Sitting here relaxing a bit before starting the work day, I was reading some of the many blogs I subscribe to and follow on a regular basis this morning and came across one that listed “7 Ways to Stay Creative”. After reading the “ways” I couldn’t help but feel two things….

1) Nice list but expanding on the idea just a little would be nice… even if readers do get it.

2) Ways to stay creative? How about LIFE philosophies to assist in staying grounded and real?  🙂

The way I see it, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to remember to stop during our busy lives and remember to enjoy the small things or, at the very least, ‘smell the roses’. It’s obviously been a problem for many a generation. With that in mind I believe the following points are some good ones to keep with you as a reminder of how to stay enjoying life. I know I use these every day. Lately many people have been telling me how great I look, how relaxed I seem to be. It’s all staying focused and knowing how to leave the stresses behind…. no matter what the name or position of the stress causer may be. 🙂

1. Allow yourself to make big mistakes. (if others lose it … let it go)
2. Get away from your computer. This is a good move now and then no matter what you do for a living. As a marketing guy I know how important it is to stay plugged in. That said – burn out is not worth it as there no enjoying the work put in that way.
3. Talk to strangers, engage with a different demographic of people. New and different people have great and different ideas and ways of seeing things. Never be so set in your ways and what you do that you don’t open up opportunities to see a new side of life through the eyes of others.
4. Make up songs in the shower and sing them loudly in the car. Why not?! Have fun… who cares if it’s out of tune.  🙂
5. Don’t be afraid of appearing crazy. I see this as an expansion of #4, after all – different can seem crazy to others even when we don’t try. Point being – other peoples crazy can simply be our difference in what is their norm… I like different.  🙂
6. Stop trying to be someone else’s idea of perfect. We’re hard enough on ourselves and, let’s face it, there are others who simply cannot be satisfied. People like that are not worth having in your life. They drain you and almost literally suck the life out of you. In fact – I’m drafting a fun cartoon based on people like this. My way of saying… nice try but I win cuz I’m VERY good at what I do regardless of what you may think. We’re often MUCH better than we think.
7. Know who you are and refuse to despise your own beginnings. We are who we are because of the journey that has brought us to the place we are currently at. So, if you like what / who you are, the journey that brought you here has been great. If you don’t then the journey that brought you to this realization is great as you are now at a place to make the changes.

That’s right….. all this is why my main tag to people is “Enjoy the Journey” I live it and believe it to the fullest. If we’re not enjoying the journey we need to make changes. Usually those changes start inside us. As Apple Computer says – Think Different. Yeah…. always loved that one.  🙂