A Life in Focus: My First Vision Board!

I’m actually not quite sure if “Vision Board” is the appropriate term to use for this creation. When I look up the definition of a vision board, Oxford says it’s “a collage of images and words representing a person’s wishes or goals, intended to serve as inspiration or motivation.” This will definitely inspire and motivate me, but this was my first attempt at one of these and I think it might equate better to something like “Inspiration Board” or “Affirmation Board.” On a side note, while researching what to call this new creation I even found an article saying to throw away vision boards, because they can actually be “detrimental” and “harmful.” While I could understand what they were saying, I found some of what the article to be pretty ludicrous haha. I will address some some of the things that were said after I talk about my board if you wanna stick around for a little rant 😛 So without further ado…here it is!!

As you can see, what I chose to include are images and words/phrases that struck me in some way as I was leafing through magazines. Some of them are wishes and goals, yes…but most of them are just things I need to remind myself about on a consistent basis to keep my focus (hence the title). Now I’m not going to bore you with a full on explanation of every snippet I selected, but all of them deserve MY attention and focus. I found that mine looked so very different from the two others that were in the same room as me, and most of the ones I found online…and that’s definitely okay! Since I’m a lover of literature and music, using things others have said really drives me as well, so I even included some quotes that I thought were important to remember as I go through daily life:

• “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others” – Booker T. Washington
  
• “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle” – Plato
  
• “We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done” – Alan Turing
  
• “Wealth unused might as well not exist” – Aesop

My board depicts a life I want to lead and also one I deserve. I love helping people, but I need to make sure I am focusing on myself, too. I tend to put myself on the back burner and also to compare myself to others, so having some of these things front and center will help me remember. While selecting what was to go on this board, I envisioned how I would make these things happen to achieve my goals and aspirations for the future. I didn’t go so far as to make a step-by-step plan for each and every one, but I have a general idea of how to make things happen. Big places for me to place my focus:

• Don’t Look Back – you’re not going that way. Everything you’ve been through has happened for a reason. And though you may have been led in a different direction than maybe you wanted to in the first place, beautiful things have happened because of that.
  
• Change is Beautiful – I will constantly have to remind myself of this once we (hopefully) get pregnant, since my goals will change drastically from where they’ve been the last 6 years. It took me a long, long time to even get to the point of being comfortable with starting a family, but I’m working on my negative self-talk and doubting myself less every day.
  
• Be a Story Worth Telling – are you leaving a legacy behind? When a co-worker passed recently and we attended his viewing I wasn’t surprised to stand in a line for close to an hour to pay my respects to his family. But it got me thinking about what kind of memories and experiences I’m leaving others with. Am I proud of the life I lead? The way I think, act, and speak? My interactions with those I love AND those I feel less positively about?

So back to that crazy article (which apparently he’s received hate-mail for…which I’m not surprised). The first thought it mentioned was “Positive mental attitudes, dreaming, wishing, and fantasizing may, in fact, be harmful.” Seriously? I’ve always been encouraged to use my imagination, dream big, and believe that anything is possible. Yes, I’ve dealt with the reality of the world along the way, but I wouldn’t necessarily call that harmful. It also mentions “we have no control over the actions of others” and that “the universe may have other plans.” Again, duh. These are basically common sense, right? Why would that negatively impact me, unless I don’t have a grasp on reality?! The final stab, though, was this…”Ideas, thoughts, and dreams are great, but they are forms of energy that do not necessarily lead to action.” I guess I misunderstood the point of the vision board exercise, then, kind sir. You mean to tell me that I can’t just cut out words and pictures, put them on my board, and EXPECT them all to happen without taking MASSIVE ACTION to achieve it?! Shit, I thought this was some miracle work. Divine intervention, if you will. *insert face palm here* His final thoughts at least made sense, but I think anyone who created one understands this needs to happen: “Convert your vision boards to action boards. Dream about it, envision how you will realistically do it or get it, and then make it happen.”

I’m not placing an end-date on this vision…these are all things to strive for daily for the rest of my life as far as I’m concerned. And though my main goals and dreams will change along the way, it’s important to always expect more, move forward, and know there’s always room to grow!!