"Dare to be Yourself"

The sunset drum circle at Nokomis Beach last night and one dancer who obviously dared to be herself. Captured with a LUMIX FZ300 f2.8 @ 1/125 ISO 200

The toughest challenge in life is to be yourself
in a world where everyone is trying to make you "someone else"...
Dare to be yourself!
Anon

I write on Sundays because I love starting one day a week sharing something other than photography, business or marketing. Most of the time my topic is about something in my life I hope you can learn from. It's about sharing my mistakes so you can make new ones of your own. Even if it's a topic you might not learn from, I hope you'll realize you're not alone in what you're feeling.

I found the quote above, and it just hit me hard. For years I just wasn't happy with so many different aspects of my life, from the personal side to business, I lived behind a mask, hiding a lot of important things I was feeling. When I left Rangefinder/WPPI so many of you thought I was nuts. Leaving a marriage of thirty-seven years also brought a series of challenges eventually resulting in something I never thought would be relevant to my life, "estrangement."

Don't judge my story by the chapter you walked in on!
Anon

And there you have it - the foundation of this morning's post.

You've got to be yourself. You've got to follow those paths that challenge your skills, your passion and fulfill your dreams. Whether it's a change in your career path or your relationships, so many people want to take sides. It's interesting that going through a divorce, family members took sides, and not one of them ever spoke to me about why I was making the choices I did. On the change in my business, they did the same, never considering the new path I'd chosen was exactly the one I was supposed to be on!

It's been almost ten years since I started on this journey and along the way, some amazing people have come into my life including my wife, Sheila. The business I began in 2009 keeps growing and challenging me. Technology, communication, social media are always changing, and I've never been this satisfied with my life.  My definition of success is revised almost daily and simplified - because it's all about the smile on my face when I roll out of bed in the morning.

And that leads me to one more quote that's so relevant to so many of us:

This is my life...my story...my book.
I will no longer let anyone else write it;
nor will I apologize for the edits I make.
Steve Maraboli.

Wishing everybody a terrific Sunday filled with moments bringing you one step closer to living your dream. And whatever that dream is, you don't owe anybody an explanation or apology. Make it a day of peace, love and time with those friends and family most important to you. And ALWAYS hit those eleven-second hugs.

Happy Sunday everybody and thank you for being a part of my life.