Keep Your Spirit Alive

It's a New Year and I'm Back!

I lost my energy and blogging spirit at the end of 2014--overwhelmed with driving too much for work and events, holiday preparations and the sickness.  Yes, I had that awful 24 hour sickness on Christmas Eve and I think some of my holiday spirit left me then.  

However, I never lost my true spirit but felt the need to rejuvenate over the holidays.  I caught up on my stack of magazines, organized my gazillion notebooks with life and career and advice and tried to just "be still" for a few more moments than I usually am.

With all the rest and relaxation, my spirit feels pretty good. I think it's because I was home on my family farm for a few days and felt my dad's spirit.  I learned to never really lose my spirit but that sometimes I should just "slow down", as he would say

My dad had lots of spirit and even more energy.  He loved to work hard to play hard.  

That is the motto my parents subtly taught us as they lived their lives and raised my sister and I to be strong, passionate young women.  

This Christmas someone asked me something about my dad that no one had ever really blatantly asked before.  

"How do you keep his spirit alive?" 

It kind of shocked me for a second and then I realized, we just do.  There is not a real conscious effort to do so, we just keep his spirit alive because "that's just part of it".

We live our lives.  That's how we do it.

And make him proud along the way.  

No, Sarah and I don't dress alike and try to sit close to each other and have the same birthday parties anymore.  

But we do live our lives to the fullest and work to educate people about where and how we grew up.  

We definitely work hard and play hard and it's our hope that our passionate spirits rub off on others.

Tim's girls have always lived with a burning passion and spirit that keeps us and him alive. 

This saying sits on a sign in my home, 

"When You Get There, Remember Where You Came From."

I think we have to remember where we came and the spirits that brought us to where we are today.  

Some may be good, others bad, but it's how we embrace them to make us better that counts.

Even though dad and I were very different from each other (he never understood the polka dots and fancy purses), we both knew where we came from and were proud of it.  

I may be a farmer's daughter and have dirt in my blood, but that doesn't me I can't grab that purse and polka dots to get where I am going. 

Your spirit is what you make of it.  And if you aren't willing to live a life full of spirit and passion, why would others want to continue to be a part of your life and share it when you are gone.

Just remember, to keep your resolutions, your word, your passion and your love for others even when you are overwhelmed and rushed in the new year.

In 2015, let's keep our spirits alive and remember where they came from.