss could and would be devastating. Not only from my feelings being destroyed but from the repercussions and the shockwaves that it could send throughout all involved.

But the other side of the 'loss' is what I'm guaranteed to lose by not taking a chance on finding out for myself what the 'answer' actually is. Rather than predetermining the outcome, shouldn't I be willing to risk it if it really means that much to me? Hmmm......



I mean, I'm smart and all but I'll be the first to admit that I don't know everything. Not the least of which is what someone else is thinking or the outcome that they could possibly have pictured in their mind or for that matter, even if they're on the same wavelength and even thinking about it in the slightest. And so the roller coaster begins, the endless cycle of doubt and second guessing and with each yes, another no flys by to counteract it. By that point, you're pretty much just along for the ride. Swimming in a sea of self doubt and let me be the first to tell you, there are alot of of sharks in those waters, ready to take a big ol' bite out of you!

So do I sit back, shut up and suffer in silence or do I speak up, let my thoughts be known and possibly get crushed. Do I throw common sense and my perception of reality out the window and allow in the possibility of a major dream coming true? How much influence should common sense hold? More than the possible bliss of a dream coming true? Is common sense actually another form of reality or just like anything else, another form of perception and up to each of us to determine exactly what it is. I truly believe that perception is a big key to everything. Boy, this is where being a mind reader would really come in handy.

One thing that I do know for sure. If I don't pursue it, if I don't ask what it is I want to ask then the answer will without a doubt be no. How could it be otherwise? If you don't ask for something, you'll never get it. But if I do risk it all, take a huge chance and put everything on the line, then there's a slight possibility that the answer could be yes. Sure, things could go horribly wrong and even more things could be ruined by asking but the anxiety of not knowing and the possibility of a dream come true not manifesting has a way of getting very heavy as well.

I've taken some risks in my life before and I haven't always come out on the good side of things but on those rare occasions that I have conquered, it was oh so worth it. To know that I looked fear straight on and beat it was only icing on the cake. But as we all know, just writing down our goals and dreams is only half the battle. Achieving them also requires action. And therefore, if you need me, I'll be the guy with his head in the sand, doing a bit of thinking, mustering up the courage to make a decision of some kind.

If you find that you can relate to fear and being afraid to take risks, I'd enjoy hearing your comments and if you know someone who might enkoy this post, I'd appreciate it if you'd share it with them.

Who Me? Give Up? Not Likely

OK, so I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'd like to think I'm smart enough to know when to give up, to throw in the towel so to speak. I mean, isn't there like some kind of a signal from above, some sort of a sign to let us know when it's time to bail?


Lately, well I really shouldn't say lately as this has been a situation that I've been struggling with for quite some time now. And no doubt I'm not the only one who battles this dilemma on a regular basis. Surely it's a question people have been asking themselves since the beginning of time. When is it ok to give up?




When is it finally ok to say to yourself, enough is enough, I'm done fighting this battle, there's just no way it's ever gonna happen, no possibility whatsoever of it ever coming true?


Now, when I say it, basically that could mean anything, from your hopes and dreams to your aspirations, your goals, anything in your life that you strive for. Anything that you're motivated about, anything you hope to accomplish.


Well, I for one am not so sure there is a certain point that defines the perfect time to give up. Nope, I don't think it's gonna be that easy. Wouldn't that be great if it were that cut 'n dry?




Oh heck yeah, it sure would. If everything in life had a time limit on it then you'd know when to say when, you'd know when you could just say enough is enough, pick up your toys and go home.



At least it would give you a point of reference to look forward to and your goals could be so much more manageable knowing that you only had to put in a certain amount of effort for a specified amount of time and whatever the results were, you would know that you did the best you could with the amount of time that you had available.


And after your time expired, you were in essence off the hook. Good, bad or otherwise, wherever you stood at that point was just going to be the way it is. Dang, that sounds easy doesn't it? How sweet would it be to have everything in your life mapped out for you like that?




But on the other hand, how boring it would be as well. Not that you'd know the exact outcome of everything in your future, but you'd have a pretty close guesstimate. And you could almost predict your future just by altering the amount of effort you put forth. Yep, BORING CENTRAL!

Well then, without an expiration date of sorts, how are we supposed to know when it's ok to quit trying? To let go of our dreams. Is there a certain amount of times that we have to be told "NO, you can't do this....can't have that.....can't date her.....", whatever the case may be? And if so, what gives someone else the authority to tell us that we can't anything?



Nope, I don't see that working either. If you're anything like me and absolutely hate to quit trying, at anything, then I'm sure you'll agree that the last thing you want is someone telling you what to do. Telling you basically when it's ok to officially become a failure. No thanks, not gonna work for me, that's for sure.



Sheesh, it sounds like quitting isn't gonna be as easy as everyone says it is. I mean, doesn't everybody say that quitting is the easy way out? That's the way I heard it anyway. I'm beginning to get the impression that they're completely wrong about it.


I also seem to recall hearing something about quitters being losers. Nobody wants to be referred to as a loser, do they? I would have to imagine that it wouldn't be a sought after title, that's for sure.




They only positive quote I've ever heard in regards to quitting was the often used and well worn "Sobriety is for quitters." I guess that's about one of the only times it's good to be a quitter. No doubt you could also include all of the other vices in the same sentence and they'd all make sense. But other than those few, being a quitter is nothing to be proud of.

Yet there must come a time that we have to face the music, read the writing on the wall and come to a point that we just have to stop trying. The intersection of lack of effort and giving up, that ugly as hell place known as failure. Correct?


I think, in fact I know that that's exactly where I have to say "No, I don't agree." For me failure is a huge problem, a bitter pill that I am unable to swallow, no matter what the situation.



Is it fear of looking like an idiot, a fool? That could be part of it, more than likely a huge part. But for me it's more of an inside thing. While it does bother me to have others see me as a failure of sorts, as someone that didn't accomplish their goals, it's ME that I'm truly concerned about. How will I feel about ME if I give up, if I quit trying. If I just don't give it my all and do my best.

I guess I've been out to prove something (not exactly sure what that something is) my entire life. My Father, in his attempts to get me to do my best tried to beat perseverance into me, one swing of the belt at a time but what he failed to realize was that being the best I could be was already ingrained in me from my first breath. I knew no different.



It wasn't anything that he had to instill in me, anything he had to force upon me, I wanted to, no, I needed to do my best. In every circumstance, in every situation. Sure, like any other kid, I was hoping for my Dads approval. Hoping to make Dad proud and also hoping for a miracle. The miracle of him saying "Good job son, I'm proud of you."

Of course, as I would come to learn, that wasn't gonna happen but that never stopped me from wanting to do my best. At everything I ever did. Not that I can honestly say that I always did my best but there's no doubt in my mind that I always wanted to.

Call it pride, or ego, or just plain being a perfectionist, any way you choose to look at it, I've always demanded the most out of myself. No doubt I'm my own worst critic. Noone can be any harder on me....than ME. That's why giving up isn't an option.



I also have someone very special watching over me from up above that would surely be disappointed in me if I ever gave up and there's just no way I ever want to let her down.

So where exactly does that leave me? If I can't give up, if I can't allow myself to quit, am I doomed to a life of never reaching my goals, never accomplishing what I want in life? Jeez, I sure hope not.

But at the same time, to just quit trying would surely mean that I would never realize my dreams. At least if I keep trying, there's a small, miniscule chance of good things happening. Sure, along with that chance comes loads of despair and disappointment but with that 1% possibility of something good happening in my life, something finally going my way, I'm unable to just take the hint and walk away.



One of my favorite sayings and to be honest, I'm not even sure it's an actual quote and if so, who even said it but it goes something like this. ~You can never ever give up because you don't know who or what is waiting for you just around the next corner.~

I think that quote says so much about perseverance, forging ahead in the face of adversity and just never giving up, NO MATTER WHAT! And with these words as my mantra I will continue to forge ahead, knowing that good things are waiting ahead for me. It's only a matter of time.





If you can relate to wanting to just give up at times or perhaps, like me, unable to know when it's ok to give up, I'd enjoy hearing about it and if you enjoyed this Post, I'd appreciate it if you'd share it with your friends.

Wow, How Lucky Am I?

Yes, I truly am one of the luckiest people ever. Not many people can say that they were able to meet their Guardian Angel in real life. To say that meeting you was a life changing experience doesn't even begin to do you justice.

Although I made an attempt to put into words in a previous Post exactly how we met, You Were Right On Time, words don't even seem to be enough to begin to describe what my Angel has done for me. In fact I know they aren't but words are all I have.

I had no idea when we first met how much my life would change, more so how my outlook on life and my future would change. She helped me turn my despair into drive, desire and motivation. Motivation to make my life the best it can be.

At the time we met, I was going through a complete life transformation of sorts. No doubt I was pretty much on an emotional roller coaster, extremely unsure if all the changes that I was implementing in my life were actually a good thing, not to mention the unsure feeling of not knowing whether or not I could actually stay on track to make them happen. To say I was a basket case is a complete understatement.



While I'd like to think that I have a bit of inner strength, courage and even a hint of willpower, as I've come to learn over these last four years I have much more of each of those traits than I even realized. But I'm unsure as to whether or not I had ANY of those traits prior to meeting my Angel.

Yet, for those that know me, they know I'm an open book and so I never hesitated in letting her know what was on my mind and the struggles I was going through. She never judged me, never looked down on me or held my issues against me. She continued to lift me up, seemingly carrying me on her shoulders, never letting me give up. To say that she schooled me on perseverance is putting it mildly.

When I found myself feeling down and unsure about my future, she continued to force me to look at the positive side of what seemed like a completely negative situation, never letting me fall into my self made trap.



I did my best to describe in an earlier Post just how much having her in my life has meant to me, My Dearest Annabelle, but again, it's just not possible to describe the impact she has had on my life in mere words.

I recently reached a four year milestone of sorts and I KNOW for a fact that if it hadn't been for the life lessons she has taught me, actually reaching this point would have been so much more of a battle. She set the bar so high for strength and courage that there was just no way I could give up or give in. Quitting was NOT an option.

While people may talk about courage in the face of extreme adversity, I dare them to face what she faced on a daily basis and not completely buckle. Not only did she talk the talk, she truly walked the walk and set an example for me that I can only hope to strive for. And I do my best to live up to her expectations on a daily basis.



I find myself being tested quite often these days, seemingly even more so than I have in the past and while I thought those hurdles were insurmountable at the time, of course I've come to learn that somehow I made it through them. Thanks to my Angel, I was able to conquer those problems and continue moving forward to make a better life for myself.

Sure, my life is nowhere near perfect but who's is? Even the richest people on earth have bad days, wake up miserable and ungrateful for what they have. Noone is immune to problems in their lives but as they say, it's not what happens to us that determines our future, it's how we respond to those situations that determines how they will affect our lives.



As I've come to learn, this couldn't be any more true. I was taught this principle by a woman that conquered more in her lifetime than any of us should ever have to endure. She was, is and always will be my pillar of strength. My shining example of how ones life should be lived.


Strength, Courage, Determination and Perseverance have become more than mere words to me, they are the principles that determine how my life should be lived. My Angel taught me that.

While I sometimes struggle to keep these principles in the foreframe of my mind, whenever I find myself feeling down or up against some type of adversity, all I have to do is think about how my Angel would respond in this same situation and I'm able to persevere through the perceived obstacle, fighting my way through to a feeling of accomplishment I never would have known had I just given up and thrown in the towel.



We all have daily struggles, no doubt about that but I know that I am truly one of the luckiest people alive because I have my Guardian Angel watching over me. Thanks to her, I know that the only way I can ever fail is to give up. To give up fighting for my dreams. She taught me that failure is NOT an option.

Thank you Annabelle, from the deepest part of my heart and soul. Thank you for everything you have taught me about life and how it should be lived. To be grateful for every minute of life that we are given. I do my best to show you every day that all the lessons you taught me were not in vain. I strive to be the best ME I can be.

While I will never be able to pay you back for all you've done and continue to do for me on a daily basis, I hope that as you're watching me from up above, that I can make you proud of what I do and who I strive to become.

I had never considered myself to be a lucky person whatsoever, in fact completely the opposite. But you have shown me all of the positive things I have going for me in my life and while I may not have everything in my life that I'm working towards, yet anyway, I know that as long as I continue putting everything I have into building the life of my dreams, anything I desire is truly possible.




Annabelle, I miss you every minute of the day and night and I want you to know that there isn't a second that goes by that you aren't on my mind and in my heart. I love you and you will forever be with me in my heart.

Dreams Really CAN Come True!

Wake Up! Hey, wake up! I heard a voice, not sure who's it was but it was seemingly directed towards me. Only one problem, I wasn't asleep! Therefore, why on earth would someone be saying that to me?

As I looked around, I couldn't see anyone around me. Certainly not close enough to me that I'd be able to hear their voice so clearly, so distinctly. That's why I picked this beach, seems like it's always empty. Just the way I like it. No, make that just the way I love it!

Which I could never quite figure out. I mean, how can a place like this EVER be so deserted? I'd have to think that this place would be crowded, even at midnight. Yet, here I was, all alone, seemingly surrounded by what appeared to me to be literally mile after mile of endless white sand.



The crystal clear turquoise water, lapping at the shore, the sun glistening off of everything it touched. Beautiful cliffs shooting straight up from the pure white sand, like skyscrapers on their way to heaven. I couldn't help but think to myself that this is truly as close as one can get to heaven on earth.

Everywhere I look, I see something even more beautiful than what I was just looking at the minute before. The surroundings are just more astonishing than anything I could have ever imagined. And believe you me, I've imagined visiting Greece from as far back as I can remember.



I believe what really struck me were the views. It was as if you were looking out across an endless azure sea, dotted with so many islands that you couldn't begin to count them all. I dreamt of sailing to each and every one of the islands, searching and exploring every nook and cranny, discovering all of the hidden jewels that each had to offer.



I could feel my mind wandering, drifting off and imagining what it must have been like to sail the Mediterranian Sea 150 years ago, each of the Isles just awaiting the arrival of some unknown explorer.



As I look back, I'd have to think that this fantasy was born from my numerous trips to Disneyland as a kid. Being born in Anaheim, D~Land was a mandatory part of growing up. Just as the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House were guaranteed stops during each visit to the Magic Kingdom.



I absolutely loved both of those rides, along with another adventure unto itself, the triple masted sailing vessel Columbia was another huge memory maker for me. Cruisin' around Frontierland in that giant ship, so high up off the water, I couldn't help but think about sailing around the world in search of buried treasure.

Yes, I have no doubt that my affinity for Greece was born around this very time. And as I got older, I began to appreciate the architecture of all of the stark white buildings seemingly stacked, one on top of each other so perfectly yet precariously balanced on the sheer cliffs that are the Greek Isles.





The beautiful variety of contrasting colors of the roofs being the only telling sign that all of the houses weren't just figments of ones imagination. No, they were most definitely real and to think that people actually lived in such an incredible place has amazed me my entire life.



And while we've all experienced seeing pictures of a dream destination, only to find upon arrival (think Chevy Chase in the movie 'Vacation', arriving at that Campground in Colorado) that it never lived up to everything we had imagined, I have yet to hear of anyone whos life wasn't completely changed and changed for the better by visiting Greece.

I can already tell, even though I've only just now gotten here that my outlook on life will never be the same. Everything I've seen so far has been unbelievable and to think it's only day one. I can hardly wait to see more.



The only thing that continues to cross my mind is that neverending question of why. Why did it take me so long to finally fulfill a dream that I've had almost my entire life?

Then I caught myself getting so wrapped up in the past rather than concentrating on enjoying the splendor of the present and so I immediately began to reimmurse myself in my spectacular surrroundings. As they say, so much to do, so little time and so I allowed my mind to wander off again, to all of the surprises that the next two weeks held in store for me.

"HEY, WAKE UP!!! It's after 5:00 and we wanna lock up the office." Huh? This time the voice was so close, I just knew this person was talking to me. But I thought to myself, Office? What office? As far as I know they don't have any offices on the beach in Greece.


As I recall I awoke to a colleague, having grabbed me by the shoulder and jostling me from side to side, telling me that I had a piece of paper stuck to the side of my face.

A piece of paper stuck to the side of my face? My intital response was "Yeah, right!" but then as I spoke, I felt something weird on the side of my face and as I reached for it, sure enough, it was a piece of paper. How the heck did that get there?

You guessed it. Apparently I WAS asleep (and obviously to my shagrin, I had been drooling as well, hence the paper stuck to my cheek. Beautiful...) and all of this was just a dream.



My visit to the land of the Acropolis, relaxing poolside in Santorini, eating at an exquisite outdoor cafe while enjoying everything that Greece has to offer, every fabulous minute of it was just exactly that, a dream. What a shame. I'm sure the disappointment was written all over my face, along with some ink from the piece of paper that was stuck to my face as well.

I couldn't keep my mind off of it all throughout the drive home and as I pulled in my driveway, I said to myself, "That's it! Enough is enough. Life is too short, I'm not messin' around any more." It was at that very moment that I vowed to myself that I was finally going to do it. I was going to fulfill a life long dream. I'm going to Greece!




And so just as soon as I walked in the door, I headed straight for my computer. I instantly Googled 'Vacation in Greece' and after quite a bit of research I struck gold. I was able to connect with a Guide that has been traveling to Greece since she was a child and with her Greek ancestory, she knows all the ins 'n outs of this beautiful destination.

Which means no time wasted on finding this, searching for that, the itinerary is just as fast or as slow paced as you want it to be. Not everyone is on the same schedule or has the same idea of just exactly what a Holiday means to them.



Some people prefer a faster pace, wanting to squeeze in anything and everything they can, every minute of the day, while others want to take a more leisurely and relaxed approach, choosing to enjoy a simpler daily plan.

Which ever pace you prefer, the choice is yours. There's no end to what you can do....or you can just do nothing if that's what you enjoy. If all you're after is two weeks of rest and relaxation in one of the most beautiful places on earth, then this trip to Greece is for you.

Don't make the same mistake I made, continuing to put it off until who knows when. Until the time is just right? There's never been a better time to go than right now! If you've EVER had the dream of visiting Greece, why not check out www.livelaughlovegreece.blogspot.com to see the many fabulous pictures of previous excursions to this wonderful destination and to get a better idea of the Trip's Itinerary and all of the amazing adventures that await you. One thing's for sure, I'm glad I did and I know you'll be glad you did as well. OPA!!!!



If you've ever dreamed of taking the vacation of a lifetime, yet have continually put it off until the time was just right like I have, why not take a look at www.livelaughlovetours.com to see all they have to offer as they visit many other wonderful destinations around the globe and if you enjoyed this Post, I'd appreciate it if you'd share it with your friends or anyone else you can think of that just needs a bit of a nudge to help them on their way to the vacation of their dreams! I know they'll thank you for it.

Do Dreams Have An Expiration Date?

Lately I find that I'm having to ask myself this question quite often. I mean, does there come a point when you just need to say forget it and push the delete button? I'm not so much referring to the dreams that you have while you're asleep, who on earth can make any sense of those?

The dreams I'm referring to are basically daydreams, the ones that inspire you, motivate you, the unexplainable forces that drive you forward without any apparent reason. At least the reasons aren't apparent to others. Noone else can see what motivates us on the inside.



If they could, it probably wouldn't be a good thing as people, for the most part, aren't usually very supportive of someone elses dreams and aspirations. Nope, it's much better to keep your dreams to yourself or if by chance you're lucky enough to have a significant other that is totally behind you in everything you do, then perhaps you can spill the beans to them.

But you have to be careful because for the most part, others want you to do well in life, follow your passions, live your dreams but only up to a certain point. Once your life, in their eyes, becomes better than theirs, then it's time to throw a bunch of negativity your way in an effort to knock you back down to reality. Or at least the reality that they want you to be living.



But if dreams actually do have a deadline of sorts, that would really suck. To know that if your dreams don't come true in a certain amount of time that you'll have to chuck 'em, just throw them away. Erase them from your thoughts. That would be like throwing all of your hope right out the window. And where the hell would you be without hope?

Pretty much nowhere. Hope is more than likely the main ingredient in all of our dreams. Hope is the basis for everything that drives us forward. Striving for better. Better lives. Better relationships. Better everything.

Surely hope can't have an expiration date for if it did, we'd all be in big trouble. To lose ones hope, even worse, to just give up on hope pretty much spells disaster. If not the end of the road then I'm sure you can see the end of the road from there.



Oh, to lose all hope can be an inner defeat that is very hard to recover from. At least from my experience anyway. It wasn't but a year or two ago, if even that long that I had pretty much lost all of my hope.

Long story short, I basically lost everything I owned along with quite a few other things that I didn't actually own, I just had a ton of money invested in them. And if this wasn't bad enough, along with all my possessions went all of my hopes, my dreams and my motivation.

Yep, right down the drain, never to be seen or heard from again. Whoosh, every reason I ever had for getting out of bed in the morning was gone. My worst fear was coming true.

Losing your stuff is one thing but when you lose your why, it's a whole different ballgame. As long as you have your motivation, you can always get your stuff back. But without motivation, you're basically over and done. Destined for a life of zero.



Luckily for me, I didn't give up and I've been able to recover a good amount of my motivation. That's not to say that I don't struggle with it daily but I am getting better and staying on a forward path. Most of this has come from remembering that no matter what, I can't give up.

And as I've gained back most of my motivation, slowly but surely my hope is beginning to return as well. Hope for a new beginning, for a better future, for a better life. And I'm super grateful for this because without motivation and hope, it's pretty much couch time from here on out. That's if you're lucky enough to have a couch you can lay on.



But even though things are starting to go in a more positive direction, there are still so many missing pieces to my life puzzle that it's not always easy to remain focused and keep my chin up as they say. While some days are more difficult than others, it's still a decision I have to make every day. Keep on pushin' forward or just pack it in?

If I sit there and just think about all of the things that are missing in my life, all of the things that I had hoped would be a gimme by this time, then there's no doubt I'm gonna be disappointed. Completely understandable I would think.

So that's why I can't allow myself to sit there and think about what I don't have. Instead, I have to continue to concentrate on what I do have and what, if I continue to work hard, I WILL have in the future.

Speaking of future, this brings me back to my original question regarding dreams having an expiration date. This doesn't so much apply to any of my previous dreams as I actually only have two that have survived all of the melee of the last couple years.



One that I constantly struggle with, finding myself unable to let go of but I know that at some point in the near future, like it or not I will be forced to come to grips with making a decision. I remain hopeful that before I have to make that decision, the outcome that I desire will manifest itself and I will be able to consider it a dream of mine that actually came true. Fingers and toes crossed, that's for sure.

The other dream, as it turns out has a much better chance of coming true now than it ever had of materializing in my previous life. It's kinda strange how that worked out. Kinda like the last domino standing, remaining by default.



Ok then, along with rebuilding my life I'm finding that I need to make a new Dream List. Sounds a bit crazy as all throughout our lives, dreams just seem to come to us from who knows where. It's not so much that we have to create them, they just seem to be born from our passions, our desires.

But what do you do when almost all of your life long dreams have been wiped out basically overnight and you're forced to start a new list? You can't just fill it up with all those old dreams. Most of them no longer apply. Either they bring with them a sour feeling or they are no longer applicable to your new life.

Luckily for me I still have two dreams I can hang onto. Well, one for sure, the other is either going to manifest itself soon or I will unfortunately have to remove it from the List. One way or another, that will only leave me one and luckily, the remaining dream covers alot of territory so it would take quite alot to either have it completely manifest itself or to be removed.



It's not like there's a DreamMart or a House of Dreams that you can just bring in a coupon and pick up a few dreams. Nope, not gonna be that easy. I'm gonna have to do some soul searchin' to come up with some new ones. That, and I hope that my new life will entail some new experiences and along with those experiences will come new dreams.


Dreams that I have yet to even imagine. Knowing that I'm a major Dreamer, I have a pretty good feeling that I should be able to come up with something worthwhile before too long. Something outrageous enough to be considered unobtainable which is basically the description of one of my dreams.



And as far as dreams having an expiration date, it's possible but I'd like to think that it's entirely up to you whether they do or not. I think the safest bet is to treat them like a gallon of milk at the Grocery Store, they put the newest containers at the back of the rack. So I guess I have no other option.... but to KEEP DIGGIN'!

If you can relate to creating new dreams, I'd enjoy hearing about it and if you enjoyed this Post I'd appreciate it if you would share it with your friends.