What are your little things?

The little things really do make me smile, think, appreciate and laugh at life.  I am constantly noticing and yearning for a million little things!  Here are some of my recent little things that have inspired me in one way or another.

• two old men playing dominoes at Whataburger today.  I can not help it, but I can not stop thinking about them!  I really hope that I have a dear friend when I am older that I can hang out with, drink coffee and chat with.  Honestly, I would love the opportunity to be accepted into their club right now.  To be able to sit and hear their stories and relax and enjoy the day would be amazing.  Although I fear my rambuctiousness would quickly get me kicked out of the club.  They remind me to slow down and take in life and just breathe. 

• A lion stalk.  Not many people's job allows them to step twenty feet outside their office door to be stalked by lions.  A playful pounce on the glass is all I need to make me giggle and take a step back from frustrations and realize what is important to me.   About a month ago, I received some very good advice that I hope to hold on to.  "Do not ever lose your spirit".  And those lions definitely help me accomplish that.  I love animals, but more than just loving them I feel a pull to help conserve them in their natural habitats.  I am fortunate to feel the connection between conserving resources in our everyday lives and saving wildlife habitat.  The huge problem is not a lot of people feel that connection. 

• Random rock in my coat pocket.  I am pretty sure that I picked up this rock in Denmark when I was there years ago.  It has stayed in the same coat pocket and whenever I put my hand in the pocket it surprises me.  It reminds me of the world and traveling and how much I want see, experience and explore every inch on our planet.  Not only do I want to explore the world but I want to see the health of the environment around the world and conservation initiatives on the ground.  If I could share those experiences with everyone, wouldn't they feel inspired to?  But for now, every time I touch this silly rock, I imagine where I would go and what I would do.  Stupid little rock! 

So what inspires you?  I am fortunate to have many passions and am very easily distracted by "shiny things" that I desperately want to learn more about.  I love being inquisitive.   Are you?

my rock.

Inquisitive.

Random Inspirations

Lately so much has been happening in our world.  Where does your inspiration come from? 

The passing of Steve Jobs has had an incredible impact on so many people.  I watched his Stanford Commencement speech before but I watched it again the other day when I read the news of his passing.  As I watched I thought, if one person can overcome many trials and tribulations and still maintain and obtain huge dreams, why can't we all?  If you have not watched the video yet, do yourself and the world a favor and watch it here. 

I strongly believe and agree with Steve Jobs that everyone should be living their own life and pursuing something they truly believe in.  It really will make the world a better place.

When you are down you have to always have hope that there is a greater place you will be.  You can be at rock bottom but reach back up to the stars.  Steve Jobs was fired from his own company and later said about that time in his life that it was his most creative!  

Believe in what you do.  And heck yes I believe in what I do!  I strive to educate the world about the importance of all wildlife, bring awareness to habitat destruction and encourage people to make simple changes that can impact the entire world.  If cute animal faces can not make the world a better place, I don't think anything can.  So here is my journey one step at a time.  Although right now seems like the beginning, it has been an incredibly long start!  But here I am following in Steve Jobs' words: "So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

Bring it on world.

Here are some other inspirations worth taking a gander at.

Crowdrise.com 
"If you don't give back, no one will like you."
The sass on their website is perfect and it is all about volunteering, raising money for charity and having the most fun in the world while doing it.

hitReCord.org
"It is an open collaborative production company, and this website is where we make things together."
A unique idea.  The money made from products is split half to the company and half to the collaborators.  A random person can make money from this site!

The Happiness Project
A book by Gretchen Rubin.
A woman's year of making resolutions.
I read this once but am planning a reread with notes.  Inspiring to push yourself to make changes in your life.

And what I am dying to check out:
Start Something That Matters 
A book by Blake Mycoskie (founder of TOMS)
Just watch this 2 min video to get my point.
Am I ready?


Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!