Just the other day I was at home and heard a loud racket coming down the road behind my house. In an instant I knew what it was as I scurried to the patio doors. Thundering down the road was exactly what I expected, and a warm wave of emotions filled my body.

This past weekend I hurt myself and without a doubt, caused the chain reaction 100% from my state of being. I let my emotions take control of my mind, body and soul, and I am dedicating my post to the ugly facts. “Your beliefs, either positive or negative, helpful or hurtful, largely determine everything you do and how you do it” - Brian Tracy.

“When things don’t work out the way you planned, maybe life has bigger things planned for you. You just don’t know them yet” - David Cuschieri.

The message I was given was I needed to drop into my body. WHAT? Drop into my body? Immediately, I thought how do I do that? Okay Sheryl, let’s not put the cart before the horse.

In June I took part in a venture titled, 50 Women Over 50. It was a project that was created for the purpose of giving women over 50 the confidence and voice to own their beauty, experience, and wisdom. Posing in front of a camera for hours was stretching myself right outside the box and into left field.

A full moon is said to bring powerful energy. It calls us to release any negative emotions, and asks us to take corrective action. One way would be to create a list on paper or in your head of the things that no longer align with your heart, focusing on the things you need to let go of or those neglected areas you need to cultivate.

“Loving ourselves through the process of owning our story is the bravest thing we will ever do” - Brene Brown. Self-acceptance can definitely be a struggle based on what we were exposed to growing up. Were you praised as a child for what you did, or were you scolded for what you didn’t do? For me it was a little of both. Maybe that’s true for most?

Last week my daughter and I were hanging out and I asked her if she would give me some feedback on a few videos for an important project. She’d been my voice of reason even though sometimes the information’s not always easy to receive. After reviewing for a few minutes of the first video, she asked, “Why are you whispering?” I retorted back that I wasn’t and she preceded to imitate my voice and intonation. We started laughing and couldn’t stop. Okay, maybe she had a little point, but I didn’t think it was as bad as she was saying.

A few weeks ago a friend had offered to teach me how to use a kayak. By all weather accounts it was going to be a great day to learn. The forecast read sunny and mild with no chance of rain. However, Mother Nature had other plans and I would be learning under rainy and cloudy skies. Granted, we could have rescheduled but we both really wanted to go.

Last weekend I was able to check something off from my bucket list, learning how to kayak. It had been on my list for a few years and was starting to bother me that I hadn’t given it a try. However, there were a few things that stopped me: 1. I was not a strong swimmer, 2. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to gracefully get in or out of the kayak without making a fool of myself and 3. my fear of spiders…..haha.

How’s your calendar looking these days? Not your work or to-do list for yourself or others, but rather days that are scheduled just for your joy. The activities or events that make you feel like you’re living on purpose. Most of us spend our days on auto-pilot and before we know it another day has passed without feeding our soul.

My son and his wife were due with my first grand baby May 26, 2022 and had decided they wanted to know if their baby was a boy or girl. It didn’t matter to me in the least but once I learned it would be a girl, I was excited for all the things we would experience together in the coming years.

If you’ve been following my blog over the last several years, you’ll know the work I’ve done around my personal soul-excavating journey. I’ve consistently looked for ways to improve my quality of life. Most recently I’ve committed to a focused year of creating and living my life map. Along with 31 other women, I’ve been busy developing the path for my present and future journey.

This year marks a significant birthday for my Mom and we deemed it as the Year of Kate (the nickname my Dad gave her). She moved from Illinois to Virginia 18 months ago to live with my sister and she started to organize a special celebration and asked Mom how she would like to spend her birthday.

How’s your inner critic been doing lately? Our inner critic is that little nasty voice we hear in our head. The one that knows just how to criticize, cut us down, and tell us we’re less than. Frankly the list can go on and on with all the chaos and damage those messages can do.

Then someone asked about favorite cabin memories. Everyone started throwing out past stories, some funny then and some funny now. One story that always gets mentioned involved my son, and his two cousins. They were going to the fireworks in a neighboring town.

At one point, Julie asked for me to pull something I would wear to a cocktail party. Umm….seriously? I hadn’t been to a cocktail party in, well, I couldn’t remember. “I have no cocktail attire, or at best, none that fits.” She also suggested I grab something sparkly or with ruffles or lace. Again….I had nothing I could think of. I pulled so much out of my closet that clothes were piled everywhere as I threw them left and right.

“What the hell did I just do?” Those were the words that flew out of my mouth a few months ago, and I’m still uttering them in my head over and over as I prepare for an appointment I’d been dreading.