Constance's Top 12 Rules for Successful Living

1. Recognize the power of your words. You can give life or destroy it with your words. Never give your word lightly or recklessly. Your character is judged by whether or not you are a person of your word.
2.  Your belief or faith in yourself (or lack thereof) will guide your words and actions. Believing in yourself and speaking words of faith and optimism will actually create opportunities and open doors for you. The opposite is also true.
3. Always live in and enjoy the present. Don’t wait to appreciate the value of a person or an event when it’s past. Don’t focus on how much better things will be in the future. Live in and for today!
4. Love deeply and without reserve. Love is life-giving! Life is richer and more enjoyable with love in it. Love makes successes greater and challenges easier to handle.
5. Apologize and forgive quickly, especially to those you care about. Life is short. No one has time to hold onto anger or grudges.
6. Never be afraid to admit mistakes or ask for help in all areas of your life – business, school, parenting, relationships.
7. When you’re in a relationship (especially a marriage), keep your business between the two of you. You’re the team. Don’t allow outside influences to jeopardize your marriage or relationship. No “bro code” or “sisterhood” should supersede the commitment you two have to each other.
8. Be willing to take a risk…in life, in business and in love. You only live once. Even if you fail, you’ll learn. If you do fail, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, apply your wisdom and knowledge from your experiences, and try again.
9. Learn how to manage your money early in life. Don’t spend more than you have. Learn how to save. Knowing how to manage money wisely will save you years of heartache and mistakes.
10. Learn your strengths and your weaknesses. Strengths and weaknesses can both work to your benefit. Use them wisely.
11. Never underestimate your value…or anyone else’s. People will treat you the way you allow them to treat you. If you don’t value yourself, neither will anyone else.
12. Never ignore red flags. You can count on having regrets if you do. We have instincts, intuition, and the Holy Spirit for a reason.

The Zombie Apocalypse

Isn’t it fascinating how you meet some people and it feels like you’ve known them all your life? Or how you can visit a place and it immediately feels like home? The connection is immediate and undeniable.

Actually, those are wake up calls. But I'll get to that in a moment.

When I experience that feeling of familiarity and connection, I believe that the place or the person is part of my ultimate life path. It may not be for right this moment, but it is inevitable that our lives, our paths, will intertwine. Or, it may be for only this moment, but it will have a lifelong impact.

Conversely, I’ve met people whose names I can’t remember to save my life. Not strangers, mind you. People I’ve worked with or gone to school with for years. I’ve lived in places where I’ve never felt connected. Each morning, I’ve awakened feeling like a visitor in someone else’s home or hometown. I’ve been in relationships and jobs that felt surreal. Whose life am I living? Who is this man?

I recall that my Aunt Trudie told me she didn’t really wake up and come alive until she was 30. Up until then, she was dead. (Her words, not mine.)

I didn’t completely understand it then, but I do now. Recently, I awakened. I’m older than 30, but I’m just glad it happened.

I’m looking around, however, and I see dead people. The Zombie Apocalypse is upon us. I’m wading through a sea of dead people who appear to be living. They are all around me – walking, working, even procreating. It’s actually a bit terrifying now that I’m awake.

I tried waking a few of them up, especially those close to me, but it didn’t work. It’s worse than The Matrix. You see, zombies eat or kill non-zombies. If they find out you’re alive, the zombies will attack you and try to destroy you.

If I make no sudden moves, I should be all right. I can blend in until I get to that safe place with other people who are truly alive. Perhaps together we can wake the dead.

I’m heading to the “safe zone” (my right place), to spend time with the right people (the living), at the right time (for the rest of my life, and beyond).

Until then, my journey will be a great, dangerous adventure.

Constantly Thinking