This is another step in my process of becoming a freelance writer - my own domain name.
These last few weeks have been hard - especially for a non-technical kind of person like me! Setting up the domain was easy enough. Trying to get a blog up and working just the way I wanted it to was much harder.
It is now done! The next few weeks may come with a few more tweeks, but for the most part it meets my approval.
The name is the same - Brave Change Today - the address is different bravechangetoday.com
Make sure you come on over and help me celebrate my brave step to success!
I like to post on a regular basis and with regular themes. I have Motivational Monday, Small Business Wednesday, and I've struggled with Friday. I'd love to have a Friday Fun day, but really what does that mean when trying to discuss personal growth, goal setting, and small business? I'm sure I could fill it with something meaningful, I just haven't found anything as of yet.
Talking to one of my sons this last week, he pointed out that my life these last eight months have been brave in and of itself. I hadn't really thought about it like that. Sometimes, eyes from outside the process are needed for clarity. He definitely gave me clarity.
So, today is the introduction. Each Friday, you'll get to see a little bit of our journey so far. Hopefully, it will fill the bill of Friday Fun day. I hope that you will be able to see the beautiful sites we've seen, but also experience the highs and lows of a person born and raised in Wisconsin moving to a very different world - California.
Here's the story.
Having lived my entire life in Wisconsin, I was about to embark on a journey. It was, and sometimes still is, a little scary. This journey would take me from beautiful, but often cold, Wisconsin to warm and sunny California.
At the end of May, my husband and I packed up his Jeep and my Toyota with as much stuff as we could fit in them. Luckily three of our children were going to continue living in our home, so we had someplace to store whatever didn't fit into the vehicles. We loaded the Toyota on a car trailer and hitched it to the Jeep and we were off. After 36 grueling hours, we made it to Ventura, California.
Eventually, we made our way up from Ventura to Santa Maria, California. The Central Coast has been our home away from home for a bit now. I make it sound easy, but it wasn't. There were bumps - some small and many big - along the way as well as some beautiful sites. But, that is another story for another day.
As Paul Harvey would say, you'll have to return on Friday for the Rest of the Story.
Seven bucks n hour
Bills stacked on the counter
Got a baby on the way, they'll have to feed
His pride is gettin' torn down
His confidence is worn out
This ain't the way he dreamed that it would be
She's got no time for make-up
When she's got three boys to wake up
Never thought she'd have to raise them on her own
And some days she feels like cryin'
She's been here before
And she's only eight years old
But she knows the name of every nurse she sees
And though she don't like the chemo she waits it out, never losin' hope that
Someday soon she'll be cancer-free
Humility is key to all brave changes
Any of these describe you? I know I see myself in a few of those lines.
Sometimes we get to this point because of past decisions we've made. Other times we are here because of decisions we allowed others to make for us. Still others are here for unknown reasons; it is just the season of his or her life.
No matter the hows, when, or whys of where each of us is, we each have to make the brave decisions, and more often than not, the brave changes to have the outcome we desire and need. For me, those brave decisions first come by prayer and seeking God in the midst of my chaos. For others, it may be talking it out with someone they respect the most. However you get to the point of realizing that you need to make a change, one thing is common - humility must be the coat you put on.
One has to humble him or herself enough to say that the way decisions were made or actions taken have not worked. Only then can a person determine what the next brave change will be. Only then can one determine a new course of action. Without that humility no motivational speech, no spiritual connection, and no amount of love will change a person's life. Without humility one cannot admit that they may have been wrong.
If today is the first day of a new brave life for you, start with humility. Start with admitting that you may have screwed up, that you don't have all the answers. Now, have a conversation with your creator and ask what your next step is. Seek out that person you know you can talk with and hear what they are saying. Find a 12-step program that will help you through these first few weeks of change. Find a church where you feel the spirit of God residing. All of these actions are the start of your brave change.
