"When you don’t know what to do, get still. The answer will come." – Oprah Winfrey

I don't live to work, I work to have a good life.

Do you ever do nothing? Or are you the kind of person that has to have something to do all the time? Do you not do enough?

I believe that the right combination of keeping busy and being still is necessary to be able to enjoy all parts of life. If all you do is work hard, spend time exercising, doing your hobbies, cleaning the house, feeding the family, driving the kids you have no time to really enjoy any of it. If you on the other hand don't do anything at all, just lay around the house all day, every day then you don't appreciate that either. I think that you need both to enjoy any of it, to enjoy life.

Life is supposed to be enjoyed, and all the different parts of life are supposed to be enjoyed too. You have to appreciate the details to appreciate the completeness of it. And you have to appreciate the completeness of it to appreciate the details of it. It's all about abundance, everything goes hand in hand.

To appreciate being busy you have to have moments, times when you are doing absolutely nothing. When you can sit back and just dream. You need time to sit back and long to do something, time for yourself, time to drift away in fantasies, a book, a film or inside yourself. Time to listen to music or to your own heart beat or breaths. Time to relax and just be lazy. Being lazy is good sometimes!

On the other end of the scale is being very busy, and that is just as important. If you are never really busy you will have a hard time appreciate being in stillness. You need days, maybe weeks or sometimes a couple of months of being busy to really enjoy being still and do absolutely nothing at all. You can work hard 6 days a week, as long as you don't do anything, don't have a lot of have-to's on the 7th.

You need to keep busy to learn, but you need the stillness to grow. To be able to make use of what you learn. You need to love every moment of being busy, because you know that you would want so badly to be busy if you didn't have anything to do at all. You also need to love every moment of doing nothing because you know you would give everything for a few hours of peace and quite if you had too much to do.

How much of everything someone needs is all individual, everybody is different. But a person can not grow as a human being without both being busy and being still. Make sure you have both parts in your life, it will make your life richer and it will make you a stronger and happier person.

I ususally say; "I don't live to work, I work to have a good life and if I don't enjoy my work I won't enjoy my life" Make sure you enjoy every single part of your life!

To read more Oprah quotes I’ve written about just look here, to learn more about Oprah read here or here.

Love
Carina

"The world is full of abundance and opportunity, but far too many people come to the fountain of life with a sieve instead of a tank car… a teaspoon instead of a steam shovel. They expect little and as a result they get little." - Ben Sweetland

Life is a self fulfilling prophecy where you get what you expect.

Most people think that they can't have it all. That they have to choose between all they want in life. I don't believe that to be the truth. I think that you get what you think you expect, or what you think you deserve. If you expect little you will get little, but that also means that if you expect a lot you will get a lot. As Oprah said; "You get in life what you have the courage to ask for".It's a self fulfilling prophecy. All the good things in my life, I expected to get before I got them. But I also expected all the bad things I've been through. Of course, I didn't see it at the time, it's not until now that I can look back and say; "wow, I expected (not always consciously) that to happen, and it did". Scary? Or up lifting? I think it is the latter, because it  puts me in control of what happens, right? And I like being in control of my life.

Say you are looking for a new car, and in a perfect world you want it to be a red convertible, with white leather seats and a white top, and you want it a good price for you. Now, people might tell you that you can't have all that for the price you are willing to pay and you start to question what you are asking for. Maybe you don't really need it to be a red car, or maybe it doesn't have to be a convertible, or have white leather seats. And maybe it can have a black top. All of a sudden the car that you want is now a blue sedan with black fabric seats, because that is all you can get for the price you want to pay. That is the expectations you have. But what would happen if you didn't listen to what other people, or your own expectations, say? Could there be a chance that you might be able to get the car of your true dreams for the price you are willing to pay? I think it is highly possible, and even highly likely.

It's the same with everything in life, I think. If you expect to meet the best man in the world, you will. But if you expect to meet yet another cheating bastard you will. If you expect your day to go badly it sure will, but if you expect your day to be good it will be good. I've always gotten what I expected, good and bad, big and small. I am still learning to expect the big stuff, but at least I have learned to expect the good stuff. It is a long process, and some people catch up easy and some people need longer time to get it. I’ve needed a longer time, but that's all in my expectations. And at least I got it now, which I also expected. Next step for me is to start dreaming big, to start expecting big. Where are you? Do you expect the big and the best stuff for yourself or do you settle for the small and not so good stuff, because that's all you can get? Do you think that it has to one or the other, or do you believe you can have it all?

I’m getting it all, I’m sure of that! I hope you are too! (And by the way, there is more than enough out there for every one.)

"Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas." - Henry Ford

It is time to get enthusiastic about your life!

At the moment the enthusiasm I have for, and in, my life, is fantastic. Sometimes even overwhelming. And, of course, I love it! It's an amazing feeling, to find yourself smiling all the time, at all the small things. Yesterday at work I found myself laughing at myself several times, My cheeks are getting sore from smiling so much. This is great! Everybody in the world should be feeling like this about their lives!

So what is it that makes my life so exciting? Honestly, it is my attitude about it, I think. I mean, to other people my life is just an ordinary life. To me it is the best life I have! (It's also the only life I have, so why not make the most of it.) I do, however have the most amazing people in my life, and that helps. I am an amazing person, for sure! And at the moment I got so many exciting things going on, I got a job I love, the best boyfriend in the world, a cat that makes me laugh, an amazing place to live and soon a new, even more amazing place to move to (we haven't found it yet, but we will), my wonderful son will come for a visit soon, I got my amazing friends, food that makes me feel better than I've ever felt before, the sun and the sea just outside the door, a fantastic family and all the rest of the it. All equally important!

Enthusiasm is love! It is life! It is happiness! If you don't feel enthusiastic about the things in your life, maybe you don’t have the right things in it. Get enthusiastic! Do something that makes your eyes sparkle, your energy rise and that make you shine to the stars. Henry Ford did it, and look where it got us! Oprah did it, and look where it got her! Everybody that ever made a difference in the world did it! They all got enthusiastic! I am! You can be to!

"It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you - always." – Oprah Winfrey

It always begins with you! Everything in your life begins with you, everything about you begins with you. How is that possible? Because your life's centre is You, not your kids, your friends, your partner or your parents. Only You! You are responsible for your life, and you can never be responsible for somebody else's life (unless for your children's, and in that case you are responsible for teaching them responsibility for their own lives).

My first realisation that my life is my responsibility was about 15 years ago, when I was watching the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah, with her attitude and love for life and the people in the world, inspired me to take a good look at my own life. I am grateful to her for sharing her knowledge, and for sharing the people that helped her get it. I am grateful that I was smart enough to listen to them. I figured that if she can I can too.

You are responsible for your life, and it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. It doesn't matter what your current situation is, YOU are still responsible for your life. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can start changing your circumstances. I always say, if there is something in your life you're not happy with, it's up to you (and nobody else) to change that situation, no matter what it is. If you don't even try to change it, you do not have the right to whine and complain about it. Because, again, your life begins with YOU! YOU are the centre of your life! YOU have the responsibility for your life!

MY life is in MY hands, and that is a great feeling! That means that I can make it what I want it to be and that is so cool! Do you take responsibility for your own life and for yourself? If not, maybe it is about time to change that!