Live Life Label Free

   Happy weekend all! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and the beautiful sunshine that has been hiding this week.

   I want to take a moment to recognize all the lives that were lost in Colorado this week. I know that there are countless prayers going to all the families that are being affected by this tragedy. My heart aches for the ones who have lost a loved one, especially to an act of such senseless hatred. This always reminds me of how short life is and how precious every moment is. Make sure to cherish your loved ones all day everyday.

   As you know I am a Facebook user and this week, on my news feed everyday I was noticing something. Everyday I would sign on and see endless pictures of views on the world, politics and religious beliefs. But the thing that surprised me was that none of them were positive messages; they were all combative and negative.

   I found myself growing irritated at all these pictures because I think, "HEY the world is negative enough, let's shine a light of positivity shall we?" Behind the words and the meanings of these pictures the message portrayed was how individuals were labeling themselves.

   We are a united country. We generally come together, support our fellow man in times in need and conquer any task at hand. At least we definitely aim to always try to do this. But I believe it is very hard to be a united country when we are CONSTANTLY labeling ourselves. To me it's almost like we're saying this, "United we stand, but divided we quickly become if you're not in my "label group".

   In observance of all the pictures this week, the labels, it was much like this: Republicans vs. Democrats, Christianity vs. Other religions and How I think this should be done vs. How you think this should be done. Not ONCE was someone just stating an opinion or a thought without bashing the other group in the process. Why is that necessary? Can we not just state our beliefs without having to tear someone else down?

   I understand the very controversial political period we are in right now. We have two candidates that have strong opinions and very different methods of thinking. But some are SO focused on what label they put on themselves and how their label is "better" than the other label.

What would happen if we had NO LABELS?

   If we had no labels then all there would be is individuals beliefs. No fighting group against group, religion against other religions and so on. We could just have our opinion, our own idea and go on from there. There would be no need to compete or fight.

   In addition no one would have to try and fit themselves to a label. No one would have to think, "Oh I belong to THIS party so THIS is what I have to believe." It would be totally opposite. You would be in no box and wear no label; you would just have a set of beliefs and go from there. There would be no sides to choose, no one choosing what you have to believe or what your "label group" believes but rather just an opinion to form on your own. We wouldn't have to be divided straight down the middle, which we are right now in almost everything.

   I feel the longer that we are divided down the middle, peace will never come. If we are constantly fighting against another and trying to prove ourselves better than others, than no resolution will ever find us. We'll all be too busy fighting amongst each other behind our drawn lines in the sand; the lines that WE decided to draw.

   This can apply to all areas of ones life. People can label their life by politics, religion and even possessions. Sometimes things that people own tend to start to own them. That's what a label can do. Instead of just forming an opinion, your label starts to take over you. And then many times it's no longer what is YOUR opinion it is what is your LABELS opinion or your GROUPS opinion. I'm a fan of people being individuals and forming their own beliefs so you can see how me and labels just don't mix.

   Bottom line is this. And this is solely my opinion....

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU ARE!

You could be:

Republican , Democrat, Independent, Christian, Buddhist, Catholic, Black, White, Purple

You could wear:

Gucci, Fendi, Walmart, Target, Goodwill

You could be:

Upper class, Middle class, Brilliant and Creative, Simple and Quiet

Why does any of this matter?

   If you are a good person, your authentic self and living your life then that's all that matters. Not what label you are or what your status is. Life is too short for any of that. Just be YOU and not part of a "THEM".

  We all know there is such hatred in this world. There is violence, crimes and acts of hatred all around us at times. When it boils down to it, does it REALLY matter what label you have? Does it really matter what you call yourself?

   To me, the most important thing is to be YOU. Because you are the ONLY one that can be the special and unique you. If there was a way to strip our world of labels I would love to see what could happen. Maybe peace could come and resolutions to current issues could arrise.

And most importantly, the true meaning of being united that our country and our world so desperately needs.

Have a great week!

~Ava

Quote(s) of the day:

"It ain't what they call, it's what you answer to."

-W.C. Fields

"A name is a label, and as soon as there is a label, the ideas disappear and out comes label-worship and label-bashing, and instead of living by a theme of ideas, people begin dying for labels...and the last thing the world needs is another religion."

-Richard Bach





  



Success...find IT because IT won't find YOU!

   Hello all! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July and is enjoying the weekend. Ours was filled with family, friends and a lot of love! Which is just the way we like it. And being off work one extra day is ALWAYS awesome too.

   A couple of weeks ago me and my honey were sitting down and watching "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock. We love that movie and we were just discussing the message that the movie portrayed. We got to talking about what made that movie so special and we agreed it was the message of perseverance. Never giving up.

   Often so many people will watch a movie with a powerful message or an outcome that would have never seemed possible and will think that sort of thing only happens to SOME people. But not ALL people.

Is that the truth though?

   The truth is, that it's all how you take control of your circumstances. Things don't just HAPPEN to people. Success doesn't just FALL into your lap. And we all know a smooth road isn't PAVED out for us.

   Instead, we have to CREATE great happenings in our lives by opening our eyes with a fresh perspective. We have to FIND success because it won't seek you out. And we have to pave our OWN road along to way to make it nice and smooth.

   If you notice that in those past sentences, no where did I say that someone else will do it for you. Or for you to just simply hang out on the couch, munching on potato chips watching movies with the mentality of, "Oh that's just a movie." Or, "That person just got really lucky."

No, No, No. Get out and MAKE it happen!

   But instead try this. Go back and watch movies like "The Blind Spot" or "The Pursuit of Happiness" and analyze.

-What made this have a happy ending?

-What do these type of "people" in the movies have in common?

-What is the common denominator in all movies of this nature?

   You will find that the common denominator is that they NEVER gave up. Did they want to maybe? ABSOLUTELY! We are human after all. But they never gave up and they kept pushing for more; more from THEMSELVES. If you can grab this mentality and really absorb it into knowing that you are the creator of your destiny, you will be UNSTOPPABLE.

   When I think of perseverance, I think of my mother. If there was a picture of a person in the Dictionary that could define perseverance, it would be Donna Wick. She never ever gives up. And the way she got to where she is today is because she refused to give up. She was scared sometimes and even worried beyond belief. But still, she never allowed herself to give up.

   A few years ago my family, my brother and mom, needed to move from the house we were renting. My mom had looked at a few properties but was not impressed with any and she wanted a place for us to call "home" again. She was driving down the freeway one day and saw an LGI van driving in front and a sign read, "HOUSES FOR SALE! ONLY $699 A MONTH!". My mother decided to test this truth and dialed the number. They met up at their office and sure enough, that with the right credit score, you could get a brand new home from LGI. My mother proceeded forward and we toured a home that had just been built. It had a beautiful little tree in the front, big backyard and the interior was perfect. My brother and I found our rooms upstairs, envisioned where the furniture would go and we were exstatic. We returned downstairs with my mom and we sat in our future living room talking about how perfect this house was and how it was JUST what we needed. Pretty much in our head, that was our official move in date because once we saw the house, it was ours. Getting the house was no picnic though. Despite all my mothers hard work there were credit issues, some down payment struggles and she had been denied a few times for the house. Did my mother care? Not a chance. She challenged every worker in the LGI office to figure out a new way and to try again. I think they slowly realized this woman was not backing down. And if you know Donna Wick, you know that she never backs down.

So what did my mom do?

   Where the kitchen was my mom and I agreed that an adorable little flower box would look perfect. So she bought a flower box, grabbed her tool box and went to the house and hung it up right where she wanted it. Mind you, we were NOT approved for this house and in LGI's eyes it was not ours. But we knew differently, we KNEW it was ours. We KNEW that we would get it. And my mom never gave up on that feeling that it was OUR house. Eventually, she got approved for the house and now every year LGI has her speak at one of their biggest conventions so she can share her story. Her story of perseverance.

   She could have so easily given up. Wallowed away and believed it would have been too good to be true. To think that "those things" don't happen to people in real life. But she didn't. And we had many great years in that house.

   The moral of this story is the perseverance she exhibited. Success will not find you in life, you must go out and find it. You must believe that great things can and will happen to you. Put on a fresh perspective and start viewing this world differently and make great things happen for yourself.

   Go out this week and every week and see how much YOU can offer the world. And how much the WORLD can offer you. Think of all the never ending success that is just lying in front of you just waiting to be discovered. All of the gifts that you possess that are just eagerly awaiting to be exposed to the world.

   All you have to remember is to NEVER give up and when you feel like you can't go on any longer...

To try HARDER! And know that you can do anything in this world if you set your mind to it.

~Ava

Quote of the day:

"In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm...in the world all rests on perseverance."

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe