Once everyone completed the ceremony, each woman had a simple necklace filled with beautiful handwritten notes on both sides. As each woman read their special notes of appreciation, teardrops fell. Small words of kindness can be just what a person needs. We all want to feel loved, appreciated and seen.

Giving a little self-care each day is a simple, yet a powerful statement of self-worth. Do something good for yourself each day to show some love; I promise it’s worth the effort.

As we gathered outdoors around the fireplace and lit seasoned wood, we took turns releasing our words, old wounds, negativity and anything we no longer wanted or needed in our lives, into the fire. As we watched our unwanted thoughts burn, release and smoke rise, we read the following together:

When you realize you’ve been dealing with contrast, which is knowing what you don’t want in order to understand what you do want, let that be your guide. It’s our warning system that leads us to our heart and ultimately to our calling. To my new and shiny “whatever is waiting for me’…….I’m coming for you. I’m ready to share, give and inspire in this thing called life. Are you being nudged to do the same?

Green Aventurine’s energy is all about the vitality of anything, such as: health, growth, finances, confidence, and friends. It’s a common healing stone and a go-to stone for ailments.

Amethyst’s energy is that of protection and purification. It’s also know to enhance intuition and is said to help the release of addictions. Reach for this stone to help with sleep, to enhance with intuition and give the feeling of peace.

No matter how many times I stumble and fall, I will always pick myself up, brush myself off and keep moving forward. It’s a lifelong love letter for me. Show yourself some love and choose you. Wishing you the happiest of heart days.

For several years I’ve been on a self discovery mission. Uncovering the person, I left behind, once I became a wife and mother. I’m not complaining, it’s a role I gladly accepted. In the process, however, I stopped paying attention to what I wanted or dreamed of and focused on everyone else. Making sure their needs were met before any of mine. Isn’t that what Mom’s do?

Once we arrived it was a normal looking storefront on the outside, as well as directly inside the door. We were led into a room adjacent to the cave, which was a quiet zone, were given a hair net and told to remove socks, shoes and all electronics……drat, I was hoping to get a few pictures.

My word came really easy and super early this time. Usually, I’m already into the new year before I know my word, however, this year’s word was on my heart two weeks before it began. I actually fought it for a few days, thinking it couldn’t be that easy. I wasn’t even thinking about it and it kept showing up and…..POOF, just like that, there it was, time and time again; nudging me. Every time I would say it out loud, it brought a lightness; it just felt right. I kept seeing the word everywhere and there was no denying that would be my word for 2019. I even made up a jingle….HAHA

Now, let me go back and start from the beginning of my story which began about three weeks earlier. I had been experiencing what I would describe as a “sweet spot” in life. I encountered blessing after blessing; almost to the point I could hardly believe. Before I go on, I need to explain that everything didn’t go perfect, but in my mind it was part of the goodness coming at me left and right.

This past weekend, I was honored to work beside three inspiring women, for our second in a series of workshops, being held in 2018. The workshop was titled, Choose Happy. Our target audience included women that were inspired to own their happiness, however, three brave gentlemen signed up as well. Of course we welcomed anyone that wanted to join, we just hadn’t thought to market the program to men. I’m not sure why, they certainly want to take charge of their own happiness as well.

Do you ever have those days you feel scattered, discombobulated and out of sorts? It’s seems like all my days lately have felt like that, and have been running into each other; creating a long line of days that turn into weeks of feeling, not quite right.

Do you have challenges in your life that you know you should face, but scare the crap out of you? That happened to me last week. This year I’m hosting a series of workshops with three other coaches and while I was away on business, my three other colleagues were hosting weekly book club videos. They were tag teaming and always co-hosted together.

We always knew one day we would come together as a group. We didn’t know how it would look, we just knew in our hearts it would happen. Last November we got together for dinner and a quick check-in of what was going on since we saw each other last. What happened next was four women talking non-stop, trying to fit everything in….LOL. So many ideas were flying around the table and somehow, before we left, had a plan to kick off the new year with an Own Your ’18 workshop.

Most Sundays you’ll find me sitting in the fourth pew from the front, on the left hand side, directly behind my parents. I’ll be the first to admit, after a long week some Sundays I would rather stay in bed, but usually get myself up, and always feel better when I do. Recently, while making announcements, the pastor asked the congregation if they had been out to visit the prayer garden this season. Sheepishly, I shook my head……I was embarrassed I hadn’t taken the time to notice or give thanks to the people responsible for its beauty.

It’s All Good is a local coffee shop in my area, and has to be the cutest place in town. I’m a regular customer, whether it’s meeting a friend for coffee, working on my latest blog post or project while my daughter studies, or brainstorming over the next workshop. It kind of feels like home.

Lately though, it feels like life is passing me by……actually zooming past. Seems like before I know it, the week has flown, and I am looking at another Monday. It’s hard to believe half of 2017 is practically just a memory; I need to slow my roll. Slowing down means I need to live in the present moment and not dwell in the past or rush into tomorrow. It doesn’t always come easy for me. I have to remind myself to be intentional about my day, thoughts and actions. How often are we on auto-pilot and can’t remember how we got there?

On a recent trip to the grocery store, I came across an item that appears once a year in the mid-west, even if only for a short window of opportunity……drum roll please…….the Rainier cherry! When I stumbled across the yellow and bright blush-red little gems, I stopped in my tracks, my eyes lit up, and I could hardly wait to get through the checkout line, run home, and gobble some down. Last year I missed the entire season; it was over before I realized…..total bummer. Another golden opportunity missed.