A Manifesto?

Life is too short for anything that steals your peace and confidence.

So I’m taking this class and my assignment today was to write a manifesto. Yup. A Manifesto. It was supposed to represent me, my lifestyle, my… I don’t know, me. When I started reading through the examples provided I got mildly stressed out. They all sounded so grand, so lofty, so perfect. I thought, “How can I measure up to these amazingly perfect beings living these perfectly grounded lives??” But since I know that kind of thinking get’s me nowhere-good fast, I did a little digging into the idea of a manifesto.

I read through the details of the assignment and came to this juicy tidbit from Melissa Cassera, the fab individual running the course. (You can find more about her fab-ness here). She wrote, a manifesto “provides a ‘check-in’ system to ensure that you’re practicing what you preach… If your manifesto is all about friendship and girl power, and you haven’t had a coffee date with your best friend in five years… yikes. Time for a new manifesto. Or a new life.”

Once I read this I was hooked! How cool! A way to check-in and see if my daily-life is matching up with what I believe. A way to stay on track. A way to see if I’m just talking a lot, but not living so much. Turns out Dictionary.com concurs with Melissa. Here’s how it defines a manifesto: a declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives. Love it!

So a manifesto isn’t a brag about how amazing and perfect you are. It’s a statement about what you desire to be. It’s a promise, of sorts, to yourself about how you intend to live. It’s a snapshot of what you value. So I wrote my manifesto. I call it Megan’s Manifesto. I know, A+ for creativity ;o) I like to think of it as a nice little roadmap for my life. Something I can refer back to in order to help me stay on track.

I share all of this because I actually found the process of writing my manifesto to be uplifting, liberating, and motivating. I really did! I share this with you in the hopes that, if you find this idea even mildly interesting, that you might undertake the task of writing your own personal manifesto. What are your desires and intentions? What do you love? What do you value? How do you chose to live? How close or how far are you from your manifesto? If you are close, great news. If you aren’t? It’s information– valuable information. It’s your check-in on the road of life. It’s your own personal guide to yourself. It’s your map.

Before I share my manifesto, I’ll tell you this. The best part about writing it was that it didn’t just turn out to just be this lofty, ideal goal. Well, it is a lofty ideal. But it’s not like it’s a destination I have yet to reach that’s hundreds of miles away. Turns out I’m living (or at least trying to live) my manifesto already. And that make’s me happy :o)

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Megan’s Manifesto

“When I wake up in the morning, the very first thought in my mind is: “How can I rock this day??? But first, how can I get the kids up and out the door without feeling like I already un-rocked the day?”
And after that, it’s time to meditate. It might not sound like a rockin’ start, but it is my rock.
My heart glows when I see love in little eyes and furry faces and find brightness behind the clouds.
My heart breaks when I’m thoughtless with my words— out-loud to others or in-between my own two ears.
In my world, time alone for recharging is an absolute necessity. But so is dancing and dining and time with delightful peeps.
Surrender is always a fabulous idea, especially when you don’t know what else to do.
Dieting is overrated and hating your body is a definite, complete, and total NO.
Fantasizing about a fab life in Italy or on the beach or anywhere without laundry is totally reasonable.
Striving for peace, in and out of the storm, is a must.
I shall choose as many times as necessary to surrender my fear for freedom.
I shall not worry about having too much hair product, too many tubes of lipstick, or too many pairs of pajamas. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
I will follow my own inner wisdom.
I will free myself from the anguish of getting it (whatever ‘it’ happens to be) perfect.
I will not trade away my life for worry.
I intend to read to escape, dance without thinking, and sing at the tops of my lungs when I just can’t hold it in.
I trust that I am not alone and that the Universe has got my back.
I choose to keep trying even when I’ve blown it…again…
I believe that at the end of the day, your choices are all that really matter.
When I die, I want to be remembered as a person who lived, loved, and laughed from my heart, even when I was scared.
Life is too short for anything that steals your peace and your confidence.
You’ve got to let that shit go.”

Merken

Merken

Merken