SOAPBOX of the week:intoxication of a pastime

“Passion is all about allowing yourself to get lost in something.”     – Gail Sheehy, writer and lecturer

Picture an artist covered in paint, a cook in sauces and spices, a mechanic in grease.  Picture a writer surrounded by stacks of books, an athlete by gear and sneakers, a musician by sheet music and instruments, a pilot by model airplanes.  At times, each has become so involved in their craft, hobby or dream that they’ve forgotten time of day, list of tasks, even title on their business card.  Whether it’s their chosen vocation or weekly vacation from the daily grind, these folks aren’t merely “distracted” or dabbling …they’re captivated, in love and lost in something indescribable.  So what about you?  What makes your heart sing?  Brings divine peace and joy?  Commitment to something OTHER THAN your j-o-b, family or obligations is not only allowed…the passion it ignites fires up all other areas of your life.  And if society tells you to ease up, clean up or clear out your fabulously consuming “messes”…tell ‘em to go get lost!

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG. 

BOOK KIMBERLIE TO MOTIVATE your company!  310- 500- 9587

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!

SOAPBOX of the week: elbow-greased responsibility

Folks, this is a snapshot of life’s self-inflicted aggravations…step back and look at the Bigger Picture and see how daily avoidance in responsibility breeds issues larger than society can handle.  Just think about it…

“Our greatest weariness comes from work not done.”     – Eric Hoffer, social writer and philosopher

Indeed a body in motion stays in motion, as the physics gurus have proven.  Oh, but the opposite is undeniably true, too: the lazier you are…the lazier you become.  Now, don’t waste any energy arguing with me, people; we wouldn’t want you to overexert yourself!  Besides, you know it’s true!  When the laundry piles up, the files bury your desk, and the clock nags that you’re perpetually late, I suggest you reconsider that it might not be someone else’s fault.  Perhaps in satiating your unhealthy reality TV, water cooler gossip, and nicotine fixes, you’ve sacrificed time, energy, money, reputation and relationships.  We all get 24 hours each day to get stuff done.  Instigate your own perpetual motion, folks, and your life-enhancing achievements will soon wipe out your excuse-filled exhaustion.  Choose movement over creeping moss and enjoy the enlightening sensations of a refreshed, relieved state of mind.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG. 

BOOK KIMBERLIE TO MOTIVATE your company!  310- 500- 9587

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!

SOAPBOX of the week: lose the crown, folks!

“Extremes meet, and there is no better example
than the haughtiness of humility.”   
 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher and poet

Aaah, the precariously transient state between humility and pride.  None of us are excluded from being that unconditionally-loved child who’s still starving for attention…even moreso as fully-grown adults!  And rest never finds us on life’s perpetual teeter-totter of meekness vs. expectation.  The moment we even think in one direction, the balance shifts.  When we sport our sacrifices like invisible royal robes, we’re surprised with the ensuing gratitude and accolades.  Yet, blessings are tainted when we join in the applause, trumpeting our importance for more reward and approval.  In essence, our once grateful spirits are trampled by our ugly egos, to again reveal crowns of self-serving exaltation.  So, what’s the harmonizing solution?  Simple.  Separate the gifts from the real earnings from your efforts.  Bow to the unquestionable fact that you’ll never be humble enough.  Then, witness the marvels when being thankful becomes your sole modus operandi. 

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG. 

BOOK KIMBERLIE TO MOTIVATE your company!  310- 500- 9587

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!

SOAPBOX of the week: ode to Halloween

Folks, this was one of the very first SOAPBOX® vignettes launched on the site… but it bears repeating!  As kiddos, we’re constantly told to “GROW UP!”… but as adults we truly need to LIGHTEN UP and recognize what fun can still look like!  The upcoming holiday of dressing up for no damn reason and wrestling over “the better candy bar” is your perfect launching pad for the rest of the year.

“Fun has a sacred dimension.” – Adriana Diaz, life coach

As kids we set up camp in that realm, only coming out when paged or prompted by someone in charge. We experienced “fun” in just about everything -down to a Cracker Jack prize!- and saturated our present tense with laughter and a contagious carefree attitude. So, how now do you define “fun”? Where do you go to find it? Stumped? Well, perhaps you’re light on amusement TODAY because you’re caught up in creating TOMORROW. The “land of fun” is found in an entirely different sphere of your perception …but it’s always there, twinkling in the background. So choose to dip into its unending supply of amusement, uninhibited laughter, and memories of wonderfully pointless activities -and that special sparkle you bring back to the “real world” will confetti your perspective with the delightful new energy of a kid.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG. 

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!   SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)

SOAPBOX of the week: be a little curious, folks!

“The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him.”     – Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher

It absolutely baffles me when a one-word answer is supposed to suffice an intricate, open-ended question.  Infuriates me when my further soul-searching queries elicit merely an “I don’t know” or “I don’t care.”  Do we live on the same planet, folks??  ‘Cause here’s the newsflash: Outer space is still uncharted, cancer still uncured, man’s evolution still controversial, prayer miraculously healing, jazz still indefinable, and love indescribably infinite.  And yet countless people numbingly walk the earth, unabashedly unfazed with this journey through time and space we call “life”.  The dimensions of their reality equals a monotonous grey amidst an endless Crayola-ed potential.  But with all this stated in truth, may we not mock the colorblind, though we might pity them.  Instead may we each task ourselves to seed their curiosity to explore; cultivate their excitement to experience more; nurture their hearts and souls with drive to find their own purpose.  For as their minds grow, so does your own mysteriously, glorious existence.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG. 

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!   SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)

SOAPBOX of the week: inertia’s affliction

“Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.”     – Susan Ertz, novelist

Ironic, huh?  We complain that life’s too short –yet we piddle away days with pointless distractions.  “If only I had more time…” we whine, allowing our real priorities to fall victim to procrastination.  And when forced to sit still for patience’s sake, or quiet for purposeful listening, we witness real time echoing its deliberate second hand… and cry boredom!  With further insult to the gift of days, we convince ourselves that melodrama and minutia, micro-relationships and mindless activities are acceptable time consumers.  So, what do you really want to stick around for? If you can’t produce a list AT LEAST the size of your holiday wish catalog…then there’s a problem!  Folks, I earnestly suggest you create an inventory of passions and pursuits, puzzles to figure, and hard-core reasons to yearn for immortality.  Adopt a pet, become a Big Sister, go to church, launch a business, start a family, run a marathon…shall I go on?  Saturate your being with purpose and you’ll deplete those presumptuous pangs of boredom.

Copyright 2000-2009 by Kimberlie Dykeman.        SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.   A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to
LIVESTRONG. 

COMING SOON!  Pure Soapbox  audiobook!   SOAPBOX® video subscriptions  for mobile (Click for sneak peek!)