Lisa McAfee

So I was listening to webcast of Oprah's Life Lessons the other night, and reading Face-Book comments on her fb site.  I noticed several people posting messages concerning the attitude of  "faking it till you make it" as contradictory to being your Authentic Self.  So is "faking it till you make it" being unauthentic?  I would have to say no, it is not.  If you have ever watched one of the makeover shows on television, you will find people who dress in inappropriate or frumpy ways and often their family and friends will nominate them to recieve a makeover.  They will point out that the way this person dresses is holding them back from recieving promotions at work, getting jobs that they want, or sometimes even from finding someone to be in a relationship with. And what usually happens at first is the person may become defensive. "We'll this is my style.  I like looking like this.  I don't want to dress in a manner that is cookie cutter fashion

 When I was a little girl, I chased tigers.  I was fascinated by them even at the age of three.  Tigers were exotic, beautiful, elusive, buttery, and dangerous.  Especially dangerous.  The ones I chased were imaginary of course.  But that didn't make them any less exciting.  Today those tigers are symbolic of the dreams I have for my life.  And these dreams are every bit as dangerous.  It takes courage to dream and actually believe you can make those dreams into reality.  What if I fail?  How will I be able to handle that failure?  Isn't is better to just play it safe and settle for a mediocre life instead? Hmmm.  Perhaps it is riskier to do nothing, to not try, because then I will spend my life sleep-walking and feeling nothing. Infinitely more painful isn't it? I want to be a tiger.  Fearless.  Powerful.  Playful. Dangerous.  I want to set my world on fire. I wrote the following poem a few years ago.  It isn't literature, but it does express my thoughts and feeli

I have been thinking lately of how, in my past, I have felt so ungrounded at times.  Like I didn't belong.  I have experienced a lot of personal loss in my life and have sometimes felt just how easy it would have been to  just give up.  How easy it is to give into despair and feel that nothing ever really changes.  You may have heard the saying, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Changing our belief system can be really challenging at times, especially when things happen that are truly outside our control.  But when I think of faith, I am reminded of a tree that has it roots deep inside the earth.  If the roots are strong and deep enough,  then the winds that blow cannot uproot it.  And I get it.  I get that sometimes our faith gets deeply shaken.  And we feel like giving up.  Giving up our dreams.  Giving up on love.  It may feel safer that way, even if it means that we have to experience feelings of numbing loneliness.  The thing is, giving up should neve

Someday, I will pursue my dreams.  When I am thinner.  When I have more money.  When the time is right.  How will I know?  When is when?  There will never be a perfect time to start living the life you were meant to live.  The only time that exists is now.  Tomorrow is not guaranteed to us.  I have spent too much of my life telling myself that someday  things will be better.  I have spent too many times telling myself that next year will be my year.  And missing so out on what is here and now.  What is right in front of me. I am not going to suddenly wake up one morning and find all my limiting beliefs and insecurities have vanished.  But I have figured out that the only way to overcome my fears is to just take a deep breath, let go, jump right on in and do it anyway.  No matter what. I chose to be happy now.  To live in the moment now.  To find some way each and every day to live my life on my terms.  Today.  Now.