I sit back and analyze life at a distance. What will it be like 5 and 10 years from now if nothing changed and it was the same scene every single day? I also ask myself, what if it was an adventure every single day? Thoughts like these randomly cross my mind when things in life seem out of place. What do I want to do the rest of my life? What do I want to be? It all boils down to how to survive in the end!

I hate that money rules every decision we make, but why does it have to? For me, I've always struggled with money and being able to get a job that paid well and allowed me to have a comfortable schedule with dance. Unless I teach a billion classes at several different places then I can potentially go "full-time" in the dance industry. I would get burnt out eventually. I asked myself, how do I do something I love and get paid for it? Then it wouldn't feel like work! I would love what i do every single day and it would be an adventure. Don't we all think and feel like this? Are you tired of your daily grind with the same scene every single day? There is only one real solution to this feeling. In whatever walk of life you are in whether wealthy or living in poverty, your mindset has to be the same. This is what I mean:

Living the dream:

Everyone has that perfect picture that only happens in movies. We dream of that day where our life will eventually get to that perfect scene in the movie where the family is now wealthy after living a life full of poverty. Take for instance The pursuit of happiness. Will smith busted his ass to get to the very end of the movie where he finally got that big break. Us on the other hand, we want that big break but we tend to forget the journey to get there. We want the fame and fortune and for some of us, just the fortune BUT we fail to realize the most critical thing. THE JOURNEY!!!!!! It's perfectly fine to dream big. I say dream bigger than that. Dream HUGE!!!! I'd rather spend life chasing a dream and getting as close as possible than to spend a life not chasing anything and feeling stuck! See, people GIVE UP too easily because dreams make us forget about reality for the time being and once reality kicks in we talk ourselves out of that very thing because of all the hard work we have to do and lack of knowledge we have doing it. There's a quote that I love, " you dont have to be great to start, but you have to start to become great!" You know why I love that quote? You don't have to be a millionaire to become a millionaire. You don't have to be the best to become the best. YOU don't have TO BE...But YOU have TO DO!
( Just do it-Nike )
There is inspiration everywhere but we never take full advantage of the resources around us. We as Americans find so many excuses to not do things it's embarrassing. Living for a dream is hard work. What's even harder is trying to live making that dream a reality. You know what's even harder? Keeping that dream a reality! The satisfaction in knowing that you've done what most people are too afraid to do is priceless! What is one of your dreams? Have you ever written them down? Do you reflect on your goals daily? Weekly? Monthly? Ever? It's always good to set goals. Once you reach them, set harder goals and so forth! I'm basically preaching to the choir but this is a great lesson for me as well :) in life, you really have to take that risk in order to receive a bigger reward!

Living for a dream:

The other end of the spectrum is basically finding that job that pays the bills and some. The job that pays for you to do the things you would like to do maybe once a year or every other year. The job that provides security because you know how much you make every single month. This is the job that allows you to daydream and look at all the places that you want to go but can't afford to go due to your financial situation. You probably would have to save for 5 years to go on that dream vacation and to accrue 2 whole weeks of paid vacation! Only to go back to work another 5 years for another dream vacation. You live for those moments but then again it's back to the grind. The job becomes frustrating because its the same work everyday, nothing exciting happens and your co-workers complain all the time. Does this sound like your work environment? Does this sound like palace where you would want t work at all? Does this sound like something you want to do for the rest of your life?

I thought so! Living the dream versus living for a dream has one distinct quality that separates the both of them which is HARD WORK!!!!! You have to be able to possess that skill. Otherwise nothing will get you over the hump when everything seems to be falling apart. They say live for the moment! I say live for the future! Dave Ramsey said it best. " you have to Live like No One else so later you can live like no one else!" I want to live that life of hard work and dedication to my passion so that way later on I can enjoy my passion and family without having to worry about working another 5 years to enjoy another vacation. But that's the daily grind and that's what most of us live for. We want that steady paycheck. We want the security of getting paid. But we are super hesitant when we have to invest our time and money to a job or business that is our passion but afraid to start it due to failure. If your biggest fear is failure, then you can also say that you are a PRO at failing because every single time you don't try you FAIL!

All in all, don't let money dictate how you spend living your life. If you have a passion, find a way to make an income from doing that. It won't feel like work if you're having fun! If you are stuck in that job where it feels like its going no where, QUIT and live the dream instead of living for the dream. If you are not ready to quit its totally understandable. Make the money to fund your passion and then take it to the next level! Then QUIT... FIRE YOUR BOSS!!!! Work for yourself!!!! Don't let life pass you by because you get stressed out by the lil things and forget the whole journey. The important part is everything in the middle. The important part is YOU!

If anything, you deserve the very best! Live the dream! NOT for the dream! Be your own person and remember to always love yourself. Remember, Change has to happen from within. When it happens from the outside its just fake :)

and above all, remember this! You can't spell changed without that G... For without that, all you have is chaned (chained) don't be chained to your circumstances!
God is in the center of everything. Put him first in everything you do and he'll show you the kingdom :) my riches aren't on this earth. It's waiting for me in heaven!