To abandon one's life for a dream is to know its true worth. ~Greenfingers (movie)

My invitation to you is to begin living every moment as though you are miraculous and deserve to live an extraordinary life. ~ Robert White

How to Live an Extraordinary Life 

My husband said something to me the other morning that struck me as truly important to share with my readership, students and clients.  He said, "It takes considerable effort and dedication to live an extraordinary life."  I have been thinking since then what it really means to live an extraordinary life and how we can accomplish that.  I think above all it requires living consciously-consciously choosing how we spend our time so that we are moving toward fulfilling our dreams, living in alignment with our values and living with tremendous joy and peace in our lives.

See, we humans are such creatures of habit that if we are not diligent, we will focus on all the wrong things, and one day, we'll be wondering why we didn't do this and why we didn't do that.  A friend of mine who once worked with the dying said something we've probably all heard, that people on their deathbeds never spoke to him about regretting things they'd done; they only spoke about regretting things they didn't do. 

So it seems critical to take an inventory of our lives.  I ask all of you to reflect on these questions: 

• What are your dreams? 
• What do you really want to accomplish in your life?  
• What is it that you value most in life?
• Where do you want to be in five years?  ten years? 
• What brings you the most joy and peace?  

Being very clear about what you want, what you value and what your dreams are is important.  In the Law of Attraction it's well known that conscious creating begins with knowing what you want.

After reviewing your dreams and values, take a close look at how you're spending your time to determine if you're actually living up to those dreams.  Are you making conscious choices every day that bring you a little closer to fulfilling your dreams, or are you merely meeting what you have come to imagine are your daily obligations?  Have you actually thought about what you value in life and then consciously aligned your life with those values?  Are you planning to someday get to those things that will truly bring you peace and joy, or do you do things every day that bring you peace and joy now?  How rarely do we sit in quiet reflection pondering how we spend our most precious resource, which is our time.

After you're clear on the above questions, I would like to invite all of you now to ask yourselves the questions that my husband and I asked ourselves this weekend:

• What one thing that could I begin doing consistently that would bring me closer to fulfilling one of my dreams?
• What is the most important thing that I can begin today to live my life more in alignment with what I value most?
• What one thing can I begin to do that would bring me more joy and peace right now?

Remember that these don't have to be huge steps.  One of our joint steps that we felt would bring us more joy was to get our garage cleaned out and organized within the next month; okay, that actually is huge, but there is a start and finish to it.  I also decided to commit to completing one painting per month over the next year.  Remember that the action steps you decide to take should be specific and you should indicate by when you want to accomplish it.  That's the only way you know if you are achieving what you want.  For example, it's better to say, "I'm going to complete one painting per month," rather than, "I'm going to paint more."

As my husband said, it does take some discipline, but so does anything worth having.  If you take these questions to heart and spend some quiet time reflecting on them, and then consciously decide to do just three things, imagine the difference it will make in your life.  It's important to do this a few times a year as our dreams can change, along with what we value most and what brings us joy.

 If you make this process of reflection, re-evaluation and commitment a quarterly practice, imagine what you can accomplish in just one year.  When you make the commitment to make 'someday' now and everyday, there is a cumulative effect that happens, propelling you toward your dreams so that you actually reach them.  And when you know what you value and live in alignment with those values, and do what brings you joy, your life will be full of meaning for you.  You will be living an authentic life that is not based on other people's "shoulds" or society's expectations.  Your life will be your own conscious, joyful and peaceful creation.  And that sounds like an extraordinary life.   

Love and Blessings~

Pamela