Sometimes we need to be reminded how important each and every one of us are.  We are all unique, valuable and special in our own way.

The following poem was introduced to me by my good online friend Gary Simpson, an expert in Motivation and Self-Esteem… amongst many other things!

He includes it in the very first module of his new 12 part Personal Discovery and Self Awareness course -  Journey, Life, Destiny which I personally took and highly recommend you check out.

“The most important person in the whole world, to you, should be you.  Don’t ever forget it.  Let it matter not what anybody else thinks, it’s your opinion which counts when it comes to YOU” ~ Gary Simpson

One and Only You

Every single blade of grass,
And every flake of snow -
Is just a wee bit different…
There’s no two alike, you know.

From something small, like grains of sand,
To each gigantic star
All were made with this in mind
To be just what they are!

How foolish then to imitate -
How useless to pretend!
Since each of us has come from a mind
Whose ideas never end.

There’ll only be just one of me
To show what I can do -
And you should likewise feel very proud
There’s only one of you.

That is where it all starts
With you, a wonderful unlimited human being
~ James T Moore

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How many of us take the time to   ask  ourselves, “Is my life fulfilling?”

I’ve had to take a long hard look at my life recently and ask myself that very question.

I’ve always been a person who has had dreams and aspirations.  I love to set goals for myself.  Goals have given me a reason to get up in the morning -  I have always needed something to work towards and look forward to in my life.

Sometimes it’s a short term goal, something well within reach, other times it may be a few years down track before I can possibly reach it… but I always keep it firmly in my sight!

I’ve been taking a good look at my goals and dreams list that I’ve had over the years;   some I’ve reached and others I’ve abandoned along the way as my life  circumstances changed, forcing me to follow another path…  I’m sure that’s happened to many of you as well.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that – occasionally life just throws us in a different direction.  That direction might be an even better one than the one we had originally planned.   When that happens, I really think it’s crucial to create new goals to work towards, new dreams to reach… the important thing is to keep moving forward.

Life is not about finding one path and sticking to it for the rest of your life.  That’s impractical and probably not even good for us.

Use your dreams as a guide, but be prepared to recognize the changes that life sometimes throws at us.

As your life grows and changes,  so do your goals and what your idea of fulfillment is all about.  Go with those changes, accept them… and keep growing!

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Too many of us dwell on our past.

If we insist on constantly looking back, we can sometimes find ourselves locked in a vicious cycle that simply reminds us of our hurts and disappointments.

On saying that, I believe there’s a huge difference between actually living in the past…  or just glancing back into it in an effort to resolve our past issues,  leaving us able to create a happier, healthier future for ourselves.

Why are we so wrapped up in the past?

It’s a time long gone… in fact, by the time you finish reading this article it will be in the past.  However – it’s not the immediate past that haunts us!

There is a certain lack of clarity when we try to relive past events.

To explain, let’s take an original document or photograph and make a copy of it.  Then take that copy and run it through the machine again.  If we repeat this process over and over we would end up with an image that looks very different to the original one we started with.

The same thing happens with our hurtful memories. Read the rest of this entry »

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It’s been many years since I watched the movie Forrest Gump, but I clearly remember him saying “Life is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re gonna get”.

A box of chocolates has many assorted flavors, there are some that are soft and creamy (my personal favorite), some hard and chewy, and some that are nutty.  We may not like all of the chocolates that are in the box, but we have to accept what we are given.

There are many different words to express how we feel when we don’t get what we want, or when things don’t happen the way we plan.   Some people may say they have failed, while others merely call it a setback, a stumbling block or just an unfortunate detour.

Whichever way you look at it, these are the road bumps of life.  Just imagine how poorly equipped we would be if everything always went smoothly and according to plan – the first time we hit a rough patch and we’d probably be carried off in a strait jacket. Read the rest of this entry »

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Wishing you all a very Happy New Year and a great 2009!

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday break.  I know I did.

What did I do?

Well, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks relaxing with my family, catching up with friends and just taking advantage of the beautiful weather here in sunny Queensland.

And of course I’ve enjoyed lots of very yummy food… now comes the diet!

Read the rest of this entry »

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Today I headed down to the Gold Coast to enjoy a coffee with a friend of mine, Andrew Hansen, the creator of Firepow, a niche blogging software.

We decided to catch up as Andrew and his girlfriend Elysia have decided to leave Sunny Queensland and move to Canada before the end of the year.

As I sat chatting to Andrew I was once again reminded how lucky I am to be able to enjoy this lifestyle, to choose when I work, (or when I don’t) … and how internet marketing has made this all possible.

Now I’m not saying that I only work 4 hours a day, three days a week —far from it — I work hard, really hard and I spend many hours a day in front of my computer.

Read the rest of this entry »

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My name is Collette Jones and I live in beautiful Brisbane, Australia.

If somebody had told me a few years ago that I would be blogging, my answer would have been “Blogging?  What’s blogging?… Is it painful?”

Well, here I am… and welcome to my blog.

Back then I ran a traditional mainstream business. But after 10 years, the long hours and day-to-day drudgery of running operations meant that work was consuming my life.  It was “all work and no play” — something had to change.

Read the rest of this entry »

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