Tag Archives: Vision

This Is Your Sign to GO!

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go after your dreamsOn the crowded highway of life, you’ll get run over if you just stand still on the freeway. Sure you can move off onto the shoulder where the disabled cars are, but you can’t stay there forever and expect to reach your desired destination. If you stay on the shoulder too long, you’ll get ticketed, towed, or vandalized.

And, so it is in life. You’ve got to keep moving to keep growing, for to stop growing is to die.   I’m not saying to not take time to pray, meditate, plan, and be guided. That’s should be a habit.  I’ve pulled off on the shoulder of the highway of life many times to regroup and get my reference points clear, but then you’ve got to get back in the driver’s seat and get moving.  Don’t worry about how far off your destination is.  Don’t spend time worrying about how you will get there or what detours or roadblocks you might encounter.  Just have faith and get moving.   Do not despise your humble beginnings or small steps.  Remember, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” or in our analogy, one mile.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

You Are Here But Where Is That?

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You are here!  Most people are familiar with the maps in most malls  that show you where you are now or the GPS maps that have the red star showing you where you are going.  You must find where you are now and then locate your destination before you can figure out in which direction you need to go.

What Are Your Reference Points?

Reference points are critical to getting to any destination in life and you need at least three: 1) A Destination, 2) A Starting Point, and 3) A Plan.  You are here and you are on your way somewhere!  But where; do you know?  One of my favorite songs of all time is Diana Ross’s ‘Mahogany’ from ‘Lady Sings the Blues.’  The lyrics that always motivate me to be aware and proactive are:  “Do you know where you’re going to?  Do you like the things that life is showing you?  Do you know? Now looking back at all the past, we let so many dreams just slip through our hands.”  The words make me realize that time is precious and  that if we idle too long in indecision, fear,  and doubt that we can lose out.  What dreams are slipping through your hands right now?  Do you know?  Click to continue reading about ‘Where Are You Going?’

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Are You On Purpose?

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“Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment,” wrote James Allen, author of ‘As a Man Thinketh.’  There have been times in my life that my excitement and energy were so pronounced that people have asked, “What are you on?”  I’d respond with, “I’m on purpose!” At those times I was undoubtedly thinking about things that excited me, motivated me, and uplifted me. My vision and perspectives were uplifting and clearly I was thinking about meaningful things, purposeful things, or things that brought me or someone else joy.   At those times, I tended to have absolute hope in the future, faith in people, and understood that divine grace was guiding and protecting me.

Elevate Your Thoughts and Elevate Your Reality

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote: “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”  I can say for sure when my energy, vision, and excitement are high that I am most certainly NOT thinking about events or gossiping or complaining about people.  When my thinking was skewed, I’d fear the future, distrust people and their intentions, and feel all alone and hopeless in my doldrums.  But when my thinking is right, that faithful feeling of knowing and of being connected sparks my creativity and solutions to whatever problems I have become clear.  The right person, thought, idea, or circumstances seem to appear before me.  I’ve learned that if I listen to my guidance and act immediately, that solving whatever problem is before me becomes an exciting journey rather than anxiety driven mission.  Even more importantly the “problems” are no longer debilitating but instead become opportunities for growth.  Just changing my perspective changed my focus and changing my focus changed my reality.   You are the driver and your thoughts can take you anywhere, so be careful and stay alert.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Listen for Your Inner Wisdom

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We each have an inner knowing that we must learn to trust and rely upon. On Sunday afternoon I got the inspiration to call my stepmother who is recuperating in a nursing home.  It was just a spark in the middle of the day, at a time that thought she’d be at the church service and I almost talked myself out of calling right then.  But the impulse was strong and I listened.  I called her and she didn’t sound good at all.

She said, “Make the nurses stop drugging me.  They are giving me too much medicine. They have me in the hall.”  I asked her did she want to be there and she said, “No.”  I told her my sister and I would work on it.  Then there was silence.  The last few conversations we’d had she’d fallen asleep in the middle of the conversation or just asked me to call back because she was tired or sleeping, no matter what time of day it was.  When I questioned the nurse I found out she was not in the hall at all, but something was wrong.  She was obviously disoriented.  I reminded them of her bad heart.  They ended up sending her to the hospital for evaluation and deduced that she had had a heart attack.  In addition as a dialysis patient she also had elevated calcium and potassium levels.  And if that were not enough, she had a bladder infection.  So many things were wrong and yet had I not called, they perhaps would have been calling me with that final dreaded call.

I am so grateful that I listened.  I had a few deadlines at the time and it was not the best time to stop and spend the afternoon on the phone with nurses, caretakers, doctors, and family.  But I’ve learned that when we care, we are guided.  When we listen, the eternal source of wisdom speaks to us.  When we are “interrupted from our mundane reality,” it’s because something MORE important needs our attention right then.  It’s so great to not have to live with, “I wish I would have….”  Today’s lesson is to listen, appreciate the intuition, trust it  and act on it.  Now she’s recuperating in the hospital and on the road to health, we hope!

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.

Memorial Day: Befittingly Remembering

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 Who has passed on in your history, in the past few years, or even since the last Memorial Day?

Memorial Day is not only a time to remember deaths, but more importantly a time for us to remember the lives and contributions of those that have served, sacrificed, or meaningfully touched our lives and passed on.

If you truly valued the life of someone now departed, stop right now, write down their names, say a prayer for them, and REMEMBER them befittingly. What lessons can be savored, internalized, and used as a guide to make us better humans, employees, friends, spouses, students, neighbors, citizens, parents, children, and stewards of this beautiful planet?

Take a lesson from Sharon Parker of ROASA, Remembering Our Ancestors Synergistic Association who pulled together a local community to repair a leaking roof on the home of an elderly couple’s home or Judith Clark of Women Who Care Ministries whose non-profit brings together young and old volunteers who stand out in the scorching hot sun or freezing snow to collect food to feed hungry children.  And, remember those who are not traditionally remembered.  Remember the Buffalo Soldiers and women who have served our country.

Wikipedia defines a memorial as, “an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person (who has died) or an event.”  The key words for me are “a focus for memory of something.”Let’s reflect on the old adage, “If we don’t learn from the past, we are condemned to repeat it!”   Let’s not forget the true meaning of the day.  Part 3: Honoring Respecting, and Valuing ALL Life

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.