Tag: 2014

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Day 364: 2014 WordPress Review

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Unbelievably, 2014 is almost finished. Soon it will be memory and history. It has been an amazing year for me. I look forward to sharing more tomorrow. Tonight, I am working on creating a pictorial review, as part of today’s first, to share tomorrow. It stretches me, technology wise, to create such a massive project. And, I’m not sure yet it is going to work!

I’m using a program on my computer to create the slideshow, set to music. The part I’m unsure about is whether the program can handle 365 photos….one from each of my firsts. If not, I’ll adapt. Because adaptability has been one of the most important lessons I’ve learned from my Year of Firsts, and Going Beyond.

Even if the slideshow doesn’t work as I hope it will, it has been wonderful to sort through the pictures tonight, and remember. A year is a long time. I’m so glad for this blog and the photos because I’d not be able to hold it all in my memory. As I looked at the pictures, I’d smile, or tear up, or say, “Oh,yeah…I’d forgotten about that!” This has been a rich and precious journey, and I’m so grateful for it and for the incredible people who shared it with me.

WordPress surprised me today with an annual report, which I will share this evening, as the rest of my first. It’s been amazing, this writing experience, and it is paving the way for more opportunities. I know some blogs receive a million or more views a MONTH. My little blog has well over 15,000 views now, for the year, and I’m just thrilled with that. It was totally unexpected, that I would develop a following. Viewers from 70 different countries have visited the blog, and that amazes me too. I have a little following in India, for example, who seem to enjoy the blog post about Maya Angelou’s poem, “Caged Bird”. And it thrills my heart to see viewers checking in from New Zealand, the UK, Russia and Spain….countries all over the world. Each visitor is so welcomed. Each person is an encouragement to me.

A year ago on this date, I was looking ahead, excited and yet nervous, and wondered how I would be able to complete this adventure. Today, knowing it is almost done, I marvel that the year went by so fast. And the nervousness disappeared a long time ago. Thank you for traveling with me!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 15,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Day 8: 2014 Vision Board

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This is not my first vision board.  I’ve been creating vision boards for 10 years.  However, this is my first vision board for 2014!  I have never created this particular board before, at this time in my life. 

I love vision boards.  The process allows me to tune in to my desires for the upcoming year.  As I hold that vision and begin looking through magazines to find a visual representation of that thought, I am amazed at how the images show up.  It’s fun for me and inspiring and at the end I have a board to hang in my home office that I can look at multiple times a day.

My boards have changed over the years, as I have discovered more about who I am.  My early vision boards focused primarily on business and business goals.  There’s nothing wrong with that and this year’s board has a corner devoted to real estate.  Gone, though, are the goals that  specified number of transactions and volume.  My focus has shifted to personal growth and my vision boards the last couple of years have reflected that.  What I found last year, was that being intentional about my personal growth caused my business to grow too.

I’m excited about this year of moving beyond my limitations and boundaries….and my new vision board that captures that intention!

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A Word Chooses Me

Beyond

New year, new opportunities for growth and joy! Every year I choose a word for the upcoming year. The last two years, a word has chosen me instead. This year the word that chose me, as my theme for 2014, is BEYOND. I wanted a different word. And yet through synchronicity the word kept showing up and it was confirmed, beyond doubt, that this was my word. Everything else fell into place quickly. The symbol for 2014 had been showing up for months…a bird outside its cage, representing moving beyond that which limits and into freedom. This quote from Michael A Singer’s book, “The Untethered Soul”, states “Ultimately the word ‘beyond’ captures the true meaning of spirituality. In its most basic sense, going beyond means going past where you are. It means not staying in your current state. When you go beyond yourself, there are no more limitations. There are no more boundaries. Limitations and boundaries only exist at the places where you stop going beyond. If you never stop then you go beyond boundaries, beyond limitations, beyond the sense of a restricted self.” That speaks deeply to me. I desire to move beyond my comfort zone and limitations of my own making and into places of freedom and growth and opportunity. I was inspired by Lu Ann Cahn’s journey beyond her fears and limitations and feelings of being stuck. She did one new thing each day for a year. You can check out her story in her book “I Dare Me” and here on facebook at Lu Ann Cahn. I have adopted Lu Ann’s idea and I am excited about what will unfold each day as I too experience new things and in doing so, move beyond my comfort zone! Some days will bring down old beliefs and push me to go where I have never gone before. Other days will be about having fun trying something different. It promises to be an amazing journey. Lastly, while watching the movie “Frozen” with my granddaughter, sister and great-niece, my song for the year was revealed. “Let it Go” captures so beautifully the desire to stop holding back and just let go. The lines “The fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all. It’s time to see what I can do, test the limits and break through” underline my intention for this year. I’m excited to see what surprises unfold and where my journey will take me! ‘

I’ll post each day with my new experience.