What if there is more to my life than what I am living? With all of my heart, I want to live the life that I am supposed to live while I am on this earth, but what if I miss it? What if I get to the end of my life, look back and think “My God, what did I do?”

This thought haunts me at times, never enough to leave me paralyzed, but enough to keep me moving. I want this life to matter. I want my life to matter. I want to challenge myself. I want to challenge others to keep moving forward. This life does have a purpose and that purpose is unique for each of us. It is vital that we get our head in the game. We get no second chances. We only get today, we only get right now.

What is holding us back from living our fullest life?

I used to have a hard time letting go of things.  I would hold on to my bitterness, hurt, anger, expectations, and my plans.  I carried them around with me long after they had happened and I prided myself with my ability to do so.

I felt like if someone told me to let go of these things that it meant they didn’t value how hard the experience was for me. I actually felt it was almost offensive for them to suggest...

Hopes. Dreams. Expectations. Plans. Goals. Desires.

They are all wonderfully beautiful things... until they aren’t.

There is an art to having expectations. The trick is to find the sweet spot. Right where they push you forward, but don’t hold you back.

I have always been a very positive person and I have never been short on hopes for my future. These hopes turned into plans and then I would then execute those plans. As I did, I expected everything to go exactly according to my very sunny expectations.

Expectations.

Such a simple word with a whole lot of implication.

I realized something interesting about my expectations… well… that they were ruining my life.

What are your thoughts about the New Year to come? Do you have any goals or plans for your life? Check out my latest vlog as I share some of my thoughts on why you should definitely shoot for your goals in 2017!

Do you ever feel like you are waiting to "arrive" in this life? I have often lived with an “arrival” mentality.

A few years ago, I found myself arriving somewhere I had desired to be for a long time. I had waited and waited and finally my waiting had come to an end. I had arrived exactly where I hoped to. But... now I had new places I wanted to go. Once again, I found myself discontent. I realized that “arriving” may not be the solution...

During the first few days after our house fire I could not quite pin-point what I was most upset about. Before this, I always thought the most difficult part of a house fire (without injuries) was the loss of “stuff”, but for me the hardest part wasn’t the stuff. The stuff was just stuff...