It all starts with a dream...

Over the last several years I have gone through MAJOR LIFE CHANGES. For those of you that continue to follow my adventures - THANK YOU for your support! Even if you are silently cheering from a far I'm good with that. Keep the good feelings headed my way cuz good lord knows I need them!

Lately I've been feeling like I need a better purpose in my life, I'm not getting any younger and while I'm surviving life I really am not accomplishing anything. I have never been one that just likes to live and pay bills. That's why I love the dogs, they show me places and teach me something every time we run, every time I do chores, every time I interact with them actually.

What does my struggle, my character building events, the triumphs, the breakdowns, represent? I think I'm supposed to help people realize that they CAN DO WHAT THEY WANT. You can follow that dream and its OK. You should do what you love! You shouldn't care what other people think if it makes YOU happy.

My biggest irritation is when people say "Oh man I wish I could live in Alaska". Why can't you? If you really want to be here do it. Otherwise I don't want to hear the excuses. Because that is all they are. Excuses why you can't do what you want to do, or you really don't want it that bad.

In my previous life (I call it BD - Before Dogs), I was lost. I was swimming barely treading water, I was empty and couldn't figure out what was missing. Its not any ones' fault other than I didn't know what I needed or wanted in my life. I survived. I worked. I paid bills. I entered relationship after relationship looking for someone to make me happy. Little did I know that was MY job. To make me happy.

Things are coming together finally, and I've got lots of opportunity for doing things that make ME happy. I have enough strength to say NO to the things that I don't want to do or that bring nothing to MY table and make me a better person. I'm not trying to be selfish or self centered. I still help as many people as I can with no expectations because it makes ME happy to do it! I love helping others. I love volunteering for events that make others helping, lately its been Junior mushing events, helping a friend learn more about mushing and dogs and helping others in the sport by volunteering for vet teams or just talking about my experiences on the vet team for races.

Follow your dreams, make them happen, they will make you smile and happy! Do good things for others and it will come back to only benefit your life even if its smiling at someone who's done good! Having pride and being prideful are two very different things. Being selfish and being self centered are also two different things. Make sure that you are making the world a better place with all the things that make you smile.

I have big dreams, dreams I continue to chase every day. Figuring out how to get to them is a constant battle some days it feels like. Sometimes it pays to take a step back and re-evaluate what you are doing and is it the right move for you. I've done that several times and will have to continue to do it to get where I want to be. This year I felt like I was struggling against the universe, so I took a step back. Things are still happening but they aren't as severe as if I had pushed through them fighting to try and make things happen instead of letting them happen.

Forcing things to happen too soon only causes more stress and struggle. I do believe that things happen for a reason, and if we step back and let them happen when they are supposed to the struggle will seem less harsh.

This is all my own opinion and you are free to disagree with me! but from someone who has had more character building events happen in the last 4 years than most people have in their lives... I'm just saying, I'm still kicking, I'm still moving forward and I am still loving life!