Le Manifeste

Have you ever thought about how your goals and dreams evolve over the years? How daily life and putting one foot in front of the other can cause you to lose sight of the ambitions and aspirations you once had for yourself. Every once in a while I like to get back in touch with my plans and hopes for myself to make sure that I haven’t gotten too far off track, and to see if I still want the things that I used to.

When I read Holly from Holly Would If She Could‘s inspirational Personal Mission Statement – influenced by Gala Darling‘s A Girl On A Mission post – I realized that doing something similar would be a great way for me to reevaluate my values and goals, and to regain some perspective on where I am in my life and where I want to get.

So in connection with my non-resolution resolutions – and with my hopes for 2012 in mind – I’d like to share my manifesto:

• I am at my best when: I’m content. When I accept my circumstances. When I’m at peace with myself.
• I am at my worst when: I give into stress, it takes me from a rational human being to a OCD nightmare who has to control everything around her.
• What do I really love to do in my personal life? Relax! My job is stressful so as soon as I step out the door I love that feeling of having the tension draining out of my body. I fill my weekends with anything calm and lazy. Movie nights, walks with beautiful views, foot massages, cooking, good wine, conversations and debates that last for hours, eating at great restaurants, shopping…
• My natural talents & gifts are: Organization & creativity are two of my most valuable skills. 
• If I had unlimited time & resources & knew I could not fail, what would I choose to do?  I would travel everywhere that I’ve ever wanted to go and go back to school. I would study journalism and psychology and get my PhD in Classical Civilizations. I’d learn Italian and French. I’d blog fulltime and actually go to the fashion shows and give you guys first hand photos and reviews. I’d finish the three novels that I’ve started writing.
• My life’s journey is: still a work in progress. Everyday I’m learning more about myself and my goals and what I want out of life, and each piece shapes my journey a little more.
• What would people say about you on your 80th birthday? She lived her life. She took chances and didn’t play it safe. She ate and drank and loved. They’d quote my favorite Thoreau saying from Dead Poets Society:

“I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately… To put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived.”

• What do I consider to be my biggest future contribution to the most important people in my life? I want to be a constant source of unwavering support and unbiased advice for my friends & family. I want to be a loving and affectionate aunt when my brother has kids. I want to continue being highly involved in the charitable organizations that I support.
• What are your values? I value love, generosity of spirit, and the courage to be honest with yourself and others.
• What is most important to you?  The relationships that I have with family and friends, and passion. If I could pick a single word that holds the most importance for me it would be passion. I want to have passion for everything in my life, for every day, for every moment.

“Passion is the source of our finest moments; the joy of love, the clarity of hatred, the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.”

• What are some goals you’d like to achieve this year? Per my non-resolution resolutions my major goals for 2012 are to buy & decorate a house in Sonoma and to publish a piece of my writing. From a self-growth standpoint I’d like to work on becoming a more positive individual and responding to life’s challenges with positive, constructive reactions.
• What kind of image do you hope to project? Is it similar or dissimilar to the image you’re projecting right now? I would like for those who meet me to come away thinking that I’m a straightforward, honest and genuine. I work

I have to admit that this was an interesting and cathartic process to go through. These are some meaningful and important topics that you may or may not have thought about before. I was an incredibly introspective individual growing up and through college I kept diaries, wrote daily and really thought about my life and my goals. Over the years as I got busier, life got harder and my responsibilities increased, and I stopped looking inward. This exercise really focused me on myself again and I highly, highly recommend giving it a stab.

I’m printing this out and adding it to my inspiration board to keep me motivated and positive. Tell me, what’s your personal mission?

Quotes from WordsThatAreTrue

January 21, 2012 | Categories: Fashion, Fitness, Food | Tags: Gala Darling, Holly Would If She Could, Personal Mission Statement, Pinterest, Words That Are True | Leave a comment