This week started off strong. Determined, focused and ready; that was me. I sorted my week out in a brand new way in an effort to keep me on track mentally, physically and businessly (yes; my own verbal concoction). I created a weekly timeline with the intent to accomplish five things everyday, at any time; a fashion suiting my personal rhythm. Anything more rigid was overwhelming: Check email 8:30 a.m., Hone skills 9:30 a.m. (you could say I’ve taken a liking to Chris’ shoot-from-the-hip mentality). Even still, I’m the kind of girl who feeds off an active lifestyle: I love being engaged creatively, meeting new people, seeing new places, working outdoors, keeping up with my closest and just being downright organized.

When I quit my newspaper job this past October to pursue my business full-time, at first I felt like I entered a new world filled with wildflower-ladden fields, and frolicking puppies and platypuses. Leaving the deadlines behind, a whole new world – my very own – was at my fingertips. The inception of this new undertaking was warm, fuzzy and cuddly. The amount of time available to roam your own is endless and you start to feel free. You get a taste of what dreams may come and how wonderful life can be. It was a natural high.

Several months pass and there was a noteworthy lull – a mental one. A lot of days start to feel the same and the only unexpected daily challenges turn into, “Crap, I forgot to buy milk for the coffee.” A quiet loneliness set in; I wasn’t sure what to blame. Is it me? Am I not doing enough? Then I realized: the idea of this new lifestyle was purely a novelty, and the high had simply worn off. Left to your own devices, your own creeping mind, you realize how responsible you are for generating your own life, happiness and destiny.

What you need to remember is WHY you’re doing this, WHAT got you here, WHAT is most important, WHEN to do my day-to-day and HOW do I find that dream again. You have to take charge of your life and trudge on. With a smile on your face.

So now I just look over my shoulder at the refinished, weathered window pane chalkboard my mama made hanging in my home office and I can get my feet back on the ground. And this, too, shall change, but for now, it’s exactly what I needed to keep on, keepin’ on.

Life is a balance. Not everyday is going to be perfect. You’re not going to stay on track every day of every week. And when you don’t, you can’t beat yourself up. Just like the universe, the energies ebb and flow around us, guiding us one way or the other. One week we keep to our own deadlines to a T, the others we find time to spend with our hunny bunnies (like yesterday and very necessary). Do whatever it is you need to keep the dream alive – to keep yourself positive, upbeat and charged. Once you find your balance, you’ll know you’re on the right track again and that everything’s going to be all right … and then sometimes you might put on Bob Marley to help remind you even more.