Picture This: Fortune

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A Wealth of Inspiration!

Have you seen our FREE Inspiration page?  No?  Well, don't wait any longer - it's a fantastic source for you.  For every topic we pack our inspiration page full of quotes, music, layouts, and more!  What more could there be?  The hottest new "sharing"  site out there:  Pinterest!  Talk about a wealth of inspiration!  Just check out a few things we have gathered on our Fortune Pinterest board:

Want more inspiration?  Visit our Inspiration page (more to come!) and then share with us how Fortune has inspired you today...

Childhood Misfortune

When I was a child, I used to believe that my family had the worst luck.  Everyone in the entire world was more fortunate than us.  (Aren't these the global, dramatic statements made by many a child?)  I was convinced that we had consistent bad luck!

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I grew up in an old farm house.  The farm was no longer a "working farm" but there was an old barn across our driveway in which I used to play, and the house was old and rickety.  Looking back, it was the absolute best place to grow up and I would never change a bit of living there.  But during my childhood, all I could think about was how my friends' houses were better, newer, shinier... whatever.  How my friends' parents' cars were better, newer, shinier than ours.  How I lived in my sister's hand-me-down clothing when my friends were wearing Jordache jeans. 

Sometime in my middle-school years, I learned the legend of the horseshoe:

When kept as a talisman, a horseshoe is said to bring good luck. Some believe that to hang it with the ends pointing upwards is good luck as it acts as a storage container of sorts for any good luck that happens to be floating by, whereas to hang it with the ends pointing down, is bad luck as all the good luck will fall out.  (source: wikipedia)

We had a  horseshoe as one of the many bits and mementos decorating our enclosed back porch.  It hung upside down, with the ends pointing down and I remember sitting on the back step, listening to my parents talk in the background and staring at that... blaming that rusty old horseshoe for all of our misfortune.

Of course, so many years later, I look back and realize how very fortunate we were.  My parents worked hard at many jobs, to raise and support five girls.  We had clothing, food, heat, a roof over our head and, in later years, cable TV with premium movie channels (oh-so important to a teenager growing up in the 80's with I-want-my-I-want-my-MTV).  The cars we drove were always beaters, held together with gum and duct tape (I do exaggerate a little here), but you know what?  They ran.  They got us from point A to point B.  We were all healthy.  I had a natural playground in my yard with an acre of land that backed up to woods and a creek.  It was a fantastic childhood. 

It wasn't until now... when Inside Out started to explore Fortune... that I looked up that old legend of the horseshoe.  I wanted to see if I had heard that correctly, which I had.  But then, I found this:

Others believe that the horseshoe should be hung the other way (with the ends pointing down), as it will then release its luck to the people around it. (source: wikipedia)

And looking back, you know what I think?  I know that this is what is true.  I had a very fortune-filled childhood. 

For more perspectives on our topic of the month, Fortune, please come visit our message boards... join us in our exploration.  Or share your fortune stories in the comments below - I'd love to hear them!

Day Dreams

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There are two kinds of dreams in the world, those you have during the day when you are awake, and those you have at night while you are sleeping.  We'll talk about those crazy night dreams later, but today I wanted to delve into our day dreams.

Day dreams can be focused or vague.  You can sit and stare out the window, letting your thoughts flit about... "dreaming" about one thing or another, or you can consciously think about wishes for your future... dreams, so to speak.  Day dreams come from a place of wishing, wanting, needing, and hoping.  They can be very realistic dreams, for example, dreaming of the day you will finish your new patio and how beautiful it will be; dreaming of the gatherings of friends that will happen there in the near and far future.  Or, they can be more distant, seemingly unattainable, such as becoming President one day or winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big believer in dreams... even those big ones that seem too unrealistic to ever materialize.  But if you don't dream 'em up, they really can't ever happen.  You have to think it before you can achieve it... and that's the greatest things about day dreams.  They allow you to set in motion great things for your life that you will eventually achieve... as long as you just start by dreaming it.

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."

Walt Disney

No dream is too big.  Today I'd love to share with you a couple of my more recent day dreams...

My most focused dream of late is getting fit and feeling comfortable in my own skin.  I dream about wearing certain clothing or being in certain situations where I am feeling wonderful about myself because of my fitness level. 

I also dream about the day I will be debt free.  It will be a far-from-now dream come true, but I am already working on making this one happen as soon as possible.  I dream of using money to live, and not living for money's sake.  I want to work because I like what I am doing and not because I desperately need more cash.

Another huge dream of mine is to see all three of my kids grow to be healthy, sane and responsible adults who are actively contributing something to society and being the best of everything they can be for themselves.  I want them to be happy and secure.  This is something that plagues me because it seems that this dream flits about and may never come true.  But I keep reminding myself that my dreams for them may not be their own dreams for themselves. 

But I will keep dreaming.

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And last but not least, I dream of being a published author.   I often cut myself down saying that this is silly and it will never happen.  But then I think, "why not?" 

If I can dream it, and I have the courage to pursue it, it can Be.

How about YOU?  What do YOU daydream about?  Please share in a comment or wander over to our community and share your dreams with us!

Fitting In or Standing Out...

"I think everybody's weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it." 

Johnny Depp

How about another Individuality challenge to inspire you and get your scrapbooking mojo flowing?  Here's one posted over at our community:

Fitting in: Would you rather fit in? Or stand out? Is weird a good word to you? Or one that makes you cringe? What about being different? Were you part of a crowd growing up? Would you rather follow? Or lead?

What is really strange about you and how good are you at embracing your strangeness?

Is your interest piqued?  If so, please join us!  Come on over to the message boards and log in (it's free to register) to see the design twist for this challenge.  Play along.  Show us your layout in our challenge gallery and you could WIN some fun product to use on your future layouts.

I really hope to see you there!