Why you need a Bucket List

Not everybody has a life that is perfect all the time.  Most people have a life full of ups and downs - a bit like a roller-coaster.  When you are on the down part it is easy to get depressed and fall into a funk.  A bucket list can move you out of that dark place.
A bucket list is a list of things you'd like to do before you die, or kick the bucket.
We all have dreams and goals.  We just don't write them down.  Sometimes we store them in some obscure part of our brain.  Most of the time, those dreams and goals gather cobwebs as we push them further and further away.  If we are not careful they will become out of sight, out of mind.  Writing them down brings them to the fore.
Granted, not all dreams are achievable, but many are doable.  The doable ones, write down on your bucket list and then make a plan to start ticking them off your list.  Planning to achieve and complete items on your bucket list is certain to get you out of the funk as it gives you a purpose.  Something to work towards.  A reward to celebrate the journey.
For me a bucket list is all about keeping my spirit of adventure alive.  I want my gravestone to read "She lived her life to the fullest."  I want to experience as much as possible and make as many memories as I can to savor and ruminate over when I am too old and frail to do anything.  And then of course, I might go before I get old and frail.  You just never know.  So, I have to try and do as much as possible before my time is up.
My bucket list gives me hope as well as happiness.  If I find myself feeling down, I will focus on my bucket list and start to get excited.  What should I do next?
For every item I tick off, I think of a new one to replace it with.  So my bucket list is continually evolving.
I have a few bucket list items coming up soon that I will be able to tick off my list.  What can I replace them with?  I feel happy just imagining what I can do next.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living in Norway.  Besides ticking items off her bucket list, she is the author of The Freedom Club, Defective, Hush Baby, CU@8 and others.  Her books are all available on Amazon.com in both ebook and paperback formats.  www.cindyvine.com

Weird Dreams

When you are dreaming and you know you are dreaming, then that is called a lucid dream.  You often have control of the dream and can force yourself to wake up if it gets out of hand.  The other night I had such a dream, well more of a nightmare actually.  It did involve zombies but that's all I remember.  That and the soft hoarse scary voice that seemed to be talking throughout the dream.  The voice freaked me out more than the zombies did.  But there was a point when in my dream I said to myself, "You are dreaming.  This is only a dream.  You can wake up and get out of it when you choose."  And then I physically forced myself to wake up and leave the dream.  Quite bizarre.  Something like that has never happened to me before.
Last night I had a similar kind of experience.  It wasn't a scary dream at all like the previous one, but I was aware I was dreaming and in my dream I said to myself, "This is a dream.  Remember it as there's a message in it."
So this morning I feel compelled to blog about my dream I had last night.  What the message is, is beyond me.  I am not a dream-analyser.  The dream went like this.  I had a small mouse which I put in a large cage.  Not your average sort of cage, it was like one at a zoo that they keep larger animals in.  I found a baby animal which I thought at first was a large mouse, so I put it in the cage with the mouse.  The animal grew over time and turned into a raccoon.  I used to talk with these animals and they used to talk with me.  Strange but hey, this is just a dream.  The raccoon grew bigger and I would catch it staring at the mouse and looking at the mouse as if the mouse could be its next meal.  I kept telling the raccoon off, but it would keep staring at the mouse.  Eventually I told the raccoon I could no longer trust it so I would have to release it into the wild, which I did.  The raccoon went off and found the wild wasn't so great.  It couldn't find food and bigger animals tried to kill it so it came back and begged to be allowed back into the cage with the mouse, promising to be a strict vegetarian from now on and never look at the mouse again as a potential meal.  So I let it back in and then a mystery voice said, "There is a moral to this story."
Blow me down sideways, I don't know what it is.
Do you have any ideas?
Sigmund Freud's theory was that your dreams are an expression of what you're repressing during the time you are awake. And Carl Jung believed that dreams provide messages about "lost" or "neglected" parts of ourselves that need to be reintegrated.  This dream must be trying to tell me something.
Cindy Vine is the author of 'Not Telling' and 'Defective' available as paperbacks or kindle on Amazon.

Trying to live the dream

Work.  Something you have to do to survive which will hopefully give you the means to bring you closer to your dream.  Unfortunately, the constraints of work often hold you back from your dream.  Commitments, time constraints, all sent to try your patience.
Last night I dreamt that I owned six houses, each one in a different country.  I spent the year traveling around the world spending two months in each house.  That dream is probably a bit unrealistic considering that at this precise moment I don't own any property anywhere in the world.  And 3-4 houses would be better so that you can spend longer in each country.  But hey, it was just a dream.
Thinking about it though as dawn approached while I watched the Fiji Samoan World Cup Rugby game at some god-forsaken hour on a Sunday morning when all intelligent life were still firmly ensconced in their beds fast asleep, I realised that I quite liked that dream and might need to tweak it a bit and adapt it to make it my own.

The first step will be trying to save some money.  You can't buy a property without any money.  That is a sad fact of life.  Unfortunately, I don't have any of that hugtight sticky glue to keep those dollar notes firmly stuck to my coffers.  Exotic holidays are too much of a temptation and I can't resist flying off to explore somewhere new.  And then, life is so short so you really should make the most of it and not short-change yourself on those holidays.
What I'd really like to do is give up my day job and then spend my time writing and traveling.  Following my team for the 2015 Cricket and Rugby World Cups.
These dreams are not impossible; they just take a bit of conscious effort to work towards making them a reality.  A dream is broken down into small goals.  Each goal is then broken down into steps.  Don't be afraid to dream big.  It's the goals to get there that need to be small and achievable.  Maybe today is the day to work out the blueprint, the road map to achieving your dreams.  Good luck!

Introducing Vogue

Encouraging words from fellow author, Vogue.

Underlying Messages

I decided to write this post after receiving a text message from one of my friends. She had given an autographed copy of Diamonds in the Rough as a gift to a young lady. According to my friend, she gave the young lady a copy of the book to inspire her to go after her dreams.

After reading the message, I automatically began to think about the numerous amounts of people who have told me that I have inspired them to reach their dreams. Some even have gone on to start working on them. For example, I have a friend who is now a published author as well as a relative who is working on opening up a clothing store. It’s like a domino effect in a way. Since I decided to take a chance with my own dreams and goals, others have automatically done the same. I rest peacefully at night knowing that I have had this impact on people.

It is because of this experience that I ask all of you authors out there, what is the underlying message that you want your readers to get from your books? When I discuss Diamonds in the Rough, I often label it as a story of ambition and determination. Anytime I get feedback on the novel, I try and listen to see if the reader sees this in the storyline.

If you don’t have an answer yet the question, try and remember some of the feedback that you’ve gotten. What did your readers get from your book?

Regardless of what your book is about, there is always a hidden message there that can inspire others. Remember this: Words on paper have the same effect as the words that come out of our mouths!

April L. Blanding/ Vogue

Simply Vogue- www.simplyvogue.net

faith...hope...trust