Hearts are wild creatures, that’s why our ribs are cages.

25 Things I Want To Do Before I Die

go to Germany’s Waldseilgarten adventure mountain resort swim with dolphins/sharks road trip coast to coast publish a book see the firefly squids glow (Japan) hike the appalachian trail visit Argentinas iguazu Falls backpack europe see the northern lights go on …

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” –Langston Hughes

Fear of Change

Fear is an interesting emotion. I was originally going to say useless, however I quickly deleted that, as it is not necessarily true. Fear can actually be quite useful when we are in survival/fight or flight mode. However, it does begin to become useless when we start applying it to everything in our life.

When making an important change, fear is usually one of the biggest factors affecting our ability to move forward. Once we have come to the realization that we need to make a change in our life and make decisions, fear comes bounding in and starts planting every possible doubt that could ever exist as to why you shouldn’t. Never mind the fear that is projected towards you from other people when they find out about your desired changes. I could probably write a full blog post on that one (or a book for that matter) but lets suffice it to say that other people’s fears amazingly fall into the equation on this one. So on top of your own doubts to deal with you have everyone else’s too.

This is why I call this stage The Precipice. Making The Decision has planted you on the very edge of a precipice, everything familiar and “secure” is behind you and in front of you is a massive drop off, with no idea of what lies below or what lies in the vast wild blue yonder ahead of it. This is one of the most frightening places to be along our journey. Why? Because we are standing there alone. There is no one to provide a safety net, or catch us if we fall. It is up to us. And we have no idea if we are about to fall into the vast abyss waiting below or sprout wings and fly.

So what is it that drives us off this cliff? That prompts us to take our hearts and hopes in our hands and leap? I am sure there are a great number of things, but in my personal experience the following have been the most prominent:

1) Faith: By the word faith I am talking about it in the purest sense: trusting that things will work out. Trusting completely that once we walk off that precipice we will grow wings and fly. It takes a lot of courage but when we listen to our intuition, that little gut instinct, we know that we will always be guided in the right direction.

2) Valuing and Honoring Ourselves: We deserve to have the best in life. Therefore staying in a situation that stagnates us is essentially a dishonour to ourselves and a poor example to others. By making decisions that we know are what is best for us and that honour who we are we begin the motion of attracting what is actually best for us into our lives. Imagine that.

3) A Solid Connection to the Inner You: I believe that this is THE most important aspect of pushing past fear. It is what guides you when you have nothing else to hang onto. When you have a solid connection with yourself, you will always know what is best and what it is that you want. It is the voice that tells you that the path behind you is no longer an option if you want to live out your dreams. That solid understanding can move mountains and create miracles. It is the energy that begins to drive change and bring you what you need. It is very difficult initiating change when you do not essentially know what you want. Creating and maintaining this connection to yourself is what will bring you that knowledge.

So take a leap of faith and trust that you are capable of much more than you believe =]

30 Things I Am Thankful For

Wake up to the day, and life, with inspiration via Bryan Franklin: “I want you to imagine a version of yourself that has no shame. That doesn’t have anything to prove. That’s already proved everything. That’s gotten the validation from all …

17 Of The Most Universally Admirable Qualities People Can Have

With iBeacon, Apple is going to dump on NFC and embrace the internet of things

iBeacon (with Bluetooth LE) + Biometrics + AirDrop = the new iPhone.

Gigaom

At WWDC in June, Apple (s aapl) quietly announced iBeacon, one of the more prominent features of iOS 7. Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, mentioned nothing about about it in the keynote, and Apple hasn’t provided any details about it; it was only seen on one slide in the WWDC keynote.

Nor did Apple say anything about it during the iPhone event Tuesday. But I’m sure this is going to be a big deal, and startup companies like Estimote agree, announcing its support for Apple’s technology Tuesday and releasing this demonstration video.

Why is that so? For a couple of reasons: it opens a door to new set of applications such as indoor maps and in-store marketing, it makes the internet of things a realty and it might kill NFC (near-field communications), the wireless technology most linked with mobile payments.

What is iBeacon?

Using…

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Resolutions

Being the last time I will be able to call Purdue my home, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on the past four years, on all the amazing memories I’ve made, the friends I’ve gained and some that I’ve lost, and the hard work I’ve put into getting my degree. This year I have thought of it frequently. I have been struck these past few weeks by how little time we want to put into others. We are deeply sunken into an era of self. Self help, self-improvement, self-enlightenment. We are disillusioned trying to fine meaning and joy in ourselves. Viewing what we want and need or can accomplish as more important than our relationships.

I know resolutions are made for a new year, but what if we created resolutions for the school year? What if this year we focused more on others?  What if we tried to be better listeners, putting our iPhones away when a living-breathing friend is there with us? What if, like a story, we were willing to share our valuable times and experiences with someone new? 

Here are some of my resolutions:

BE PRESENT. I want to not be on my phone 24/7 as hard as that may be.

SHARE MY TIME. As easy as it is to get caught up with our many many responsibilities, its these years of our lives that we will cherish for years to come. I hope to be less selfish with my time. Making quality time with my friends a priority. And even though I call my mother every day, I promise to thoughtfully respond and actually read all your emails (I know your reading this mommy… =]). 

GIVE PEOPLE THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT. You can never really know someone till you walk a mile in his or her shoes. As hard as it is to trust someone I truly believe that people are generally good. So lets cut down on the maliciousness and judgment.

WARM UP. This is my final goal. I am not sure if I should blame school, my job, my experiences, or just my brain, but somehow I have seen and felt myself turning cold. I am quick to pull away and I have defensively worked hard to not let go. I want to try to melt my chilly heart, just a tad, and make more room for loving and feeling. We’ll see =]

 

So there it is, as difficult as it is to publicize.

What are your goals for the coming year? What are your priorities?