Two Words

Like most people with a smart phone or an Internet connection, I enjoy social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and then some. Nowadays I use them more for research and business purposes, but I love to see what old (as in I’ve known them for a long time, not that they’re old) and new friends are up to in their lives. I have friends and family all over the world so I also use it to keep in touch and share things with them because we don’t get a lot of true face-to-face time.

Last year, I saw someone share a picture and it stuck with me. It said: If you could write a note to your younger self, what would you say using only two words? For some inexplicable reason, this blew my mind. For reals. I immediately went back to my 16-year old self and remembered, “Oh yeah. That was when I thought I knew everything.” Go ahead and laugh, but I guarantee you were around that age when you figured you knew it all too. And while I’ve learned over the years that I clearly don’t know all there is to know, I know that I’m right about that!

The words on that photo have played on a loop in my brain since I first saw it. I could probably write a book about the thousands of thoughts that have been flying through my head or perhaps I could be a full time case study for a therapist. One thought barely finishes before another is revving up so it surprises me a bit that I’ve waited as long as I have to write about it. As I sift through it all, deciphering, sorting and cataloging, the sheer mass of it all is stunning. Contrary to what I thought I was/knew at 16 and what my mid-thirties self is/knows now, all I want to do is go back in time and slap myself. Hard. But it’s a cycle that everyone goes through in life. Some experience it once, others multiple times.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I can say that I have certainly evolved over the years. I started paying more attention to following my heart and my instincts. When you really pay attention to that inner voice, you begin to realize that it doesn’t steer you wrong. It’s a feeling I get when faced with a choice. If it feels right, I pursue it. If it feels funny, I gracefully decline. Fine tuning that voice and those instincts can be a painful process because it forces you to get real with yourself. I took a long, hard look at the distance between where I was and where I wanted to be. I cracked open the collection of dreams I had once upon a time and dusted them off. I went through the gauntlet of ups and downs, wondering when I had partitioned my dreams off instead of making them a part of my day-to-day life. I’m sure you brilliant folks already know this, but dreams are meant to be lived, not tucked away in the attic for the “right” time or when you’re at a “better” stage of your life. My personal belief is that the universe wouldn’t allow you to create a dream that it didn’t believe could be brought to fruition. There is no better time that today to begin. You can’t change what happened yesterday, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow because it isn’t here yet so treat the present like the gift it truly is and get started.

We live in an era where learning to venture outside the box is encouraged. Hell, it’s celebrated. Being brave, showing courage and going for what you want puts you in the top 5% of the world’s population. And it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks or believes. You can’t pay your bills with their opinions so why let them weigh in on your dreams?

The reason I bring this up is because as children, we truly believe there isn’t a damn thing we can’t do. If you’ve ever watched a toddler negotiate for a cookie right before dinner, you’d understand why I think they are the definition of grit and perseverance. “No” doesn’t exist in their vocabulary. They are taught it. We as adults change their perception because we believe they’re not old enough to know better. We teach them fear, we pass down the things that were taught to us about what is believed to be right and wrong. Why? We tell them not to climb on the furniture and not to jump from the top of the staircase. Yes I know safety and all that blah blah blah. But this goes deeper than that. We teach them our own version of realistic and it’s likely a version that our parents learned from their parents. And don’t EVEN get me started on teaching art in school and then grading it. Total BS, but this isn’t the time for that rant.

If you were to ask my almost 4-year old son what he wants to be when he grows up, he’ll tell you he wants to be a Transformer policeman, Bumblebee in particular. His days are spent talking to me in a robotic voice as he saves me from my accident-prone self. And he issues me tickets when he’s not getting his way. I think it’s awesome that he knows what he wants. I don’t mock his vision. I encourage it. And knowing him, he’ll want to give something else a try next week. My oldest beauty wants to be a ballerina and a marine biologist. My youngest girlie wants to be a fashion designer. Dream big my littles. I can’t wait to see what happens!

I took to polling my network about these seemingly simple words and I got a little glimpse into the hearts and souls of my social media peeps. Some answers I anticipated, but others brought a tear to my eye. It made me wonder how many people out there stifle their hopes and aspirations because they don’t fit the societal mold of what everyone else wanted them to be. What I want each of you to know is that there is time. If it means enough to you that it still comes to mind after all these years, start now. No more waiting. You’re a grown up now and you get to make the decisions for you. My two words for you are Why Not?

Here is what I gathered:
Why not? Be brave. I am. Embrace yourself. Cherish moments. Do it. You can. Say No. Be gracious. Get excited. Live big. I’m sorry. Forgive me. Love me. Thank you. Always reach. Cherish yourself. Take chances. Aim high. Crush fear. Just begin. Have faith. Stay true. Be strong. Dream big. Be happy. Don’t quit. Study more. Love yourself. Be kind. Keep going. You’re enough. You’re beautiful. It’s ok. Breathe deep. Don’t worry. Define yourself. Sleep now. Read books. Trust yourself. Infuse leadership. Live large. Stop drinking. Enjoy moments. Wake up. See good. Stay focused. Listen more. Trust fate. Be patient. Have courage. Live life. No regrets. Travel more. Stay true. Don’t rush. Be grateful. Show gratitude. Spread love.

Two words. Simple yet so powerful. They can be life shaping. Just remember that you can’t create in your mind what you can’t create in your life. Perhaps it’s time to start a Two Word movement. Print out the list and pick one. Create a mantra for yourself that will take you in the direction you need move to bring a dream to life. Recite it to yourself every day as much as you can. Close your eyes and see it all happening, right down to the finest details.

What do you have to lose? Just be brave. #twowords