Every December, my high school girlfriends take turns hosting our yearly holiday get together. The hostess decides on the menu, theme and particulars about the celebration; then cascades it to the group. This year my friend Jill, hosted the evening and decided it would be the year of “my favorite things.” She provided details for each person to bring three of their favorite “somethings.” It could have been different items or all the same.

There’s a little known secret in the land of motherhood or spouse hood, or family hood, etc., that women think it’s selfish to do for themselves before others. Where did that come from anyway?

Over the last few weeks I’ve seen noticeable changes in my yoga practice. So much that I almost gasped out loud at a pose earlier in the week. It was a pose I’ve done for many months and even though I’ve managed thought it, my form and grace could have been much better. Then this week, just like magic; I was doing the pose with ease. Queue the confetti…it was a little victory for my soul.

Recently, I was asked to speak about mindfulness for a local rotary club. I was both honored and excited to be able to share ideas with them. In preparing my presentation I wanted to make it interesting and valuable of their time. As the members entered the room and began to settle in I noticed the number of men that filed in. I was pleasantly surprised at the volume. For some reason I thought the majority would be women but that wasn’t the case. The men attendees were as much as the women, if not a little more.

I’ve been keeping a dream journal since spring of last year. I don’t always jot them down for a couple of reasons: 1) I wait too long and don’t remember or 2) so many crazy things happen I don’t know where to begin. The latter has happened quite frequently and I find myself shaking my head in complete wonder. Wondering, what could the most random, off the wall, doesn’t make a bit of sense, events possibly mean?

This year it came about two months early. Seriously?! At first I kept ignoring the word since there were still a few months left in the year and I loved my word for 2019…..joy. I used it to guide my actions; always looking for ways joy could make by days brighter. Even if things weren’t going as planned I always tried to look for the silver lining; ultimately things automatically improved just from a little shift in my thinking.

I’m embarrassed to say but didn’t get out of my pajamas for three days……..YIKES! Truth be told I love when that happens. Day one, I got out of bed and headed directly to the dining room table. Making sure to get up to move from time to time in order to avoid being stiff. Hour after hour finishing sections, sending emails, receiving replies, writing this, creating that……on and on. The good news…..by the end of the day, I was already dressed for bed, no extra effort was needed…HAHA!

Happy, shiny, infinite possibilities of another new year and new decade. It’s hard to believe another twelve months have flown by. For the last several years, I’ve gotten quiet, listened to my heart, picked my word of the new year and set intentions and goals for the next 12 months. Not necessarily a new year’s resolution, but a plan for what I want to create and manifest in my life.

It's hard to believe the end of another year is just around the corner and within a few short days it'll be the end of 2019 and the start of a new year and new decade. As you look back and reflect on the year, what comes to mind? What's been most important to you? 

I had been staying at my parents house once we brought my Dad home to Hospice. It was a Sunday morning and I could hear lots of voices and activity going on. I headed downstairs and not surprisingly the house was filled with people. It was bustling with friends and family that had gathered to spend time with my Dad. The word had gotten around he didn't have much time and they flocked to say goodbye and spend precious moments with him one last time.

Every year since I can remember, we've always worn pajama pants or "jammie pants" as we call them, for Christmas Day. Wherever Christmas Day dinner was held, the order of the day was wear your jammie pants......and the crazier the better. It was always such a fun and comfortable holiday being able to wear your pajamas.

It's launch day.....WOO to the HOO! It's the official launch day of the compilation book titled Kindness Crusader andI'm one of the contributing authors. This project has been in the making for almost a year and I'm feeling giddy inside. I've had aspirations of writing a book for a while but always felt overwhelmed by the process. Being part of this compilation book has been a wonderful learning experience for future projects.

My heart is full when we're together as a family and I'm thankful for a son that is kind, smart, funny and humble. I'm grateful for a daughter-in-law that is determined, creative, happy and loves my son fiercely. I'm blessed to have a daughter who is sassy, spicy and knows exactly what she wants and won't give up until she succeeds.

When my cousin reached out to me, she was leery and afraid I wouldn't want anything to do with her or her search. She wrote a little about her life, her fiancé and a few bits and pieces I could connect with. She even went as far to explain she wasn't a weirdo, which made me chuckle. All she wanted was to connect to her past and the legacy of her father and his family. She made mention how much my Dad meant to her grandfather's family.

I'm not gonna lie, it was hard. It was damn hard and many nights my children would find me at the dining room table crying or frustrated over some statistic problem I was trying to solve or a  paper I had worked on for hours that somehow got deleted from my computer because I didn't save it correctly. Those days I wanted to give up. I never showed that side to my children but trust me, inside I just wanted to quit....throw in the towel and settle for mediocrity.However, there was a fire in me that kept burning and wouldn't let me give up. So, day after day, week after week and year after year I've been doing the hard work to make my life better. To make a difference in the world.

The evening started off by donning our tall, white chef's hat and black apron, then the owner described the good, bad and ugly of olive oil. Have you ever stood in front of scads of olive oil bottles at the grocery store and wondered which one to pick. I have, on many occasions, often picking either the prettiest bottle or the one on sale. I learned that wasn't such a great idea.

When my website designer mentioned she wanted to move my site, I dug my heels in at first and then slowly over time realized I needed something easier to manage. Since I'm not tech-savvy by any means, I was afraid to take the leap but a few weeks ago while meeting with her, it somehow took a turn for the unexpected. I agreed to not only change my platform and web hosting but I also agreed to use another name for my life coaching and soon I'll have my hypnotherapy certification. Let me tell you......this was a GIANT LEAP for me.

For three days and two nights, 10 women came together and formed a close bond and sisterhood. We trusted, laughed, supported, cried and held space for one another as we took a leap, head first into a heart healing program. So often we get paralyzed from moving forward in our lives by fear and self-doubt and we’d rather stay stuck than risk the vulnerability of change. If we can trust in our inner guidance and follow our heart, it changes everything.