How to apply the Motivational Press Core Values to Your Daily Life

Inspire. Create. Write.TM

Buenas Dias!
I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend, mine was spent out of the house in motivation to catch Pokemon. For the first time in a long time, my dad & I went for a walk together. It was a great bonding experience for us. The Pokemon GO app is taking the world by storm and getting people/gamers out the door in adventure.

But alas it's the start of a new week and it's imperative to start it off with a bang. Akasha Garnier, who recently celebrated the First Look at her Cover Reveal: Shine Through the Noise here on the blog. An amazing friend and mentor I've met via social media, recommended an awesome company to me, Motivational Press. 

Meet CEO Justin Sachs

The first thing I went to was their mission statement & core values, what immediately stuck with me was the universal message that I could see within them. I realized, "Hey I can actually apply these to my daily actions." My thought process was that I needed a change, I needed new direction and an action plan. Motivational Press Core Values provided just that.

Thanks to the application of these Core Values into my daily life, I not only received two payments from one client in one day but I also recently celebrated 50,000 Pageviews reached on the blog for the first time this month. The last milestone was 20,000 in a month and my goal was to reach 50,000 next. I had no expectation that it would be this soon but I can assure you, 80% of that outcome was based on applying these values.

How to apply the Motivational Press Core Values to Your Daily Life

1. Deliver Extraordinary Service

Believe anything worth doing is worth doing exceptionally well. Differentiate yourself by doing things in an unconventional and innovative way. Go above and beyond the average level of service to create huge WINS for yourself, your clients and/or your company.

2. Embrace and Drive Change

Recognize that any industry is in the midst of transformation. With the arrival of new technology, not only handle the fast-paced change constantly evolving in the world, but also embrace it with open arms. Never accept or become comfortable with the status quo but always think of ways to change processes, perspectives, and opinions, hopefully for the better. Success always lies outside your comfort zone.

3. Create Fun and Interactive Collaboration

Be committed to making the world around you a little more fun and a lot more interconnected. Realize that it's good to laugh at yourself every once in a while. Your work shouldn’t be synonymous with drudgery. Always look for a chance to fully engage in your work and bring out the fun and interactivity in it.

4. Be Adventurous, Creative and Open-Minded

Be bold without being reckless. Do not be afraid to make mistakes because, after all, that's often the best way to learn. Takes risks and be open to your clients/company taking risks too. As long as you learn from them as a team and use them to make better decisions in the future. Believe that your gut feeling can always be tested and evaluated before released publicly. Everyone can develop a gut feeling about business decisions as long as they are open to new ideas.

5. Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication

Become an open book. Your honesty when interacting with others leads to strong relationships built on trust and faith. Use those relationships to accomplish so much more than you could otherwise. It’s not easy getting there! Always strive to act in integrity, be compassionate and loyal, and be a good listener. At the end of the day, it’s not what we say or do, but how we make people feel that matters the most.

6. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit

You should want to build a family, not just a team with your colleagues. Serve those you lead by removing obstacles and enable your team/clients/company to succeed. As a family, you should watch out for each other and care for each other. Work together and play together because those bonds go beyond typical business relationships.

7. Do More with Less

Always be on the lookout for how to make yourself more efficient and improve your daily operations. There’s always room for improvement and you should always feel a sense of urgency when making those improvements. Strive to not only be a great service company/independent consult but the greatest service company/independent consult in the world. Strive to set and exceed your own high standards for getting more done with the same or even fewer resources than before.

8. Be Passionate and Determined

What should keep you at the forefront of other industries out there? It’s your passion for your business and your culture. Be inspired because you believe in what you are doing and where you are going. Don’t ever take,“That’ll never work” for an answer. Have a positive and optimistic attitude because it inspires everyone around you to achieve more and be more.

9. Be Humble

Know that despite all the great things that you have accomplished in the past, there will always be challenges ahead. No matter what happens, always be respectful of everyone. Learn to love to celebrate your individual and team successes, but not in an arrogant or boastful way. Believe in a quiet confidence because in the long run your character will speak for itself.

To help with this I do a Gratitude list at least twice a week. A gratitude list is a list you write up of All the things you are grateful for as of that date. You might just be surprised as to what appears there especially the first thing that pops up in your mind. It will help keep you humble, realize that there is less to complain about and relish in all that you can be thankful for.

I know without even knowing you that you have massive greatness within you, the power to change the world in untold ways. You need only have the WILL & NERVE to go out there and become.
This is a great start and action plan for you to achieve all that you have ever dreamed of and more.
Believe in yourself, apply these core values into your daily life & most importantly, take massive action, not tomorrow or the day after but take action Now.

Do come back and share your feedback on how this application has affected your daily life. All are welcome.

I'm going to leave you with my favorite motivational quote by Mark Twain.

"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

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~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres

Literature Tag: ☮Kathe Messina☮

Inspire. Create. Write.TM

Only those who Dare to fail greatly, can ever Achieve greatly ~R. Kennedy

This WednesdayWisdom, I have the privilege nay the extreme glory to introduce you to an unbelievable author that I've met along my journey. You should see this lady on twitter, I call her the Gratitude Queen as she never fails to ensure her engaging followers are promptly thanked for their participation in her tweets. She's blatantly honest, hilariously witty, intellectually snappy & confoundingly amazing.

Kathe Messina is the debut author of a heart-rending memoir, She’ll Awaken. She is an ESL teacher, a recent university graduate and an inductee in two international honor societies, but has also worked in the hospitality industry, made a career out of motherhood and homeschooling, and was a care-giver to her bed-ridden mother. She wrote She’ll Awaken amid a chaotic family life and getting her degree. She has always loved writing, but kept it to the whimsical and only among friends. Following a life-changing experience, she realized that others could benefit from her story and that it might be the only way to move on. A memoir was born. 

Her goals are fairly simple – to practice kindness, to pursue peace, and to write beautiful words. She has learned that there are words for everything, and that when well-chosen, they can help and even heal.

1. What is your all-time favorite book?

Catcher in the Rye – I love everything about this book and its themes.  I only wish Salinger’s estate wasn’t hoarding the Holden character.  I would LOVE to write a sequel, but not enough to get sued for it!!

2. According to you, which quote best describes you as a person?

            “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” ~ John Lennon

3. What is your favourite English word, and why?

            “ubiquitous” – present, appearing, or found everywhere

This word feeds my devotion to my kids. Of course I can’t be everything to them or ‘fix’ everything for them either, but I’ll die trying.

4. What is your favorite word in your home language, and what does it mean?

English is my native tongue but German had a limited presence in the home. I’m partial to “liebchen” – one of a few names Dad had for me.

5. Being a blogger/author, what is the most difficult part about writing for you?

            #1. Time. As in all things, there is never enough to do what we want or need.

#2.  In writing my debut memoir, the most difficult thing was having to throw myself on the proverbial pyre to tell what needed to be told, to bare myself, and to do justice to the deep reflection.  I constantly asked myself, ‘How much is too much?’

#3.  In other writing, such as my (sleepy) blog, or on Twitter or Facebook, I don’t like it that I have to be careful about what I say on matters of opinion. Why? As my blog has more than once featured (http://wp.me/p5aByk-34) (http://wp.me/p5aByk-5d) there are people out there who don’t give a flying fu-la-la-la-la about whether they’ve offended ME!

6. What inspires you to write the most?

            #1.  I see myself as a teacher.  #2. Pain. 

No one likes it, but pain is what makes us who we are. The struggle against it refines us and, hopefully, reveals better versions of ourselves than the empty shells we might otherwise be if everything were easy.  If we have learned anything from our struggles, we ought to share it with others. This is why I write.

7. What is your favourite song?

            Tough to choose just one, but here goes … from 1977, Sentimental Lady ~ Bob Welch

8. What image/experience/memory do you instantly think of when hearing your favourite song?

I’m a child of the 70s so that song takes me back to summers back home, hanging out by the local pool with friends. I was born a sun junkie!

9. In how many languages can you write?

            Unless ‘dufus’ is a language, just English.

10. If you had to MAKE UP/INVENT one word, what would it be? And what would that word mean?

            Done it!  If anyone else claims to have invented this one, I am unaware.

            “Confuckulated”…yup…it ain’t pretty but it is perfect for when stuff is totally jacked up!

11. Make a sentence containing the following words: Three, Birds, Sauce, Hug, and Gay (as in happy)

A hug to the ear, and the sauce of life is the three-fold delight of birds singing - tuneful, winsome, and gay.

12. Assign your own meaning to the following made-up words:

Bugalhet – n. of or pertaining to annoyance from auditory input (e.g. His droning oratory was bugalhet to her ears)

Wiftigious – adj. something pleasant in an olfactory way (e.g. As he moved in to kiss her neck, he was caught by the wiftigious symphony of her hair and her perfume)

Doraning – v. the practice of vetting callers to one’s home through use of a peep-hole in the door (e.g. Her paranoia was evident in the incessant doraning every time her door-bell rang)

13. What word rhymes best with Sugar?

I’m going to say “her” in a poetic use …

            ‘C’mon, Baby, give Daddy some sugar’

            His words were cast to deliberately hook her. 

            (Stay tuned … an epic erotic series just blew into my melon!)

14. Sum up your experience of The Blog Tag in one rhyming sentence.

N/A – not yet a member

Doing this tag for AlfonsoWords, however, was a pleasure because, well … he’s such a doll!!

15. Who is your favourite character from a book? Why him/her?

Holden Caulfield of Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye is my favorite literary character.  He is me in the struggle to reconcile an idealized view of how people should be, with the phony behaviour they exhibit so reflexively.

16. Have you written any books? Tell us about it/them.

My debut memoir is about to drop (I know I’ve been saying that for what seems like a long-ass time, but I just couldn’t let this chunk of my heart and soul be rushed out until it was as perfect as I could control).

This is an account of my eleven-month relationship with a broken soul, ravaged by PTSD, but who presented as professional and romantic.  Our connection was so exciting, like a fairy-tale in many ways.  But as in all fairy tales, evil lurks, and there’s a lesson to be learned.

17. What would be the ultimate goal for you to achieve as a writer?

Anything I have ever written has been done with the compulsion to use the most beautiful words in the most artful way to convey the most touching meaning. Unfortunately, a situation has befallen me personally in which my writing needs to turn into income in the most urgent way. Nevertheless, I cannot betray my compulsion by throwing out a bunch of drivel just to make money. My ultimate goal is to overcome the personal situation by monetizing my writing, not exploiting it. After that, were I to put down my pen for all time, I could be satisfied.

18. Can you remember the moment you fell in love with words/literature? 

A precise moment, no, but I have vivid childhood recollections of Mother Goose Rhymes and other classics that my mother recited before I could read.  Here’s some TMI for you all … she would recite rhymes and stories while toilet-training me to pass the time while I was sitting ‘on the potty.’  Mom loved books, and gifts included books of well-loved classics as often as toys and clothes.  I remember my big brother reading to me, as well as learning to read myself in first grade. I devoured books from that time onward.

19. Do you have a good support structure while writing?

In terms of surroundings, yes.  My kids are older and don’t interrupt per se, although the confluence of schedules often makes extended writing time a challenge.  When I undertook writing the memoir, I confided in a very close friend who knew the story.  I needed his objectivity as I relived the events of that relationship.  He was my compass, and I am ever grateful.

20. Why is reading important to you?

There is nothing you can’t learn if you know how to read well. I believe this to be an axiom, and it was the driving force in homeschooling my children. One of the things of which I’m most proud is having taught my kids to read. I believe that reading is the infusion that makes us wielders of delightful words. When we open our mouths, we can build up or tear down. How can we communicate effectively, powerfully, and lovingly with our fellow man if we don’t take in the words necessary to do so? You simply can’t draw from a well having no water.

21. What is your most memorable childhood book?

            I have to name two – The Five Chinese Brothers & The Three Billy Goats Gruff

            These were stories I had read to me over and over.

OH! WAIT! I can’t forget my copy of Cat in the Hat. It had a huge mustard stain on the inside cover because I hid an unwanted ham sandwich in it. My brother has NEVER let me forget it!

Quick Fire

Poems or Quotes

Poems … love the artful arrangement of words

Rock or Pop

Classic Rock, actually … and Oldies

Handwriting or Typing

Typing … I’m super-fast at it and it is easier to share than handwriting

Biography or Novel

Biography hands down! Fascinated by real people and real situations whereas I’m so often disappointed by the direction of a fiction story.

Plotter or Pantser

Pantser and proud of it! I need words to flow, and a mechanized story just doesn’t do it for me

Traditional or Self Publishing

Self !! I could NEVER relinquish control of my words to anyone.

Reading alone or for Other People

I think both contribute to maximizing the learning potential of reading. Reading alone, whether for learning or entertainment, allows us to fully engage with content.  Reading FOR other people, whether that’s out loud for their benefit or reading what is popular with others or selected by others, provides a more limited opportunity to assimilate content but a greater social context in which to do so.  Nevertheless, I never read something just because it’s popular.  

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~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres

The Liebster Awards 2016

Exciting News, I've just received my first nomination, for anything, ever. Haha hey! That can already be fun fact #1 about me. See what I meant about amazing people? I joined this awesome community of world-wide bloggers in Feb 2016 & I cannot tell you how many bright lights I have met who not only share their knowledge and voice with the world but they help others to do the same. The whole Blogosphere is absolutely its own world and what a world it is.

Errin Krystal has nominated me for the Liebster Award 2016. I'm so overjoyed and honored by this, Thank You Errin! You rock.

www.bohemianwanderland.com

So being a newbie at all of this, I of course had to research what exactly the Liebster Award really is.
Which can be found via Jack Henry on this Blog Post

The rules of this award include

• Sharing 11 facts about you
• Answering 11 questions by the blogger that nominated you
• Nominate up to eleven wonderful bloggers and write eleven questions for them to answer.

I'm going to do the Questions first so that I won't duplicate anything in the facts.

#1. What is your favorite movie/book quote?

• Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Alkaban - Quote by Albus Dumbledore

#2. When did you first begin to take yourself seriously as a writer?

• Most of my formative years were spent in the throes of Love and then out of it and back in again. My writing was mostly for them. It was only till this very year on the morning of 4th of February 2016, when I finished my very first Novel that it truly dawned on me. I could do this! I could be a writer. What a glorious epiphany that was. 

#3. If you could live in any time period what would it be? Why?

• The Future, preferably 100 years from now. I do enjoy reading novels set in past times, I just doubt I would survive there, accustomed as I am to technology. I would love to see what the future looks like. 

#4. Plotter or Pantser?

• Hahaha Well I've only written the one book so far and that was all panster. I started out with only One Scene in my head! My other novel ideas have dedicated folders and excel spreadsheets, where I compile my research & notes as I go along. But for all intents & purposes, especially with my blog. I am a panster. 

#5. Favorite movie?

• Recently, my favorite movie of the lot of them is The Fault in Our Stars. Such brilliantly fresh dialogue, unbelievable acting & an utterly beautiful storyline. "Pain demands to be Felt!"

#6. Whats your guilty pleasure?

• Binge watching TV Series, it just provides the kind of mind-numbing I need after a hectic week. I can zone out and just watch. 

#7. Three things you cannot live without?

• WiFi/Internet, Pizza & my Family

#8. Vampire or Werewolf? 

• I'm partial to the immortality of a Vampire but I would be more likely to be a Hybrid. Half Vampire, Half Lycan. Like Michael from The Underworld series. 

#9. Do you believe in aliens?

• Yes! So much so that I've got a novel idea on them in the works. There's so much out there we do not yet know. 

#10. Whats your funniest memory?

• I have a terrible memory so recently it has to be watching the movie Grown Ups, I hadn't laughed that had & that long in forever. It was just too entertaining. They brought back the heart of comedy for me. 
• Then there was playing with the BB8 toy at the office. You use a downloadable app to control the droid and its endless fun. Pure enjoyment. 

#11. Sweet or Savory?

• Hahaha I'm Indian so my ancestors would cringe if I say sweet. It's more like Savory for our dinner time foods like curry & sweet for desserts like milk tart. 

That is truly enough about me, but here's where you can find facts about me:

1. The Literature Tag: What does it mean to be a Writer?
2. The Directors Seat by AlfonzoWords

I'm not 100% on the rules so I'm nominating based on the blogs I read every week without fail. They inspire me and deliver such brilliant posts. It's impossible to ignore. They are also very helpful towards bloggers.
{No obligations here, just sharing it forward. Either do or do not :-) }

• Melissa Kate
• Sacha Black
• Ava Jae
• Annelisa Christensen/ Script Alchemy
• Shelley Smidt-Booys/ The Deal Is
• Cassarica Nadas/ Amazeblog

Here are your questions:

1. What is your all-time favorite book?
2. What is your favorite English word, and why?
3. Being a blogger, what is the most difficult part about writing for you?
4. What inspires you to write the most?
5. If you had to MAKE UP/INVENT one word, what would it be? And what would that word mean?
6. Sum up your experience of blogging in one rhyming sentence.
7. Assign your own meaning to the following made-up words:

• Bugalhet
• Wiftigious
• Doraning

8. Vampire or Werewolf

9. Three Things you cannot live without?

10. How do you deal with rejection?

11. Who is the most valued person in your life?

NB* Melissa, I know you've done some of these in your Author Interview on Catching that Golden Snitch

So let me know if you're game & I will email you new questions. 

Once again Massive thanks to Errin Krystal for the nomination. Check out her awesome blog & come join us at her Facebook Group.

I can't wait to share the love forward.

loubiesandlulu.com

~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Denegeres

Life Lessons of a College Dropout

Inspire. Create. Write.TM

A father kneeled before his son. He gently stroked the boy’s hair and smiled at him with pride.

“You are such a good boy.”

The son nodded his head, hungry for his father’s praise. He looked up to him, this strong omniscient man. The child adored him. He would do everything for his father’s approval.

“Don’t be like that no good friend of yours, you hear? He only roams around doing nothing. He will never amount to anything! But you. You will go places! You will become a distinguished lawyer and earn tons of money.”

Again, the boy nodded eagerly and ran into his room. He had to study. He had to prove to his father that he is worthy of his love.

Years passed and both the boy and his no good friend went to college. The boy exceeded and made his father even prouder. But his friend struggled and eventually had to drop out of college.

“See? My father was right! He really is no good,” he snorted haughtily.

Even more, years passed and the boy, now a young man and a distinguished lawyer is sitting on a bench in a park. He is eating a stale sandwich, but he doesn’t notice it. He is glaring into the distance. An empty look in his eyes brings to light a painful truth. He is not happy. He doesn’t like what he does for his living; he doesn’t like how he lives. He doesn’t like who he is. In reality, he doesn’t even know who he is!

A pigeon flies over his head and sits on a branch above him. It coos and discretely poops on his shoulder. The last straw! The man starts to cry unstoppably.

He is always working, never taking rest. He never does anything fun. His wife doesn’t love him. And quite frankly, he doesn’t love her either. He only married her, because his father said it is time to get serious. That it is appropriate for a man of his status to have a wife. Not just any wife, oh, no! The one from a respected family.

Earlier that day he met his childhood friend. A small business owner, but he still takes life as a play. He roams around the world. From one of his previous journeys, he brought his new wife with him. What a wife! Ten years older, Philippine woman with two children from her previous relationship. Nevertheless, the friend is thriving.

The saddened lawyer never in his life met such an exuberant person. His childhood friend, that no good drop-out-of-college emanated genuine joy, happiness, and zest for life.

Naturally, the man asked his friend what is his secret. After all, he did drop out of school, so his prospects of success weren’t pleasurable.

The friend grinned in amusement. He leaned towards the man and revealed his wisdom.

***

I. Dream. Dream Big.

“Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” ~Napolean Hill

What’s the richest & wealthiest place on the planet?.....(Drum Roll please)………………….

The GraveYard.

It’s overflowing with unfulfilled ideas & dreams, all lost to the void.

To Dream is to live many lives within this Infinitesimally fleeting One. To Dream Big is to leave a Legacy for future generations to follow. Are you willing to lay your dreams & ideas to the grave? or Are you willing to soar higher than any before you?

II. Family is Power

“I would see the world Burn & my soul claimed to eternal Torment, rather than endure a single moment of their Pain.” ~Alfonzowords

When the world shrieks & groans at you, a moment with Family is a moment of strength. They will shelter you, harbor you, support you, fight you, drain you, empower you & altogether love you, Unconditionally. They only require the chance.

III. Love is a Kaleidoscope

"There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice." ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Love comes in all shapes, size, colors & above all else, it is delivered unto thee in Free Will. Follow your Heart as often as you can with as much bravery as you can muster. No worth is found later in that safe choice laid out for you on a platter of silvers. Heart-Throbbing, Mind-Numbing, Life-Altering, Passion-Entwining, Maddening-Inducing, Love is the stuff of legend. It will bind you, release you, conquer you, enlighten you & breathe for you. Never miss that opportunity to say “Love you.”

IV. There is no I in We

“Help others get what they want & you will automatically get what you want.” ~Zig Ziglar

For a long time, I laid waste to every sentence that began with “We”. I alone felt compelled to soar ever higher and look down from the skies. Such a daft-dingbat, wallow-bee was I. It is only through Equality that we learn true Humility. Everyone is Me & I am Everyone, yet we are All unique. Today I stand with my fellow man & woman, naked in shame over past deeds but honest & true to every future hour that I live. Adamant in my will to be considerate, empathic & most of all, humble to all that enter my life. In hope, I wish it for you as well. Everyone matters.

V. What Is within You

“The two most Important days in your life are, the day you were Born & the day you find out WHY you were born.” ~Mark Twain

Personal Development is akin to finding the True Divinity within the Real world. It is beyond our comprehension yet wholly underrated & misbegotten. The most important key is to find your WHY, which stands for: What Hurts You. What makes you want to get out of bed in the morning, what makes you push past all limits, what activates you to action above all else. Is it your child, your partner, your parents, you family, or even yourself? Make it as an emotional answer as you can. Remember it always & forever. Read more, listen more, and watch more. Never settle for a “full cup”, always be willing to learn & grow. Personal Development is the greatest “Life-Hack”, greatest wake-up call & altogether the greatest resource you could ever have.


VI. Haters, gonna Hate

“Evil Prevails when good men do nothing.” ~Edmund Burke



Human nature is to grow up wanting to belong, to be liked, respected & valued but naught for your integrity & happiness, shall you sacrifice. There is a reason that only 1 percent of the world is Wealthy in every sense of the word. It is because the other 99 percent aren’t willing to go the distance. Every excuse, reason & logic is used to define their rooted routines. And that is Ok, it is their choice & theirs alone. But when you decide, when you find your WHY and make it your absolute Dream, they all fade away like a puff of smoke. The melody that you compose will sing louder than all the 99 percent voices combined. You cannot please everyone but you can accept them for who they are. We are here to serve mankind and not oppress any one voice, regardless of the tone.


VII. Your Story is your Own

“This is ten percent Luck, twenty percent Skill

Fifteen percent concentrated Power of Will

Five percent pleasure, fifty percent Pain

And a hund’ed percent reason to remember the Name!” ~Fort Minor, Remember the Name

Everyone is Us & We are Everyone, yet we are All unique. Within each of us lies a journey, a song, a story for the ages. It is only by living it that we can truly unravel the wisdom that comes with it. You are strong, a creator, a guardian, a light in the darkness & candle to the wind. Burn bright, burn eternal, burn warmly & in awe of the beauty that exists all around you. Reach out, share your story. For there is no Greater agony than bearing a Story Untold within You. A friend will listen, a friend will care. Family will listen, family will care. But a stranger will listen, and a stranger will bare. You will touch their souls, irrevocably. Go forth now, be better than the person you were yesterday. Live a life of Dreams & Family, of Love & Community, of Wealth & Acceptance. Uncover that story you belong to, unveil the magic that is within you. And if nothing else, Believe. Believe that your One True Self, can shape this world for the better.

***

The young lawyer’s friend followed his heart. He was not filled with his parents’ expectations for him, as the man was. He paid attention to his own dreams, desires, and aspirations and he wasn’t afraid to take the necessary steps toward achieving them. Along the way he had fun and enjoyed the whole process. He took 100% responsibility for his life and turned it into something worth living.

On the other hand, the lawyer made his father’s vision of him for his own. He went after what his father said was good for him. He forgot altogether about his own wishes and succumbed to father’s visions for his life. He didn’t share them with his father. Hence, he was miserable in life.

Who do you want to be?

********************************

Authors Note

I'm beyond jazzed to introduce you to the guest blogger who helped me rock this post on Life Lessons. We pooled out experiences to give you this short story & the listed 7 Life Lessons. After the success of the post I did with the ever-talented Sumarie, I had been searching for another megastar to work with. Lo' & behold, I found her and it took me only one paragraph to fall in love with her writing style & voice. Both powerful in its own right, I marveled at the strong message she brought forth. So without ado, I give you.

Nina Obran:

After being single practically all her life Nina embarked on a journey of self-discovery and personal development in order to make peace with herself and find the love of her life. She wrote a book 7 Daily Habits for Singles Not to Be Single Anymore (link: http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Habits-Singles-Single-Anymore-ebook/dp/B01DVUVY3C) to help herself with this endeavor. Living what she preaches she is not single anymore!

You can find her at www.ninaobran.com.

If you would like to join in the fun of The Blog Tag. Click on the link or the picture below.

~Be Kind to One Another~ Ellen Degeneres

The Literature Tag: What does it mean to be a Writer?

Inspire. Create. Write.TM

Most liked Quote this week:

"Too often do we settle for less when More becomes exceedingly unavailable.

  Believe in More."

Through many clicks, searches and referrals, I happened upon a captivating Facebook group called The Blog Tag. The community is warm and refreshingly humble. While combing through their archives, I have found many amazing blogs with content that I cannot wait to devour.

Today's Tag is Literature.

If you're interested in taking part in The Blog Tag, either follow the link or click on the image below which will take you to the Facebook group. Breaking News* A new website is also in production!

1. What is your all-time favourite book?

• Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix. J.K Rowling is the greatest Author I’ve ever read.
• My inner devil-may-cry voice will tell you it's my own (Coming soon) Debut Novel, The Cured: Rebirth. But I'm trying to be humble here, key word is trying.... Seriously give me any Harry Potter book. They are literary legends. 

2. According to you, which Quote best describes you as a person?

• Quis Custodiet ipsos Custodes? ~~ Who will guard the guardians? 

3. What is your favourite English word, and why?

• Antidisestablishmentarianism. And nope not trying to sound Fancy*fied.
• It’s my favourite because it comes from a book series I’m addicted to.
• It’s called Lover Eternal By J.R Ward. In it, the male MC (main character) is temporarily blinded when he meets the female MC. With nothing but his sense of touch, smell & hearing, here is how he experiences her: 

Rhage growled low in his throat and dropped his head down so his ear was next to her mouth. He wanted to give her another word to say, something like luscious or whisper or strawberry.

Hell, antidisestablishmentarianism would do it.

4. What is your favourite word in your home language, and what does it mean? 

• Haha, my home language is English. But I love the Spanish word Bambina, which roughly translates to a beautiful girl walking down the street.

5. Being a blogger, what is the most difficult part about writing for you? 

• I love writing, once I start, it just flows. I can’t explain it, I have yet to discover a “hard” part about writing anything. Gimme any topic and I will write it, such is my passion about the process. I am still a neophyte when it comes to blogging, though. There’s always something new to learn or adapt to. So I would say the most difficult part is not in the writing but in everything else within the blogosphere. Like promoting (without “Click-baiting” people), niches (I rebel against labels naturally & don’t want to be tied to one thing. Some even have multiple blogs with different niches, yikes. The admin sounds excruciating).
• In truth, I’m a follow you first type of guy. If you have an awesome blog, chances are I’m already elbows deep in your archive devouring every syllable you type. Some people have their own gravitational field, naturally pulling all towards them at an unconscious pace. It’s my dream to grow into a writer of worth.

6. What inspires you to write the most?

• I hear writers hate hearing this question & “what inspired that story/novel/blog?”
• The answer will always be Everything & Anything. As writers, we get thoughts or ideas constantly and it’s up to us to either shelf them or power through and discover the magic within it.
• But I suppose there is a difference between “what inspires you?” & “What inspired that?”
• So what inspires me, hmm. Fun. The pure undiluted joy I feel when I write is what inspires me.

See the legit logic to that is: Waiting for inspiration is like waiting for a Letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry… Through action, do you find true inspiration.

7. What is your favourite song?

• Given up By Linkin Park. It gets me motivated like no other. And that Scream at the end, over a minute long! I can’t Not love it.

8. What image/experience/memory do you instantly think of when hearing your favourite song? 

• A montage of images detailing my journey thus far in life. Expressed in the many crescendos and torpedoes of moments I’ve experienced. It reaches its pinnacle with that Scream at the end. Where I’m standing upon a precipice, the winds of change blowing through me. Ready to fling myself into the unknown with every ounce of courage I possess. Pushing my soul to its breaking point, in order to achieve my dreams.

9. In how many languages can you write?

• (Face Palm) One, at the moment… (Smiles cheekily), however as a writer, the answer could potentially be infinite. I’ll just create as many New languages as I need.

10. If you had to MAKE UP/INVENT one word, what would it be? And what would that word mean?

• Eloendant – being indefinitely indebted to someone. “In saving his life, Marcelus was eloendant to the Count Du Marke.”

11. Make a sentence containing the following words: Three, Birds, Sauce, Hug and Gay (As in happy)

• In the Mexican Valley of Souls, three birds sang, melodically gay in their love for the infamous Hug-day parade of one thousand and one sauces.

Note* So I added an S to Sauce. Hope that still counts. 

12. Assign your own meaning to the following made-up words:

• Bugalhet – In my slang I would assign this to the term, bugger-all. Meaning something like “I have bugger-all to do today.”
• Wiftigious- fleeting or ephemeral… “That Simon, he has such a wiftigious personality, oh boy. Somebody find him for me.”
• Doraning – the act of crafting a special metal found only inches from the Earth’s very core.

13. What word rhymes best with Sugar?

• Booger

14. Sum up your experience of The Blog Tag in one rhyming sentence.

• It was not the summit that congealed the suffering to enjoyment and wonder,

          But the under-looked journey, in all its extreme sweat droplets.

Note* so it doesn’t traditionally rhyme but it is from a poem I wrote about my writing experience that was published online.

 15. Quick Fire

Poems or Quotes

• Poems, they are the unsung dark-horse heroes of the literary world.

Rock or Pop

• Rock! It quietens my mind, yet awakens my senses. It provokes my sheer tenacity yet lulls me to slumber.

Handwriting or Typing

• Typing. It’s faster and less messy. Although I do admire its vintage appeal.

Biography or Novel

• Novel. I love anything fictional. NonFiction has never done it for me.

Black pen or Blue pen

• Black pen

Reading alone or for Other People

• If by “For other people”, you mean flowing with public opinion and reading what the masses are all about.
• And by “reading alone”, you mean finding solace in a book you discovered but not many people you know are talking about.

I would say my answer is equally divided. I would have never experienced the unbelievably magical world of Harry Potter if I solely read alone, ignoring public trends. Yet, alone I have found such deeply amazing books that I continue to read over and over, just for me.

What Epic fun this was to do,

If you're going to rock out with us on this, Awesome Sauce.

I would just like to take this time to Honor, the remarkable Cassarica Nadas & Sumarie Steenkamp, for being the admins that they are on The Blog Tag group. Thanks for the warm welcome ya'll :-) 

Happy Friday Dance yo!

~"Be kind to one another."~ Ellen DeGeneres