March 24: Be, Do, Have

I had this written on my hand the other day, with little flowers beside the word "Do."  My sister spotted it, and, being a girl of few words, said, "Um...."  I explained to her that in my meandering internet research I had stumbled upon a statement that embodies a technique I am trying out in my life.  This technique is called "Be, Do, Have," and these are the basics of it: BE the person you want to be right now by DOing what they would do, to HAVE what they have.
     Well, those of you who know me, know that there are many things I'd love to BE- a writer, an artist, a world-traveler... skinny.  So the question I pose to you is, what are the things you want to be, and are we being those people now and doing the things that those people would do so that we can have what they have?  Probably not.  Many of us are too scared to ask for the things we really want or may even be scared to get them.  Or, we see these dreams of ours as being far off into the future.  Well I'll be (this) after I do (that) and then I can feel (like this).
     Unfortunately, it is exactly this line of futuristic thinking that is holding us back from realizing our dreams sooner.  I am reminded of something I read in a book about writing once.  (I am great at reading books about writing, actually writing on a regular basis, not so much...)  It states, "WRITERS WRITE."  This woman put a huge sign of it up in her office, and all around her house, if I remember correctly.  She had to remind herself to embody this role she was attempting, even though it was something she loved.  Now that I write for visitsouth.com, and I get paid actual money, I should consider myself a writer.  And yet, a part of me feels like I won't really be a writer until I publish my book.  This is silly, backwards thinking.  I am a writer because I write. I am an artist because I paint.  I don't have to be famous or rolling in money from either one of these endeavors for it to be more real, more true.
     So I am trying to change my thinking and Be who I want to be now.  Changing our thoughts is the first step, because our actions spring from what we believe about what we can and can't do.  Just bought some new paints today, feeling nervous, but I'm excited to start again.  After all, painters paint.

Our thoughts and imagination are the only real limits to our possibilities. ~Orison S. Marde