DAILY MOTIVATION

Wednesday, February 12, 2014
"NIKE ULTIMATE MOTIVATION: RISE AND SHINE (BITCHEZ)"

Rise and shine.

6am and your hand can’t make it to the alarm clock before the voices in your head start telling you that it’s too early, too dark, and too cold to get out of a bed.

Aching muscles lie still in rebellion, pretending not to hear your brain commanding them to move

A legion of voices are shouting their unanimous permission for you to hit the snooze button and go back to dreamland, but you didn’t ask their opinion.

The voice you’ve chosen to listen to is one of defiance.

A voice that’s says there was a reason you set that alarm in the first place. So sit up, put your feet on the floor, and don’t look back because we’ve got work to do.

Welcome to The Grind!

For what is each day but a series of conflicts between the right way and the easy way,

10,000 streams fan out like a river delta before you, Each one promising the path of least resistance.

Thing is, you’re headed upstream

And when you make that choice, when you decide to turn your back on what’s comfortable and what’s safe and what some would call “common sense”, well that’s day 1.

From there it only gets tougher.

So just make sure this is something you want.

Because the easy way out will always be there, ready to wash you away, all you have to do is pick up your feet.

But you aren’t going to are you?

With each step comes the decision to take another

You’re on your way now

But this is no time to dwell on how far you’ve come.

You’re in a fight against an opponent you can’t see

Oh but you can feel him on your heels can’t you?

Feel him breathing down your neck

You know what that is?

That’s you…

Your fears, your doubts and insecurities all lined up like a firing squad ready to shoot you out of the sky

But don’t lose heart

While they aren’t easily defeated, they are far from invincible

Remember this is The Grind

The Battle Royale between you and your mind, your body and the devil on your shoulder who’s telling you that this is just a game, this is just a waste of time, your opponents are stronger than you.

Drown out the voice of uncertainty with the sound of your own heartbeat

Burn away your self doubt with the fire that’s beneath you

Remember what you’re fighting for

And never forget that momentum is a cruel mistress

She can turn on a dime with the smallest mistake.

She is ever searching for that weak place in your armor

That one tiny thing you forgot to prepare for

So as long as the devil is hiding the details, the question remains,”is that all you got?”, “are you sure?”

And when the answer is “yes”. That you’ve done all you can to prepare yourself for battle THEN it’s time to go forth and boldly face your enemy, the enemy within

Only now you must take that fight into the open, into hostile territory

You’re a lion in a field of lions

All hunting the same elusive prey with a desperate starvation that says VICTORY is the only thing that can keep you alive

So believe that voice that says “you CAN run a little faster” and that “you CAN throw a little harder” and that “you CAN dive a little deeper” and that, for you, the laws of physics are merely a suggestion.

So rise and shine.

Luck is the last dying wish of those who want to believe that winning can happen by accident.

Sweat on the other hand is for those who know it’s a choice.

So decide now because destiny waits for no man.

And when your time comes and a thousand different voices are trying to tell you

that you’re not ready for it,

listen instead to that lone voice of descent,

that one voice that says:

“you are ready”

“you are prepared”.

It’s all up to you now!“

Tuesday, February 4, 2014
A LETTER TO THE DEFENDERS OF DREAMS

I've always found it intriguing that I could find  something poetic or creative that really hits home, really strikes me, infuses me and inspires me…then share it…and find other people like it. Because it gets them as well. Now I've been feeling bottled up….anxious with energy lately... which brought me to post this. This post which originally meant to commend  both my artsy and less orthodox life path followers, later was found to be applicable to…well everyone. But what I want to say is

 I .

LOVE.
THE.
DREAMERS.

First off, I LOVE all people. But …man…my fellow Creative types. The Artists. The Feelers. The Thinkers. The Lovers. The Perceptives and Intuitives. The Unconventionals. The people who are uninhibited by societal standards. The people who do what they love regardless of how irrational it may have seemed to everyone around them.

I admire you.

To the people I know and have met who saw past incessant insinuations and demands  to "Grow UP"… Forget about it…Snap into reality...Get that cushy corporate position at that government/firm/non-profit org that will forever cement you into stability. Be USEFUL. To the ones who dream beyond the eternally stifling 9-5 daily grind.

 40+ hrs per wk...

 1787 hrs per yr...

62545 hrs per lifetime…

...of YOUR life.

 Assuming of course you're lucky enough to retire at 55. NOT TO MENTION those of us from metropolitan areas where enduring a 45min-60min commute…2hours a day.  50hrs a month. 600hrs a year…is Normalcy.

To those people who aren't afraid to throw caution to the wind... fuck it, let it burn. Those brave enough to not only think, but BE, out of the societal box. Those who feel the Universe in the stars. The intense pull of the Sea. Love in Music. Refuge in Art. An embryonic paradise in their thoughts. Terror of Tedium and infused in Novelty. The ones who equate being stifled with demise. The Lovers of the Light. 

 To my friends who spent nearly every dollar they made on their film project and lived off Ramen for a  year because it was their PASSION… and now, they're being featured in international film festivals. To my friends who picked up their lives and moved to LA  to pursue their dreams.To my friends who picked up their lives and moved to NYC  to pursue their dreams. To my friends who left the only home they've ever known…the only stability they've ever had… To act. To sing. To dance. To model. To produce. To write. To LIVE.

 When I rummage through my thoughts I'm literally astounded by how many people I know working in the less conventional, artistic fields.  OMG. It's endless. I never really noticed until recently that the bulk of my friend/acquaintance base pretty much exactly reflects the very essence myself. 

So. I salute you. 

The Dreamers.
The Dancers.
The Athletes.

The Writers.
The Producers.

The Singers/Musicians I know who work their asses off  to support  themselves and then work even harder doing what they love.

The Painters.
The Poets.

The Photographers 

The Models and their pastel hair, enthusiastically, bravely shunning the dogmatic aesthetics  standards of the mainstream workforce that so many live to appease

And lets not forget their fellow MUAs/Hair Stylists (I may love you bunch the most lol)


The Actors. Who left their families, their friends, their lives… their loves.

My philosophical wanderlust driven World Travelers (I feel it too).

Because we're all artists of our own existence.
And we all have one thing in common: An insatiable, voracious desire to LIVE. An intrinsic need for escape of mundane existence... Terror of asphyxiation from epidemic Banality.  Because to some, to feel stifled, is to feel death.

So

...Live Free
...Love Hard
...Take Risks
...Stay True

And that goes for you too, JONATHAN, my younger brother, who  forges through life like  a BOSS working 60hours a week to provide a beautiful life for his family while still being an excellent father. To his fiancé SHEENA,  for being an amazing mom, who who provides him with love and stability when times get rough. To my brother, JIMMY, who goes to school full-time, has solid academics, 2hr practices every day, games every weekend, and still manages to wake up before 6AM to get to school early to shoot hoops because he WANTS to. And to my MOM, who's been faced with insurmountable adversity, and continues to remain depthless in her love, perpetually stricken with youthful optimism, and an amazing individual.