Marc, Angel and 95 Questions

I read a blog daily that inspires me. The authors, Marc and Angel, are very wise and they write about life. The name of the blog is Marc and Angel Hack Life "Productive Tips for Practical Living." This particular blog, 95 Questions to Help You Find Meaning and Happiness, strikes me as an ideal exercise for creating more clarity of where I am in my own journey.

It took a while, certainly was thought provoking, and having finished feels darn good.

1. In one sentence, who are you? A seeker of health, well-being, love, knowledge and joyful experiences.
2. Why do you matter? Because I am here grow and to inspire others.
3. What is your life motto? Thoughts become things, choose them wisely - courtesy of Mike Dooley.
4. What’s something you have that everyone wants? Knowledge.
5. What is missing in your life? Financial stability.
6. What’s been on your mind most lately? Understanding the brain so I can improve mine, my life, my habits.
7. Happiness is a ________? Journey.
8. What stands between you and happiness? Nothing, I am happy and grateful to be so.
9. What do you need most right now? To improve my income and finances.
10. What does the child inside you long for? Love and acceptance. I'm working on giving it to her.
11. What is one thing right now that you are totally sure of? That I am solely responsible for everything happening in my life and I have the power to change any part of it.
12. What’s been bothering you lately? Financial stress and occasionally self-insecurity.
13. What are you scared of? Becoming stagnant, failing.
14. What has fear of failure stopped you from doing? Having my own business.
15. What will you never give up on? Learning new things, improving my health, caring for others and seeking to be helpful to people that need assistance.
16. What do you want to remember forever? Love.
17. What makes you feel secure? The ability to take care of myself. Knowing I am cared for and appreciated. Accomplishing a challenging task or reaching a goal.
18. Which activities make you lose track of time? Reading, hiking, talking with fun people, laughing, climbing, cooking.
19. What’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever made? Divorce.
20. What’s the best decision you’ve ever made? Moving to Las Vegas.
21. What are you most grateful for? My life and my ability to accept responsibility for where it is today.
22. What is worth the pain? Love. Exercise. Growth.
23. In order of importance, how would you rank: happiness, money, love, health, fame? Health, happiness, love, money, fame. Possibly explains my dismal finances.
24. What is something you’ve always wanted, but don’t yet have? The ability to take long vacations and travel frequently.
25. What was the most defining moment in your life during this past year? A very specific conversation with my close, dear friend Lisa about fears and who I would be without them. Visualizing me without fears was the first step to becoming more.
26. What’s the number one change you need to make in your life in the next twelve months? I want (need) to make meditation and quieting my mind a priority. Without practice I will never achieve it. Without achieving it I limit my ability to change my world.
27. What’s the number one thing you want to achieve in the next five years? I want to become a life coach;  to focus on inspiring people to change what they no longer want in their life using FasterEFT, coaching skills, personal training knowledge and everything else in my toolkit that may apply.
28. What is the biggest motivator in your life right now? The desire to grow and be something more motivates me daily.
29. What will you never do? I never want to sacrifice what I believe in to please someone else.
30. What’s something you said you’d never do, but have since done? Fly. Climb. Give up pasta.
31. What’s something new you recently learned about yourself? I can challenge my fears, I can change my habits, I can change my thoughts.
32. What do you sometimes pretend to understand that you really do not? What someone is saying. Sometimes my brain takes a while to catch on and if I have already asked for clarity a couple of times I just hope it will arrive soon.
33. In one sentence, what do you wish for your future self? I wish for all facets of my life to be in balance and to feel more fully in control of my own destiny and path. I know it is in my control, however I am still developing some necessary skills to get where I want to be. Or so I think …
34. What worries you most about the future? Paying bills is my sole immediate worry, beyond that I am highly optimistic about the future.
35. When you look into the past, what do you miss most? I don't miss the past.
36. What’s something from the past that you don’t miss at all? All the fears that constrained me, all the insecurities I have left behind, all the drama I didn't realize I was creating.
37. What recently reminded you of how fast time flies? End of month always does, due to paperwork and sometimes it feels like there is a constant flow of it!
38. What is the biggest challenge you face right now? Having enough work to support myself.
39. In one word, how would you describe your personality? Optimistic.
40. What never fails to frustrate you? People who complain rather than choose to make changes. Change can be a challenge but being stuck seems far worse.
41. What are you known for by your friends and family? Being happy? My cooking? I'm not actually sure. Please feel free to speak up in a comment and let me know … You know who you are.
42. What’s something most people don’t know about you? I have 6 toes on my right foot. Just kidding, um I am (or was?) intensely arachnophobic. Spiders don't freak me out as much now.
43. What’s a common misconception people have about you? Whenever someone sees I have tattoos they are utterly shocked so I guess people see me as someone who would never have a tattoo. I have no idea why. Oh and another thing is that I used to weigh about 160 pounds … Hard to picture now but I have certainly slain my own exercise and diet demons.
44. What’s something a lot of people do that you disagree with? They don't take care of their health or value the power of food choices to change it completely. Many do not accept responsibility for their choices or their health, perhaps that is a better way of putting it. Coupled with that most people want an instant fix to something that took years to create.
45. What’s a belief you hold with which many people disagree? The same one above actually. Or that you can change your health starting with what you put in your mouth. Or that you can change your life by looking at things differently.
46. What’s something that’s harder for you than it is for most people? Not walking into furniture. Math. Spontaneity.
47. What are the top three qualities you look for in a friend? I can't say I look for qualities expressly but the people I click with and feel close to always have a strong sense of humor, are loyal, honest and fun.
48. If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend? What person? 'Nuff said. Actually I am becoming better about negative self-talk. Now I tell myself to cancel that and say something nice. And I even listen.
49. When you think of ‘home,’ what, specifically, do you think of? Mountains in Las Vegas, specifically Red Rocks.
50. What’s the most valuable thing you own? My ability to look on the bright side of things.
51. If you had to move 3000 miles away, what would you miss most? The mountains, the big sky at day, and the night sky, especially the moon. They are just different out here.
52. What would make you smile right now? The word smile makes me smile :-) See?
53. What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy? I put on a song I like to sing along with and belt it out; or I talk to a friend about what they are doing; or I try to make someone laugh, which in turn makes me laugh.
54. What do you wish did not exist in your life? Terrorism. Self-doubt. Debt.
55. What should you avoid to improve your life? Impulse spending. Hmm, impulse spending is a form of spontaneity … Interesting note there.
56. What is something you would hate to go without for a day? I have difficulty going without sunshine for a day. Connecting with another human would also be something I would hate to go without. I definitely could not do without water for a day.
57. What’s the biggest lie you once believed was true? That life happens to us and we just have to make the best of it.
58. What’s something bad that happened to you that made you stronger? Marriage to an angry, unhappy, alcoholic.
59. What’s something nobody could ever steal from you? My friends.
60. What’s something you disliked when you were younger that you truly enjoy today? Asparagus.
61. What are you glad you quit? Eating grains.
62. What do you need to spend more time doing? Being mindful.
63. What are you naturally good at? Cooking.
64. What have you been counting or keeping track of recently? My habits using an iPhone app called Lift. I am keeping track of quite a few habits such as flossing, skin brushing, rebounding, things and people I am grateful for, setting priorities for each day, and so forth. Great way to keep track of things!
65. What has the little voice inside your head been saying lately? Read and learn. Ask questions. Listen better. Apply. Repeat.
66. What’s something you should always be careful with? The hearts and feelings of those who love you.
67. What should always be taken seriously? Dreams.
68. What should never be taken seriously? Negative self-talk should always be discarded with yesterdays trash.
69. What are three things you can’t get enough of? People I love, my pets, new experiences.
70. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? I would probably sing more often in front of other people. Perhaps I would teach something to larger groups of people.
71. What fascinates you? Learning new things about subjects that inspire me.
72. What’s the difference between being alive and truly living? Feeling joy, passion, inspiration and peace.
73. What’s something you would do every day if you could? Give gifts to more people. Pay it forward.
74. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive? Every day I feel passionate and alive.
75. Which is worse, failing or never trying? Never trying is worse.
76. What makes you feel incomplete? Sometimes I do, and then I remind myself I am exactly where I am supposed to be at this moment in time.
77. When did you experience a major turning point in your life? When I moved to Las Vegas and felt trapped in a marriage to an unhealthy person. I did not want to ask anyone to bail me out. I realized I had to take responsibility for my choices and find my own way out. So I did.
78. What or who do you wish you lived closer to? I wish my family lived closer to me :-)
79. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be? Take care of your health, you only get one body and it has an expiration date. Nothing tastes as good as feeling good feels.
80. What’s something you know you can count on? My family. My friends. My Self.
81. What makes you feel comfortable? Easy going, open-minded people.
82. What’s something about you that has never changed? My eye color.
83. What will be different about your life in exactly one year? Everything will be different in some way, however all for the better.
84. What mistakes do you make over and over again? Not enforcing the cancellation policy with clients, overloading my schedule, having a second glass of wine when I know I should stop at one, forgetting to drink enough water when I'm working long hours, taking things personally.
85. What do you have a hard time saying “no” to? More like who - those I care for.
86. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing? I am doing what I believe in and want to expand it.
87. What’s something that used to scare you, but no longer does? Exposure in hiking doesn't seem to be so scary now. Speaking my mind openly is certainly a lot easier than it ever was. Social dancing in public no longer scares me at all.
88. What promise to yourself do you still need to fulfill? To reach my fullest potential and to close the gap between who I am inside and who I show to the world. The gap is getting smaller.
89. What do you appreciate most about your current situation? My unlimited potential.
90. What’s something simple that makes you smile? My cat Trinity.
91. So far, what has been the primary focus of your life? It has changed as I have matured, but I will say that expanding my horizons is the primary focus now.
92. How do you know when it’s time to move on? When staying in place is uncomfortable, feels restrictive, sounds unmotivating or looks bleak.
93. What’s something you wish you could do one more time? Talk to my Grandfather and my Aunt Joni.
94. When you’re 90-years-old, what will matter to you the most? That my family is happy and healthy.
95. What would you regret not fully doing, being, or having in your life? I would regret the things I did not do out of fear. I focus on that now and remind myself of it often.

Try it. Write down your answers. Or type them as I did. I think to look back and ask them all over again in a month, six months and a year will be very interesting. No doubt there will be some changes and some "Huh, did I really say that?" thoughts.

-Nicola Byrne