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

   

 

Abundance all day, everyday

   Happy Friday all! Hope everyone's week has been full of success and I'm sure everyone is looking forward to the weekend. I am writing a day early since I am out of town with my love. But this means you get to have my blog one day earlier to start your weekend off right! Sounds quite divine right? :)

   Every blog begins with an inspiration; a conversation, a thought, or something I see in my everyday life. Last week I was sitting down with my mom and brother and we just talked. We talked about relationships, our past, and then we started talking about abundance.

   In particular my mom was stating how much she believed in the tithe. She writes it out of her check every week to just keep up with it and mails it off to our church Lakewood in Houston. She was saying that everytime she tithed, abundance always came back to her. That she would never worry about donating that money because she knew it would come back full circle and she would be receiving more abundance and prosperity then ever imagined.

   Whether you believe in a higher power or simply just the universe, the message behind the tithe can be broken down quite easily. That it's you sending out the message that you are such a prosperous being and have so much abundance, that you give 10% to a place where you receive nourishment, because you know the more you give the more you will receive.

Not sold yet?

   I believe in budgeting. I love saving money, watching it grow and having that type of "rainy day" fund. The back up plan if you will. With that being said I also believe in living an abundant life and giving often. I may be cheap with the type of groceries I buy or the flip flops on my feet, but I am never "cheap" in pertinence to my life because I am a giving and highly abundant person.

   If you have the mentality that you MUST save money, that you NEED to strictly stay on a budget and that you can NEVER treat yourself; then you have stopped abundance and prosperity right on the train tracks. Perspective is everything. If you're viewing your money in that limited mind set than you will have very limited funds. You can't attract good things in life if all you put out is limiting and negative thoughts. If you view your money with an abundant mindset, just with you making money CHOICES, you will have abundance in more ways than one. Nothing is wrong with a budget, but say to yourself that they are choices not limitations you are placing on yourself.

   For example, my mother has a $10 minimum tipping ritual when she goes to restaurants. She will NEVER tip less than $10. I know some of you are thinking that it's a little crazy to spend that much. But she believes, that money is coming back to her, and that she wants to give to other individuals. See, giving is not being done with the intent on solely just receiving benefits. But it very much circles around the idea that we need to give to others, make someone's day, show them the good in humanity and hopefully they pass it on. Very much like paying it forward but on an everyday basis.

   If you instead CLUTCH to that extra $10 in thinking, "Oh no, I can't give this away. I am so tight on funds and I need to hold on to this and make sure I don't spend any money." Is that a limiting thought or an abundant thought?

LIMITING!!!

   The truth is, if you were to give away that $10 to simply make someone's day or just to give, you won't miss that money. I highly doubt at the end of the week you will shake your head and be rolled into a ball in a corner thinking about that $10 bill you gave to someone.

   An abundant thought would be, "I have so much prosperity coming my way and I have so much abundance and goodness in my life. I want to give this $10 so I can plant that seed of giving in my life and in others."

JACKPOT! ABUNDANT THOUGHT!

   This will take practice, changing your mentality doesn't happen overnight. But it is possible and it is worth it.

   When I was 16, I worked at a place called Main Event. I worked several little jobs within the place but I worked a lot in the cafe as a front line girl. Which is a fancy word for taking people's order but I like to give my job titles a little makeover. I was taking this woman's order and she had three bouncing children beside her that were elated to be spending a day playing video games and just being kids. She was looking at the menu with a worried expression and was asking me a lot of questions about prices and how much certain meals would be. The children, just being kids, blurted out what they wanted and ran off towards the video games. Not wanting to say no to her children she just continued ordering and I noticed she was ordering nothing for herself. She was pushing around things in her purse, trying to find money I soon realized, and she pulled out a $20 bill and from the looks of it that's all she had. I eyed my purse and grabbed my wallet and said that I would really like to have the honor of paying for her lunch. For a moment she just stared at me. I said again that I wanted to pay but I wanted her to get something for herself. I gave them free sodas and free refills whenever I saw them because I knew how much it can cost to spend a day at Main Event and I wanted to help however I could. She was a single mom and I wanted to give to her and just show her that I cared.

   Did I miss that $30? Did I go broke and have to starve for a week? Not at all. Instead I received such abundance and prosperity in the weeks, months and years to come after that as I continued to sew my seeds of generosity and giving. But the best part of that story was I got to see that family sit down in the booth in the cafe, enjoy their lunch, laugh and giggle and have a great time. THAT'S what giving is all about.

   At the end of the day, what's your abundance gauge set at? Is it cranked up all the way? Overflowing with generosity, prosperity and giving to others around you? If the answer is no, then I highly encourage you to crank up that gauge because it will take your life to places you would have never imagined for yourself.

   Go out this week and recognize the abundance in your life and then plant seeds of generosity in others lives. There is no need to live a life of lack when you have a life FULL of abundance right in front of you. There is more than enough to go around in this world and the best part of receiving abundance is turning right around and giving to another around you.

Give, Receive, Repeat.

~Ava

Quote of the day:

"Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go."

Mother Teresa



Who me? No YOU!

   Hey there everyone! Hope your week has been wonderful and that your weekend is off to a great start. Generally after I write my blog on Saturday, I immediately have something else I want to talk about. I think about it all week, eager to get it down in writing and be able to share it with all of you.

   This week I was thinking about being the best YOU that you can be. Every single person has something unique about themself. Something that only they can do and something that they are good at. I don't believe this is just a coincedence but more so that we are born with special gifts. With that being said I think it is important for us to recognize our unique and special gifts.

   In life there is always going to be someone that's different than you. I don't like to say better than you but different instead. No one can be BETTER than you are but simply they do something DIFFERENT than you do. This mentality really lies in the eye of the beholder but I would challenge you to never look at another and think they are better than you. But to think that they approach a task or there particular talent differently than you would and they are very good at it. There's nothing wrong in acknowleging others talents or taking notice how well they do something. It makes you no less of a person or less talented by having other talented people around you.

   In reality I feel like this is the ideal sistuation. You WANT to have people around you that are talented, smart and bright. The more you are around people that push you up and challenge you is the more that you will grow. The more you around people who bring you down and try and take down your talent the more you will shrivel up. We don't want to shrivel.

   I think back to when I was kid and how absolutely fearless I was. If there was a choir audition I was at it, first in line. If there was a talent show needing some more acts, off I would go to the stage and try and get into the show. As a kid I used to get all dressed up in my bedroom, come down the stairs and inform my parents that I was going to preform for them. I'd set down my boom box, strike a pose and off I went singing and dancing. Never once did I think it was silly or foolish because I was raised to be unique an to share my light with others. Most children seldom ever think, "Aw, I can't do that. Those kids are better than me." Generally children are the first ones to jump up and scream LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME!

   So what happens? How do we go from fearless little undiscovered superstars to more cautious and fearful? I believe that it's what we start to allow people to tell us and get into our heads. People saying things like your not good enough or there's no way you could accomplish that. The difference is, is that you don't have to let that affect you and how you feel about yourself. Just like your grocery cart. Don't let people put unwanted items in your grocery cart so also don't let people fill your head with ideals about yourself that you don't even agree with.

   The point being is that you have something that only you can do. You are the only person that can be you. Which is so unbelievably powerful. If you don't believe me think about it this way. Only you have your set of finger prints. No one else. It's like God's little blue print he made on your skin to make you an individual. If your skin can be different from others than so can your talent.

   Instead of thinking fearfully about other people and how much better they could be than you, instaed think about how great YOU are! First accept there will always be skinny, talented. pretty, smart, future CEO people but that doesn't mean you can't achieve greatness as well. It's not about how good your are at something that makes you special, it's what's within YOU that sets you apart from the rest. That's how you'll land the dream job, the dream partner and ultimately the success you want in life.

    Make a list of all the things you love to do. Take notice I didn't say a list of things that you are GOOD at. Make a list of things that you LOVE to do. There's nothing worth doing in life if you don't absolutely love it. What should be on that list is things you could do everyday, for the rest of your life and that would make you happy. What you will find while making this list is how many passions you have and how much talent you possess. You will see your unqiuness and your individuality the more you focus on all the things you love to do. Because again, only you can do those things the way you do.

   In the end all that matters in life is that you are being the best you that you can be. You may have some dreams, KEEP DREAMING. You may have some goals, GO ACHIEVE THEM. You may even have some crazy desire that seems totally impossible, MAKE IT HAPPEN.

   Sometimes when you share your dreams or aspirations with others they will look at you like you are crazy. That's a GREAT thing. That means your shaking up the system. That you are settling into your authentic and best you can be self and your taking life by the reigns and your moving.

   Go out this week and EVERY week for that matter and be the best YOU and live your passion(s). Rock the boat, get real and be you. You only live one life and then that's it. So it's like the famous quote, “Enjoy life. This is not a dress rehearsal.”

~Ava

Quote of the day:
"One day at a time-this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering."
-Unknown
  

Fill it up

   Happy Sunday all! Hope everyone has had a good weekend and is getting ready for another awesome week. This is my favorite time of the week to come to Panera with my love, sit down and write and just escape for a little bit. Generally right after I write my blog, I'm already thinking of the next thing I want to write and it really gets me revved up for the week. This Sunday is a very special day because it is Father's Day. I just wanted to take a minute and recognize my dad for all that he is and all that he does.

   Dad, you are a truly incredible person. You always help guide me and tell me what I need to hear even if it's not exactly what I WANT to hear. We have so many great memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. You have showed me what hard work, determination and never giving up can bring you in life. Thank you for all that you are and all that you do for me as well as our family. I love you very much.

   Something I admire about my dad is that he never does anything that he doesn't want to do. He doesn't feel that certain obligation that some feel to do things or say things that we don't want to but we do anyways. He will say things like, "Well why would I do that?" or " Why would I put myself in that situation?" He fills his life with what HE wants and what HE picks. The act of filling your life with what YOU want is a very powerful trait that we should all do everyday.

With all this being said...

Let's fill up our life with the good that we want in it!

 

   So many times people think life is filled with just that...LIFE. But the truth is, is that you choose the life that you want and all the things that are in it. After you pick the life you want to live and how you're going to live it, you need to pick how your going to FILL it.

How do you make this happen?

   Simple, find out what you want in life and fill your life with it. You need to fill your tank up FULL with all things that YOU have hand selected for your life. Such as the goals that you want to achieve, the type of friends you want to have, the success you want to see and the fulfillment you want to feel. The more energy and time you focus on these things you want in your life is the more they will manifest in your life. Most importantly if you don't choose what you want to fill your life with, the world will pick what your life will be filled with. That's a scary thought.

   There's a human behavioral specialist by the name of Dr. John DeMartini that also shares this philosophy. He believes that if you don't fill your day with important things, that in return it will be filled with unimportant things. Things that you don't care about or that possibly could bring you burden instead of happiness. Things that you don't even want but you didn't decide what you DID want so now it is there.

   Some people have a mentality that when it rains it pours. It's a very victim oriented mentality. You know what those people get? Nasty thunderstorms that bring nothing but burden, restriction and limited prosperity. This happens because they have channeled all of their energy on the negative things they don't want in their life and nothing on the positive things that they would rather see in their life. I always say when it rains it does pour, buckets of prosperity and blessings on my life. Instead of listing all the negative things or the things you DON'T want, try and list all the positive things in your life and the things you DO want.

    What would happen if we could change our mentality to always listing the things that we DO want? If we could focus all of our energy on the things we want in our life and most importantly going and getting it?

   Imagine you're in the grocery store. You wouldn't let random people shove things in your basket. You would think that these people are crazy trying to put things in your basket and telling you what you want to buy. You'd be throwing that unwanted Stove Top and Twinkies at their heads. Now take this concept and apply it towards your life. Don't let people or circumstances shove their way into your life and decide what needs to be in it. You need to shove them OUT of the way and make room to FILL the things you want in your life.

   So go out this week and fill your life. Fill up your tank with all the things you want to see in your life. Make a list, get very clear on what you want and go and get it, because nothing is impossible in life until you speak the words that make it so.

Have a great week!

~Ava

Quote of the day:

"To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limit's. That is the courage to succeed."

~Bernard Edmonds 





   



Of Course!

   Hello all! It has been three weeks since I have last blogged, which is three weeks TOO long. Me and my fiance have been moving into a new house and running around trying to get everything unpacked. At last we are almost finished and everything is starting to feel like home again.

   Us getting moved into this house was quite divine I must say. The one thing that was a struggle, as it first seemed, was that we couldn't find "the place" of our dreams. I had contacted some Realtors and results were looking rather bare and ultimately very depressing. One day I went to look at a property that had a cardboard signed nailed to the post of the house reading, "BANKRUPTCY APPLICANTS OK HERE". The sign itself looked better than the house if you catch my drift. I was infuriated.

   I was so mad that I decided to drive back through this neighborhood that I had been eyeing for months just to see if any properties had become available. A voice in the back of my head kept telling me that if a property was available it would have been on the rental sites online. In which at that point I was pretty much living on those sites for the weeks leading up to this. But I kept going, I decided to ignore that voice. I drove up and down the streets, raking over the properties like a hawk. I finally came upon a very cute town home that in my mind already had a banner on it saying "Welcome home Cristian and Ava". Since my town home already had the banner hung up I decided to call the realtor and claim our house. Needless to say we got the house and we are extremely happy.

Where's the divinity of this situation you may ask?

   Well, a month or so before I had found a property in the same neighborhood that I ABSOLUTELY fell in love with. I'm telling you I had developed a minor obsession with this property and I just HAD to have it. Unfortunately after my weeks of obsession over the house it was taken by another bidder. I was disappointed; like my mother likes to say "I love to win". And this instance I felt like I had kind of lost. SO, after finding our new property where we live now I had noticed something quite odd. I looked across the street and we live across the way from the original property that I had wanted so bad. Our current home offers a lot more than the original property had to give but that wasn't the divinity. I had channeled ALL of my energy into this property for weeks and weeks. I constantly thought positive, prosperous thoughts and AFFIRMED that I would get this house. Sometimes it seems that divinity and grace can fail and you don't get what you want. But the reality of the situation is that it is all divine order and our current property is the property we were INTENDED to have. That was the divinity of the situation.

   After all of this I thought to myself how lucky we were to get this house and that we really lucked out. But then I think deeper and I feel like what I should have said is "OF COURSE we got this house. We are divine, prosperous beings and we were destined to have this house."

On a day to day basis do we say things like that though? Do we use "of course" in that context?

   Generally most people's "of course mentality" is used like so:

OF COURSE there's a line at the grocery store, I always put it off to the last minute

OF COURSE I'm caught in traffic, rush hour seems to follow my vehicle

OF COURSE I have broken another nail, my cuticles are out to get me

   There could be some dramatization added onto those but you catch my drift. What if we changed our "of course mentality"? Instead of using of course in an unfortunate instance, we used it in a positive and divine instance. For example when something happens that is just out of this world awesome and you feel like doing a happy dance. To not think, wow I'm really lucky, but to think OF COURSE this is happening to me! I am a beautiful child of God, on my divine journey and prosperity is always coming my way. How different could our lives be if we changed our perspective with those two little words?

   Now this is not something that could happen overnight for most individuals. But little by little we can change our thoughts and our actions into being more positive and focusing on our prosperity. After all, I would rather think positive and be proven wrong then to think negative and always be proven right.

   The more attention you focus on positive thoughts and most importantly prosperous thoughts is the more you will have those elements in your life. It's simple as cause and effect. What you put out in the world is what will be returned to you.

   For example, when I was about 17 years old I was calling in "sick" to work. I had worked up exactly what I wanted to say and executed the call flawlessly. As I continued to lay on the couch I began to feel sick. The longer I laid there, the longer I felt worse and worse. It wasn't until I had snapped out of it and came back to reality to remind myself that I was CALLING in sick NOT actually sick. From this story you could just think that I am a crazy person , which is somewhat true, but I believe it was my thoughts. If thought is that powerful just think how else it can effect your life.

   So I challenge you. Go out this week and even if you have to fake it, think positive and prosperous thoughts. I always tell people to never limit your prosperity bank because it can overflow as long as you allow it to. You just have to set your prosperity gauge to what you want it to be. And I don't know about you but I want mine all the way cranked up and functioning at maximum efficiency. Don't let the power of your thoughts control you, let your thoughts of power, positivity and prosperity propel your mind.

Have a great week!

~Ava

Quote of the day:

"Freedom lies in being bold"

                  -Robert Frost





Because of you

  

Because of you...

   As you know I blog every week and I always do it on Saturdays. Me and my fiance wake up, go to Panera bread and write our mornings away. I thought this week I would write my blog on Sunday and ,being that it is Mother's Day, to dedicate it to my mom.

   Words cannot begin to describe my mother; she is truly unique and her own woman. She's a gifted writer, speaker, business woman and PR mogul rock star. But what matters to me most, is that she is my mom and she is wonderful.

   Growing up I felt like the luckiest kid in the world because she was my mom and no one else. When me and my brother were very little she would decide suddenly that we needed to have a parade through the house. She would get all the pots and pans out along with utensils and we paraded through the house.

   As we got older she was always planning birthday parties, spring break parties, slumber parties, gingerbread house decorating (which was a total disaster for her dining room table with icing EVERYWHERE) and so many more. She was always trying to find a way to make life fun, make events celebrated and make every moment memorable.

   But this is not why my childhood was the best. It was the lessons that she taught me and my brother, every night as she sat in her green chair and we talked. We talked about politics, religion, spirituality, life, morals, her past, childhood stories and more. We would read the "daily word" and then we would discuss it. She would always want to listen what we had to say. Our points of views, our thoughts on a topic and how we felt about things. We could talk about absolutely anything going on in our lives because I knew she would listen.

   She was always there when we got off the bus so that we could do our "data dump". Talk about our day, our teachers, friends, issues, bullying or anything. I looked forward to that part of my day because I got to talk with her, hear what she had to say and most importantly she heard me. She didn't just listen so eventually she could go watch TV or go do her own thing. She HEARD what I was saying and she let me have a voice.

   She always let me ask "Why". Not many parents allow there children ask why without the usual response of because I said so. If we wanted to ask why we had to say, "May I ask why." She made a deal that she would always have an answer if she said no to a question we had and if she couldn't find a good reason then she wouldn't say no. Granted this happened ONCE where she didn't have a good reason but she always gave us the opportunity to have a voice. This is why I believe I have such a strong voice today.

   I have so many things I want to say so I thought I would make a list of some of the things I do. The list literally could run on forever. 

Because of you...

Because of you... I know how to shake someones hand. You never wanted me to shake a hand without power and confidence. I think about it every time.

Because of you... I know how to order a pizza correctly. Yes this may sound silly but my mom ALWAYS made me order the pizza on Friday's. Which was pizza night. As well as when we were at restaurants, I always had to order. I thank you for that because it forced me to not be shy.

Because of you... I knew about Gandhi and why I wanted to be him for wax museum in middle school. If it wasn't for you teaching me about his peaceful and spiritual teachings I wouldn't have wanted to paint a swim cap brown, cake brown makeup on my face, drape myself in a sheet and be Gandhi for all of my school to see. It may seem silly to some but it truly is one of my favorite memories.

Because of you... I knew how to dream. Because you always asked me what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be and what I wanted my life to be.

Because of you... I always like to try new things. You always pushed us to go out of our comfort zone and try something new.

Because of you... I know how to show my confidence in myself and others take notice.

Because of you... I know how to multiply. Because you would sit down and do flash cards over and over with me.

Because of you... I know the mother I want to be.

Because of you... I know how to love because you loved me with genuine and pure love.

Because of you... I know who I am.

Because of you... I know how to follow my heart.

Because of you... I will always stay true to myself, my dreams and others.

Because of all that you are, all that you've done and all that you do...

I will always love you.

~Ava

Quote of the day:

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.
Rudyard Kipling