Y1W22 Spooky faces! #PositionVacantShort tomorrow at #MIAF14

*Take your time* (stressing this: weeks, months, years, actually…your whole life; however much time you need rather than rushing it and imposing expectations upon yourself) to be and stay honest with yourself with everything you do. You know yourself the most so the belief in yourself starts here through honesty, not self depreciation or dismissive arrogance. Especially be honest with your changing life and career goals. How you’d like to be remembered when you’re long gone? What kind of person do you aim and strive to be? This might mean you’d need to keep doing different things for yourself to find out the specifics and stay flexible with your goals. No one can give you the “right” answer but experiencing it properly yourself  helps you find and narrow down what’s right for you.

Obvious for many but I find that I need to be reminded to *take the time* and I note that some people would just dismiss re-evaluating their life every now and again until something goes terribly wrong. If you have done this before, do so again. Are things going as well as you like right now?

Your current actions speak louder than what you say to others or tell yourself. What you do in reality  represents so much more about your priorities, values, respect for others, how you want to live out your life and how far you’re willing to push things. Expectations that others and/or you place upon yourself hinders you from seeing this sometimes. There’s the realisation and acceptance of whether you’re actually comfortable with how things are so that dreaming (or even complaining) about what could have been is enough for you. Or you are already actively (however slow or roundabout) changing your life and working towards your focused and developing dream, even if you might not even reach it (you genuinely don’t care that it’s not guaranteed, as long as you’re doing it).

Maybe you are happier or more fulfilled doing artistic things on the side for yourself rather than working for others’ visions despite being employed in an area you don’t enjoy. Maybe you do want to see your creativity brought to life as far as you can to serve the commercial world despite some compromises along the way. Maybe you can find a realistic balance in between. How far do you want to take things? What do you really want in your life? In any case the uncertainty won’t go away so just be honest with yourself. As long as you are, who cares what others think and it will be wonderful, whatever path you take.

This is something we all at least think about during every stage in our lives (myself included). Focus on the present; not fixate on past choices, chasing an extreme ideal and what you can’t control. It’s just so easy to forget what’s in control and what’s out of your control when you’re deep into something so when I realise this, I step back and reconsider.

If you’re feeling alone: talk to someone you trust, knowledgeable and respect about this to get support and new insights and even vent to (and of course do the same for them!) But ultimately it is up to you to decide how you’re going to move forward everyday with your life, not them. Sure, we don’t have unlimited freedom in our society but our choices are filled with potentially surprising, magical experiences and opportunities.

Essentially be kind to yourself, stay open-minded and hopeful and do things where you are true to yourself.