Learning from Your Bliss

Last Friday, I hopped into my car after a half-day at work. I drove away from Charlotte, excited to arrive at my destination: Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.

Ocean Isle is comforting. I grew up there. It's beautiful, it's where my friends and family are, and it's a lot less busy than a more commercial beach. Walking into the waves of Ocean Isle offers a certain kind of bliss that only comes from feeling completely at home. 

Home

Ocean Isle will always be my hometown, but things are changing, causing me to have a sense of urgency to soak in every moment. My grandparents still live at the beach, my dad is there for a few more months, and two of my best friends live there, but with my parents and brother moving to their new farm in South Carolina, and my Grandparents following them soon after, everything I have grown up with is morphing into something different.

But Ocean Isle still holds a special place in my heart. It will probably always be the beach I want to vacation to, and it will always hold beautiful memories. 

Two of my best gals are still there, and I know that when I miss them (which is often), I am welcome to drive down and see them.

Blissful Things

People use the word bliss in many different ways. But in my eyes, bliss is what makes your heart soar- the thing that makes you somehow relax yet come alive at the same time. It's the meeting of peacefulness and passion. 

The Ocean is that for me.

As soon as I lay my towel down, dip my toes in the cold water, and playfully fight with the waves, I start feeling like I can accomplish my goals, achieve my dreams, and make good things happen. Mysteriously, the salty sea and ocean breeze wake up my spirits almost instantly.

With or Without It

Unfortunately though, I can't live at the beach right now. I can't move there, I can't spend all my time there. I can't go to the beach every time I run out of motivation, or every time I'm feeling uninspired.  

The beachy-bliss feelings are great, and I'll take them any time I can get them, but living life as an adult requires that I learn how to find inspiration even when I haven't seen the waves in months. I can't wait for seashells and salt air to give me magical powers.

The Clay Cottage // Ocean Isle Beach, NC

I have to live my life consistently- daily. Whether I'm at the beach, stuck inside on a rainy day, or living in Siberia, my life needs to be lived out in the same way I would live it if I did spend every day at the beach. Living life well means going all out, remaining steadfast, and holding onto determination even when I don't feel like it. When I'm depressed, when I'm angry, when I'm overwhelmed, and when I have no motivation, living well means moving past those feelings pressing on anyway.

No one accomplished their goals by saying "Well, I would do this...but I don't feel like it". On the contrary! People accomplish their goals when they determine, "I'm exhausted and it's 3 a.m. but I'm not quitting until this project is finished".

No one get's to quit on life until they get to go on vacation. I don't and you don't either. We all know that deep down. But I feel like so often, we really do give up. We give into the lies that say we can't do it. We give into the nagging exhaustion that creeps up when we've been pushing our hardest. And we even give in to our laziness and Netflix addictions. 

We give in a lot. 

But if you're like me and have a deep longing to accomplish your dreams, you know that we can't keep giving in. 

We can't wait for a perfect fit of inspiration to pursue our dreams. We can't wait for a fantastic day to live life well. We have to live right now. We have to keep on living well even when it feels like we can't any longer.

Will you join me today in living an "inspired life" even when you aren't feeling inspired? Will you commit to living life well even when things aren't going your way? That's the way we were meant to live, and it's time we start getting it right!