Cheri Dixon: A Girl and Her Dog

I am not sure about you, but wow…there sure is a lot of negativity in the world right now. Everywhere you look, someone is upset about something, someone is complaining about how hard they are working, someone is just not happy with life itself. I get it, these are hard times. The cost of living is crazy high right now! The media only focuses on sickness and violence (at least that how it seems)! And, no one knows from one day to the next what new something is going to hit us hard and cause our whole world to change! These are tough times!

Reflecting on this today, I started to think maybe we need a little reset…almost like a positivity challenge…something that would force us all to only be able to share positive things happening, rather than all of these negative thoughts. But, thinking more realistically, maybe we all need to stop and just remember our ‘why”. Why do you do the things you do? Why did you start in the first place?

I have always been pretty bright and school was pretty easy for me. I have a few college degrees and really, I think I could have chosen any career that I had wanted. I often think that maybe I should have chosen to “be rich”…a career that made much more than what I make! But I chose my path in life, not because I believed I would be rich, but because I felt I had a calling to make the world a better place. I am a realist, and I know I cannot change the world, but I truly always felt that if I could change the world for just one person….over and over…then I really could make a difference and possibly have a part in making it a better place. Let me share…

• My day job is in education. I knew I would be a teacher when I was young….and I never gave up on that dream. But, I didn’t chose to teach children because of the fame that goes with it. I did it because a teacher made me believe…way back when…that I was someone who could do anything in life. Without this teacher in my corner, I am not sure I would have persevered through tough times in my life and finished college and took a job 1000 miles away from home to teach children at Title 1 schools. I would not have continued to find a way to get my degree so that I could lead schools that need good leadership in order to help communities become better. When it came to determining my career, this was my why!
• I am slow, but I call myself a runner. I promise, I will never win any races….and my neighbors probably see me out in the neighborhood and think, “man, that girl sure does like to run!”…because I am out there most days of the week. I will share that if you look at me, you can tell I keep myself healthy, but I do not have the typical runner’s body….but this is not why I run. I run because I believe a person needs a good outlet for stress AND running allows me to forget all the challenges from the day and just breathe! I am very healthy and keeping this healthy lifestyle is very important to me. It is hard on those few “cold” Houston days (experienced one of them this morning), but remembering why I do it, keeps me on track and consistent with my health.
• I have recently decided to begin pursuing my side passion of home decorating/real estate. I do not anticipate that this will become a full time paying gig for me anytime soon, but I LOVE it! AND…there is my why! I need something that is different than always trying to teach someone something…a little break if you will…and let me use my creative side of my brain to enjoy something that makes me feel good about the designs I have done. I do hope one day I can make this something that can help others design/decorate spaces that make their homes beautiful, but until then, I continue to learn and dabble with this because I LOVE it!

I could spend hours talking to you about why I do the things I do, but what is most important for you to take from me today is that I believe in this challenging world, it is crucial that you find you why! And, if in the process, you can’t then maybe it is time to find a new why….it is never too late to start fresh! Take time to reflect on what you are doing in your day to day life and find the thing that will help you get out of bed each day…the thing that you can find that passion for once again! Until next time…