5.14.2014

FINDING YOUR SWEET SPOT IN LIFE

     I just had to blog again today…I'm LOVING Monique McLean's DREAM BIG Series.

Buddy the Bulldog has nothing to do with this post, but I just HAD to include him!!!
     So, yesterday I blogged about DreamingI was very excited and enjoyed thinking about my dreams.  And I already thought of another dream that I had forgotten---to (one day in the future) adopt a child who needs a family!  I have been dreaming that dream since I was 7 years old and living in Ethiopia.  Nick also wants to adopt one day, so that's convenient :)

My sisters and I were the Three Brown Mice, instead of the Three Blind Mice.
We won a Butterfinger for our musical talent and that was a HUGE treat in Ethiopia!


     Today, Monique talked about finding your sweet spot in life.  There are many things that I could have done and many directions that I could have taken, but I am confident that I am right where the LORD wants me right now.  Honestly, I have tried A LOT of different jobs.  The first job I ever remember was washing clothes for my uncle.  He would bring a basket of dirty clothes over and my mom and I would wash, dry and fold his laundry and I would make a dollar…I seriously thought I hit a jackpot and scored big.  That's around when I was 9 years old.  Since then, I have been a babysitter, I was a nanny, a private tutor, a second grade and kindergarden teacher, I cleaned an office, Nick and I were professional window washers (I'll just go ahead and say this was the worst job ever), I worked at summer camps, I was an office manager, I worked in finance, Nick and I worked in a warehouse with packing, unpacking and shipping books, we lived and worked on a ship for six months…I even worked in the Magic Kingdom and then MGM Studios for two summers (that's how Nick and I met).  Although all of these jobs were good jobs and usually decent pay, I was never content.  I knew that I HAD NOT found my sweet spot in life.


     For years, I kept telling Nick that my DREAM JOB would be a job that:

1. I DID NOT have to go back to school.
2. I could work from home.
3. was related to whole body health and living free of toxic, harmful chemicals.

     I KNEW that this was my sweet spot (I just didn't know how I would ever get there)!!!  Almost weekly FOR YEARS, Nick and I would go over my dream, talk over different possibilities or ways of doing it, but would always come to the same conclusion, "THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN"…we seriously couldn't see how I could achieve my dream. 



     But, you know what's cRaZy??!?!!??!!?  The LORD…THE ONE who created me, THE ONE who has good plans for me, THE ONE who put desires in my heart…HE KNEW all along.  Even a year ago, when I had no hope of finding my sweet spot in life, The LORD knew where I would be today:

1.  I DID NOT have to go back to school.
2. I am working from home (sitting on my couch now).
3. Essential Oils are related to whole body health and living free of toxic, harmful chemicals.


WOW…WOW…even when I couldn't see it and I was discouraged, the LORD had a good and perfect plan for me.  He cared about my little" impossible" dreams.  We were ALL designed by The Creator who LOVES EACH ONE OF US and put us here with talents and gifts so that we can impact others.  But, does it just come easily?…NO…You have to WORK at it.  I had to spend YEARS learning about myself, my gifts, my talents, my struggles, my strengths and I had to have LOTS of different jobs while I patiently waited on The LORD to bring me to where I am now.  I didn't even have a clue where "here" was, but The LORD knew all along!


Thanksgiving 2012-Exactly ONE year before I found my SWEET SPOT in life!
     So, in her post, Monique asks us a few questions…and they got me thinking:
Q: What do you think of yourself?
A: Not much, but Jesus Christ loved ME and gave himself up for ME!  I can now live in the freedom of His Grace FOREVER.

Q: Do you believe in yourself?
A: No, but I believe in Jesus Christ and IN HIM all things are possible.

Q:  Are you confident?
A:  No, but if GOD is for me, who can be against me?…Those who believe in Him will NEVER be put to shame!

     I'm sitting here smiling as I watch my puppy play with her chew-toy.  I love her and I gave her that toy as a gift for her to enjoy.  I think that God is the same way.  He smiles while He watches us living in our sweet spots.  He loves us and gave us those gifts and talents for us to enjoy.  


     So, ask yourself:
1.  What are 5 things that I am good at and that I enjoy doing?
2.  Am I using those gifts and talents?
3.  Am I using them in the correct areas?
4.  If so, am I using them to impact other peoples' lives?
5.  If not, what keeps me from being who I was created to be?


     We only get ONE life.  ONE chance.  Make it count!  Do I think that I am living in my sweet spot now? YES!!!  I LOVE having a flexible schedule and being in charge of my hours and working from home.  I LOVE spending time with people and teaching them about how they can care for themselves naturally.  I LOVE reading about anything that has to do with totally "clean" living.  I LOVE when someone lets me help them and they see positive results.  I LOVE coming up with new ideas to encourage my team or creative ways to teach others.  I LOVE all of the new friends that I have made since becoming a Lemon Dropper.  I LOVE organizing and spending most of my work hours on social media, like my Blog, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.  There are SO MANY things that I LOVE about living in my sweet spot in life.  But mostly, I LOVE that The LORD created me to be ME, had this life planned for ME and knew exactly where my sweet spot in life was…because of that…I am living one of my dreams right now :)


     One dream down, MANY more to go!!!
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     I just thought of this as I was getting ready to publish this post.  This job is ONE dream that I had.  But, at one point, I also thought my dream job would be something that would quench my travel fever.  I used to want to work for National Geographic (as a photographer), be a crew member on a ship or be an airline hostess…anything to get me traveling.  Do I think that GOD can combine my love for "clean living" and my love for travelingYES!!!  Do I think He will???…I will just have to wait and see what happens!

PS…remember yesterday when I said that I was going to edge my flower beds and write a chapter of my book?  Well, I begged my sister Maggie for help.  We tried carrying buckets of bricks, from the woods, and knew right away it was going to kill us.  So, we begged our neighbor Sherman to drive over the tractor.  The three of us did two loads of bricks.  Maggie and I lined the bricks around the flower beds in a beautiful design.  We were dripping sweat and blacking out from not drinking enough water.  So…I'm happy to say that I edged the beds, but sad to say that I was too worn out and didn't write a chapter…I guess working on one dream per day is a good start!!!


You may not see it, but back in the bushes, in between the tress, is the pile of old bricks.  To carry them from that pile to the edge of our house was A LOT of work!!!


And do you see our bricked edging?  It doesn't look like much in the photo (depressing), but it looks really neat in real life (AND IT WAS HARD WORK)!  And "I DOUGHT OF DAT!"…sorry, my dad and I were saying that this morning and trying to figure out what movie that came from…Madagascar?


So, that edging was just ONE step toward my dream of finishing our house!!!

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