A dream.

Happy Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day! Today our motivation will come from his iconic speech from the March on Washington August 28, 1963.



Each time I listen, I get chills. Thank you, Rev. Dr. King, for your leadership and passion.

Do it anyway.

It's not Monday, but I bet we could all use some motivation to finish this week strong. After a week full of car problems and hurdles to mount at work, I know I could!

Here's a nice message from my girl, Mother Teresa (the inspiration behind this blog's title, by the way):

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God; It was never between you and them anyway.

I keep this quote on my monitor at work. Or I should say my monitor came with this quote attached, courtesy of the woman who came before me. It keeps me focused and motivated when I'm not really feelin' it. Hopefully, it provides you some inspiration today too!

It's Monday!

It's Monday, the Stillers lost, the Penguins are down six players, and the Pirates are the Pirates (I call it like I see it, people). We could all use some motivation.

Dr. Seuss is so great. He's so right. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. 

What do you care about? Make today the day you do something about it. Maybe it's your job, maybe it's a social cause, maybe it's a friend who's not doing so well. 

Vow to work hard today (Mondays are hard, we all know). Volunteer your time for an organization related to your cause, or donate a tweet to them. Send your friend a text, a facebook post or better yet, call him or her.

Armed with these ideas, I ask you again: what do you care about? And on this motivation Monday, what are you going to do about it?

Launching.

So remember in November when I wanted to do #NaBloPoMo and write for 30 days? And then I did? Let's take a moment to bask in that awesomeness.

[bask]

Okay, back to the post at hand. Back on day 7 of NaBloPoMo, I wrote about achieving balance. And how it was going to soon be more difficult (but more exciting) because I had just accepted an offer to join Propelle. Remember?

Guess what!?

I'm officially on the website! Check out my Spotlight interview now. Go read it!

No really, go read it. Now!

A relevant list. [Resolutions]

Yeah....so, it's almost 2012 (insert bad cliche about time flying here). This is the fifth post in a series on New Years Resolutions; mine, and others. Read my other resolutions here, here, here and here.

When I want to feel better about my life, feed the occasional angst-beast or kill a solid 20 minutes reading blogs, I turn to Thought Catalog. Some articles are a little (okay, a lot) irrelevant to my life, but are still entertaining.

There are times though when I can really relate to what's on Thought Catalog. In fact, most of the things I've starred in my Google Reader come from TC. Today is one of those days.

They've posted a great list: "20 New Year's Resolutions for 20-Somethings" by Jessie Rosen. You can read the entire list here; I'm highlighting some of my favorites (with my own comments) below. 

1. Before you status update, Tweet, Tumble or Instagram, pause and say to yourself, “is it entirely necessary that I share this morsel of thought with my entire social network?”and if the answer is not, “yes, I absolutely must,” then step away from the Internet.

This is the #1 thing I want my generation to learn. I can use this sometimes, too, but I'd like to think that I'm getting better at it.

2. Know which candidate you’re going to vote for in the upcoming presidential election, and know why.

I don't care who you vote for--make an informed decision, stick to it AND be able to defend it.

6. Please stop liking the Kardashians, all of them. It’s not helping anyone, least of all the Kardashians.

Need I say more?

9. Call someone on the phone at least once a week, and speak to him or her for at least ten minutes.

I love that texting, Facebook and Twitter allow me to stay in touch with so many people. But reading text on a screen just doesn't soothe the soul like the voice of a friend.

16. Volunteer once over the next 90 days.  You’ll feel really good about it, and probably end up volunteering again over the next 275.

I have spent my entire adult life making volunteering a job. From community service class to the Bonner scholars to PULSE, volunteering is a part of who I am. Give it a chance and you'll want it to be part of who you are, too. (PS if you're looking for volunteer opportunities, let me know. I know PLENTY of organizations who would love to have you!)

17. Tell someone who you love that you love them on a more regular basis. To their face, not in a text.

I have only recently discovered how powerful the words "I love you" can be. Try saying it to someone you've never said it to before. No, not a significant other (unless you're ready) but a friend. Or a family member. Someone who means a lot to you, but doesn't know it yet. When those words are genuinely expressed, they are so wonderful.

19. Crap or get off the pot. This applies to whatever thing you’re not doing that you should just sack up and do already.

Yeah, this might be a little offensive. But really, do it or don't do it. But don't just sit idly by while you "are going to get to it." It's not fair to you or to the other people you're affecting by half-committing.

So there you have it. Any of the resolutions from Thought Catalog stick out to you?

Oooh, I almost forgot: