My Six (or Eight...) Word Motto

"Maybe there's something you're afraid to say, or someone you're afraid to love, or somewhere you're afraid to go.   It's gonna hurt.  It's gonna hurt because it matters."  ~John Green

Recently I read a blog about creating a six word motto.  The idea was to find six words that described your philosophy, beliefs, thoughts on the meaning of life....you get the idea.  Never one to follow the rules, I ended up writing an 8 word motto because I just couldn't shorten it any further.  (Anyone who has ever worked with me knows I am always over the page limit, so this is not a surprise!)

What are my 8 words?

Dream big, do good, love hard, have fun.

When I think about my life--the things that I want to do, the things that I want to be remembered for, the things I believe in, the things that I want to inspire in others--I think these eight words probably sum it up.

Dream big.  "Your playing small does not serve the world."  God put us on this earth for a purpose, and my bet is that His purpose is far greater than most of our dreams.  We aim to small, settle for too little, and in doing so can miss our calling and our purpose.  Along these same lines, I am a firm believer that we have to dream our own dreams.  Not the dreams that others expect or tell us that we should have.  The dreams that we have in our hearts.  Whether it be a dream of curing cancer or traveling the world, being a parent or a CEO, owning land or running in the Olympics, we owe it to ourselves, to God, and to the world to dream our own dreams, and to dream them big.

Do good.  "Be kinder than necessary.  Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."  Life is hard.  We don't need to make it harder on other people.  So whether it is smiling at someone on the street or volunteering with an organization, bringing a casserole when something bad happens, or dropping extra into the offering plate, we have to do good when we have the chance.

Love hard.  "Fall in love with as many things as possible."  I've been blessed with what I can only describe as the most amazing cast of people in my life.  And, sadly, I've lost too many members of this cast.  And what I've learned from that is that when you find people or animals or things that are important to you, you've got to love them.  Hard. Because tomorrow is not promised to anyone.

Have fun. "No one looks back and remembers the nights they had plenty of sleep." Sing karaoke.  Rush the field.  Twice.  Dance at a wedding or in an Irish pub and swing on a Tarzan swing in the jungle.  Make friends with the strangers on a bus.  Run through the mud or amongst a crowd of naked people.  Life is too short for us not to make an intentional effort to do fun things.  If you don't laugh so hard that you cry, snort, or shoot some drink out your nose on a frequent basis, you're doing something wrong.