Living Life Your Way.... Interview with Lauren from Ladaisi

 

I've been working hard the last few months at overcoming my fears and following my dreams. So I'm running a series of interview with inspiring people to see what part fear has played in their life and how they've overcome it to live life their way...

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Hey! Tell us a little about yourself.

Good morning! (I just woke up). My name is Lauren. I am twenty-four years old, married to my best friend going on six years, and have a three-year-old kiddo. I am a work-from-home mama, an artist, an aspiring writer, and a blogger, and I love books and road-trips and coffee. Someday, I hope to open my own coffeehouse.

Is the life you lead now the life you've always dreamt of?

Not quite. My little family is at an in-between stage right now, with me and the kiddo living in Georgia and my husband living in South Carolina part time. By summer’s end, we hope to be living together again – who knows where? Life is starting to come together for us and I am very excited to see what will happen next.

When you have faced difficulties, what has been your inspiration to keep going?

A myriad of things, really. These include prayer, my kiddo’s affection, my husband’s optimism, and the extreme absurdity of my seven siblings when we are hanging out together. I am also greatly inspired to keep going by the little things: a dose of sunshine, a quick work-out, a hot cup of coffee. If things are really bad, I usually take it out on my house and deep clean. The thing is immaculate.

Fear affects us all at some point. What part has fear played in your life and how have you overcome it?

I think my biggest fear in life has been that of failure. Specifically that I won’t make a good mother or succeed in my goals. I used to be terrified of growing old without accomplishing anything of value, or worse – realizing that I have not been happy. I think I’ve overcome this fear by re-defining happiness for myself. Rather than focusing on what I cannot control, I’ve been trying my best to focus on the little things that give life value every day. It’s difficult to be caught up in your fears if you are focusing on how silly your toddler looks when dancing.

What advice would you offer on following your heart and living your dreams?

I particularly like this advice: If you don’t like where you are, then change it. You are not a tree. Which roughly translates into this: Try. Day after day after day. Whether you succeed as you hope or die trying, at least you gave it your best shot. There is happiness in pursuing your dreams. Some might say even more so than actually obtaining them.

What do you think are the three most important things you need to lead a happy and radiant life?

Speaking for myself, I would have to say my faith, my loved ones, and the art of extracting happiness from simple things. Like anything, it’s an on-going process.

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Lauren blogs over at Ladaisi. Be sure to go say hi!