ONE WORD ANSWER

I'm not having a good day today. I'm not feeling D.R.A.M.A. filled in the least, but I recognize I have SO much to do that I better get it together. I decided to ask some of my co-workers to answer a question for me in one word. The question I asked was, "What motivates you to keep moving on days you just want to stop?" Here are the answers:

T.P.- Faith

F.T.- Baracka (my son)

Y.F. - Love

C.R. - Hope

L.N. - Family

D.S. - Loyalty

M.J. - Pride

L.L. - Future

And here's my motivation:

Okay...back to work!

MAKIN' MANTRAS!

In the book, "The Art of the Start" by Guy Kawasaki, he encourages entrepreneurs to create a mantra instead of a mission statement when starting a business. He says that mission statements can often be mediocre and unoriginal. A mantra is a single phrase that defines a business, and can be used to guide your work. Some of the mantras that he uses as examples are Nike (Authentic athletic performance), IBM (Think.), and Disney (Fun family entertainment).

So, what guides your work? As you move forward towards your dreams, having a mantra might help you to filter out some of the stuff that just doesn't matter.

My mantra is "Encourage Growth. Inspire Creativity." What's yours?

D.R.A.M.A. FOR EVERYONE

Sometimes living a D.R.A.M.A. filled life isn't about fulfilling your own dreams, but it's about using your life to help others realize their dreams, accomplish their missions, and have a better life. An incident today helped me to remember that.

I work in a field where we are always talking about "disadvantaged" and "at-risk" youth, but truthfully, because of lack of time, the transitional life many of our students lead, and all of the programming that we do, it's not that often where we actually see specific evidence of their disadvantage and have to do something intentional, and immediate to help them.

Today, in a drama class that I teach in a shelter, I came in and saw a boy who looked to be about 7 years old in a deep sleep with his head resting on a bag of ice on the desk. The side of his face that was visible was covered in scratches and bruises, and I initially thought he had been in a car accident. The Group Leaders from the shelter explained that he had been jumped by two older girls in the residence area of the shelter the night before. I held back my tears as I listened to the story and watched the tiny little boy with red cheeks sleeping as if he hadn't slept in weeks. My heart breaks now even thinking about it. I wanted to scream, "WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? WHY ARE THOSE GIRLS SO ANGRY? WHERE WERE THEIR PARENTS? WHERE WERE THE ADULTS?" I stayed calm, though, and inquired about whether the boy had received medical care (after hearing he had been jumped, and witnessing his deep sleep, my Teaching Assistant and I were concerned about a concussion). As the incident had happened on the residential side, the afterschool staff didn't know.

The Group Leaders were extremely caring and it was clear that they were taking care of the little boy to the best of their ability, but at that point, it didn't seem like enough. I couldn't understand why they hadn't received more formal information about what had happened, or why no one with more credentials (like the social worker who brought him to class) had taken him to a place where he could rest comfortably and in peace because he obviously needed it.
So, I had to do something. I set a new goal, and jumped into action. I took a few specific actions regarding that incident (I won't go into detail), and am working on trying to overcome some of the other issues that came to light because of the incident. I hope that what I do will serve to make things better for that little boy, and others that come behind him in the shelter.

I'm sharing the story with you all, and I am asking you to use your life to inspire and advance others. There are so many people that just need love, healing, and support from someone who cares to in order to be able to accomplish their goals. I'm about to step my game up because I'm a D.R.A.M.A. Queen and I believe EVERYONE deserves an opportunity to live a D.R.A.M.A. filled life!

If you're interested in learning more about how you can use your life to help others, check out the following sites:
http://www.buildabridge.org/ (domestic and international opportunities to serve)
http://www.uwsepa.org/ (giving and volunteering in Philadelphia)
http://www.idealist.org/ (get info on serving, working, giving...ALL OVER THE WORLD!)

GREAT ARTICLE!

Here's a great article on a woman who decided she wanted to live a D.R.A.M.A. filled life...and went for it! Enjoy!

How a Fiction Writer Landed Her Dream Job (and Dream Life!) - DivineCaroline

I am a woman! I am a warrior! I am...shoot, I am TIRED!

We are all so busy that as we try to move forward and accomplish our dreams, life often gets in the way, Between my full-time job, my part-time job, my OTHER part-time job, my child, and my family and friends, sometimes I get so tired that I can't even sleep! You know the type of tired I'm talking about. Recently, I thought something was wrong with my eyes because they would get so heavy that I would have to use my fingers to pry them open! I talked to a doctor, and they told me that I was probably exhausted and just needed to get some sleep!

It's super important, though, in the midst of ridiculous exhaustion and all the craziness that is the life of the modern woman (or man), that you give yourself time to rejuvenate so that you have to energy to actually take action in pursuit of your dream. So, how do you do that? ANY WAY YOU CAN! I always have someone looking for me, at home and at work, so I will go into the bathroom and just sit. I KNOW no one will bother me there, and I can take a few minutes to just chill and clear my mind. Yes, it's that serious! I recognize that I need to do more to rejuvenate, so I have an appointment for a massage next week, and I'm hoping to find an African dance class that I can fit into my schedule.

Eating healthy, excercise, writing, talking to friends, dancing...those are all good ways to make deposits into your energy bank. Actually, that's a great way to think about it...depositing energy into your bank, or filling up your energy tank, or...okay, you get the point! What are you going to do today to fill up your tank? You need fuel to reach your dreams, so fill 'er up!

(ACTIVITY) The "I Am" List

The first step to living a D.R.A.M.A. filled life is to be honest with yourself about who you really are. Before you can go towards your dreams, it's helpful to know your strengths and weaknesses. One of the things that often holds people back is not being real or authentic, and in trying to be someone they are not, they block out the blessings for the person that they are.

So here's the activity. Take a piece of paper and number it from 1 to 100. (You can do this on the computer if you ABSOLUTELY have to, but something about pen and paper makes things feel so much more personal to me) For each number, write "I am ___________" and fill in the blank. Be honest. This list is for you...not anyone else. It's important that you do 100 because it pushes you to think more in depth about who you are and what sort of things you use to define yourself. It's funny...the first 12 or so come so easily, after that, it's so much more challenging!

When you are finished with the list, read over it. Circle things that surprise you. See if you can find a pattern in your list. What do you think?

You are a unique person. Diversity is what makes life worth living, so be you...authentically, uniquely, DRAMATICALLY you!

EVERYONE NEEDS A LITTLE D.R.A.M.A.!

Welcome to HOW TO LIVE A D.R.A.M.A. FILLED LIFE! I know many of you have tried to keep drama OUT of your life, and here I am trying to convince you that you need to invite it in, well, let me explain! When I say D.R.A.M.A. I am not talking about the negative energy that reeks havoc on your life and holds you back from doing the things you have to do in order to succeed...that's "drama". The D.R.A.M.A. I'm talking about is Dream Realizing And Mission Accomplishing. It's about pushing yourself to your limit, working hard to achieve your goals, stepping out on faith, believing in yourself, and taking risks in order to be happy. Who wouldn't want a little bit of that in their lives? :)

As the mother of a toddler, everyday I realize how important it is for me to be a D.R.A.M.A. Mama. I am my daughter's primary role model and example of what a strong woman looks like. It's so important to me that she grows up feeling confident in herself, and believing that she can achieve anything if she is thoughtful and hardworking.

So, that's what this is about! I'm going to profile cool people who are living dramatically, share some tools to help you reach your dreams, challenge you, encourage you, and celebrate you as you mark things off your to do list! Alright D.R.A.M.A. Queens, Kings, Mamas and Teens...let's get this show on the road!