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Monthly Archives: January 2013

True Friends

29 Jan

There is No Comparison!

Today was a day where I was thinking and reflecting about my friends of the past, friends of the present and the friends that have been with me through anything and everything.  I wouldn’t say that I ever identified with one clique, friends were friends, no matter what!  I’ve been absolutely blessed to have such smart, funny and beautifully unique woman in my life, even when we’ve lost touch for a period of time, we are able to pick it back up like it was just yesterday that we last spoke.  That is true friendship!

We all know and were a part of each other’s history (from teen to adulthood) and I believe it really says something about who we are and what we mean to each other to still be there so many years later.  I have so many great times from the past to recall, great times from the present that we’ve made together and great times from the future that I know will definitely occur.

One of the best relationships anyone will have in their life (in my opinion) is that of a true friend.  Although unlike the quote below, my girls will make me walk with them, when they know I don’t like walking but when we do, we have the best time.  Clearly they are much more brilliant than I.

oprah quote

Friendship is a gift to be loved, to be nurtured and to be cherished.  Honesty, Truth, Communication and Loyalty are the most important components of any relationship and without them, it will either crumble or you will feel unfulfilled.

I thoroughly enjoyed my teens and early twenties because of these fabulous women and I really could never thank them enough for the cherished memories I have of fun and crazy times.  The only way to truly articulate who they are to me and who they always will be is to say that we are kindred spirits, our paths are forever intertwined for a reason.

I know that there is a future lit up with more of the crazy shenanigans and horseplay and there’s no way I’m going to miss it!

So I looked it up and Friendship Day in Canada is the first Sunday in August but I’m having it early this year because I felt the need today to recognize the great friends I have in my life.

“Happy Friendship Day”

true friend

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2013 in Blog

 

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Thank-You for the Experience

22 Jan

Your Presence was Necessary!

There are many times I’ve wondered to myself and aloud what the greater reason is behind some of the challenges and/or experiences I’ve had and actually as I write this I’m thinking that I’ve never wondered why when it’s something easy or delightful only when it’s something that has been difficult.  Although I guess the difference is that I’m not always thankful for the challenging times at the beginning like I am with the blessings.  It takes some time to figure out how to adapt and accept when there are bumps in the road but when I come to that moment of clarity is when I realize the greater purpose behind the newest challenge or difficulty and I can be thankful for the experience because it has brought me to a greater awareness and understanding.

Not everything is easy and I don’t think it’s supposed to be, if it was our lives would be too predictable, and without the challenges we wouldn’t experience the lessons or growth.  We all are here for a purpose, figuring out my purpose was something that I struggled to discover for many years and I believe that until we find our calling we remain wandering and wondering.

I do believe that there is a higher purpose and plan in place and that everyone in our lives plays out their part as if we were all in a big play, we have the scenes where some enter and some leave but all are an integral part in each of our life plans.  That includes everyone that is in our immediate circle of family, friends and those that cross our paths briefly; from a look, a moment, a conversation, an encounter or a relationship, it is all part of the grand design.

painful goodbye

To those that have left my life, I wish you well and I understand that you weren’t meant to stay.  When people leave our life, whether it is our decision or forced upon us, I believe the reason is because their purpose has been served, not just in conjunction with our lives but theirs as well and we are no longer essential to each other’s growth and must move forward onto the next leg of our personal journeys.  For both people involved when we move out of each other’s lives an opening is created for the next person that is destined to come in for the next scene of our life plan.

To those that have come into my life and those that have taken up permanent residence, you’ve brought me more joy and blessings than I could have imagined.  Your continued presence in my life is a sign from the universe that our lives are not just a point of juncture but rather a circle of light, love and learning.  Your impact is continually evolving yet steadfast and true, I look forward to all the new adventures we will share and our future of “keeping it real”.

To All:  Without our shared experience I may not be in the place I am today and regardless of whether or not the experience was easy or difficult I know that I would not change it, nor do I have regret because ultimately it helped me to grow.  The lessons, experience and wisdom I gained from your presence in my life has helped me to develop a greater understanding, perspective and clarity of my direction and focus in life.

Thank-You!

life quote

 
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Posted by on January 22, 2013 in Blog

 

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What’s The Connection?

15 Jan

I Aspire to Live My Best Life

Based on where I thought the direction of my life was going to go when I was in my early 20’s, I found my career focus but not in the way I thought.  My interests were many but I had two directions in my mind that were the frontrunners yet so very different and far apart from each other.

I’ve always been social from as far back as I can remember but in a more shy and reserved way which wouldn’t work for my first pick (from the age of 6) of what I wanted to be when I grew up, I wanted to sing.  I loved music, dancing and loved to entertain and make people smile but was too shy to get up on a stage by myself, I was a closet singer basically.  Looking back at it now I think the bottom line was that it obviously didn’t feel as natural to me to have that kind of career as I’d thought or I would have fought harder to get there.

My other pick was a psychiatrist/therapist (from the age of 19), these two couldn’t be any farther apart on the spectrum, could they?  Of course looking back this now I realize that writing out my thoughts in a journal was a form of (self) therapy that I was already developing and in my conversations, chats or long talks with close friends or co-workers I found that there was therapy in another form.  We provided therapy to each other simply by listening and caring and the occasional words of inspiration, motivation or wisdom.  There is wisdom to be gained from everyone we encounter, we are all here for a reason.

connection

The only connection I can find between these two very different career choices was my desire to make others happy, feel better, smile or just connect with them.  To somehow change another’s world for the better, to make it a little bit brighter, even if just for a day, an hour or a moment is something I aspire to.  I write on a more consistent basis now and continue to pursue my life of writing.  There are people out there that have read my book, follow my blog and have given me positive feedback to say that I’ve either been the voice they needed at a specific time or that I gave them another perspective or option to consider.  Just to know that I changed someone’s state of mind/being for the better, even for a moment is a much appreciated validation for me and is extremely humbling and incredibly motivating.

The connection I’ve realized now is that my desire to make others happy, feel better, smile or just connect with them has been not too far off from either of my initials goals.  The “being a singer” goal because that form of career is a form of creativity and the “psychiatrist/therapist” goal because that form of career is to help.  In essence it is a combination of the two that creates my writing career focus and has been a blessing for me in more ways than I could have ever imagined.

If you look back to the points in your life where you had your initial ideas of “what you wanted to be”, are you anywhere near it?  You may be, but not in the way that you had expected, it could be an alternate path but connected at the core like mine was.  It was quite a moment of “aha” to realize how much of these two very different career goals ending up blending together.

It was a direction that I never could have predicted and where I will be 20 years from now will be a prediction that I could not make either but I am definitely looking forward to finding out.

laugh often pic

 
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Posted by on January 15, 2013 in Blog

 

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Is it really a Failure, Mistake or Divine Intervention?

08 Jan

All Experiences Carry Wisdom

Have you wondered why you are where you are, wondered why certain people and experiences enter or leave your life?  Every experience carries wisdom with it and the bigger question to ask is at the end of every experience; do you recognize the experience has played out and do you finally see the wisdom?

everything happens for a reasonFor the longest time I was very hard on myself when it came to any sort of mistake or failure, I never adjusted well, nor did I see the wisdom at the end.  In the last 10 years I’ve started to see things from a different perspective that has led me to question whether what I’ve viewed as failures in the past are not actually that of divine intervention or destiny.  I’m a huge believer in “Everything happens for a Reason” and that would mean that mistakes (big or small) aren’t actually failures but rather part of the grand design that is in place to help us progress in the direction we are meant to go so we can live the life we are meant to live.

One thing I’ve come to recognize is that the people I admire, look up to and respect can feel like lifelines at times because we can relate to each other in a very specific and identifiable way.  Their energy is not only magnetic but familiar and comforting and there are times when that is just what I need to balance me out.

I listed some of my favorite quotes from Oprah’s Master Class, there is so much to we can learn from others experiences and lives, whether they are successful at times or not.  It’s learning from the experience; that is the success.

Honestly when I was younger I didn’t have enough confidence or comfort level in my own skin to maintain my beliefs.  I knew I believed in some of the quotes below, although some of them I wasn’t even aware of because I just didn’t have enough life experience but those I believed and wanted to stand strong on fell to the wayside.  I needed to develop inner strength and learn how to set boundaries, and I wouldn’t have learned how to without the life experiences I’ve had so far.

Oprah Winfrey:  (Every Life Has a Story) – Everybody has a story and there is something to be learned from every experience.

Jay-Z:  (Be True to Yourself) – Knowing who you are, that’s the foundation of everything great.

Simon Cowell:  (It’s Better just to be Honest) – Emotion is absolutely key to this, trust your gut instinct.

Condoleezza Rice:  (Faith Helps) – You can’t plan every step in Life.

Maya Angelou:  (You Have to Live your Teaching) – When you learn teach, at our best we are all teachers.

Sydney Poitier:  (Instinct Guides Us) – Instinct is a force that lives within us and we call upon it when we need to.

Diane Sawyer:  (Be Curious) – Wake up curious and wake up determined to try to get an answer.

Lorne Michaels:  (Art is Like Life) – There’s always just ahead of us the chance for redemption.

Oprah Winfrey: (Learn from Every Experience) – Use your Life as a Class.

I believe that as long as you are being true to who you really are inside and not who you present to the world then you will have true happiness, inner peace and a blessed life.

what lies behind us

 
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Posted by on January 8, 2013 in Blog

 

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Welcome 2013 – Happy New Year!

01 Jan

Out with the Old, In with the New

2013The New Year of 2013 is now here and I always feel the same level of excitement at the beginning of every new year because of all the possibilities, opportunities and energy that is in the air.  I know I said last year that I felt 2012 was going to be a good year for everyone but that feeling has developed to an even stronger level for 2013.  I’ve learned to “just go with my feelings” when I get them because eventually the reality becomes clear, not when I think it should but when the timing is finally right.

I had a lot of transitional change and growth throughout the year of 2012, maybe not everyone had experienced or felt this but I did.  I say transitional because the changes were not sudden, I finally began to see things from a perspective that has allowed me to accept things that just aren’t meant to be any different than they are.  It was another year of reflection, realization and learning and honestly I am really enjoying the liberation and freedom those thought processes bring.  Especially at the end of the year because not only am I looking ahead but I’m reflecting back to see how much farther I’ve come.  I don’t ever want to stop learning or challenging myself because that is what inspires me to keep pushing myself on to the next level.

Last year helped me to better define my focus of what I envision for my future and that focus has strengthened not only my determination and perseverance but it has helped me to develop a more guided sense of discipline.  I wouldn’t say that I never had these qualities it’s just that when I was in my 20’s I didn’t have a direction or focus that required them so they were relatively unused.  I don’t think that we really discover who we are or what we are made of until we have to, out of necessity.

something wonderfulThis is the best time of the year to let go of all that has held you back, wipe the slate clean and start fresh so that you can embrace, welcome and live your best life.  Sometimes when something ends it isn’t because you are meant to hurt or feel sad but rather to make room for what is just around the corner and your hands and heart need to be open to accept and embrace it and more often than not, it’s something better.

This year I have resolutions that are an extension of last year’s because thanks to my reinforced discipline they will now continue on as a pattern rather than a resolution.  I have many new dreams that I want to accomplish and an abundance of energy that is going to support, motivate and carry me through.

I know it’s easy to make the plans and I think in some of my past years I either used to make them too far in advance or I would lose my motivation and then I’d say “I’ll do it next year”.  I know all too well how easily that can happen but I can assure you that there is a great deal of pride and sense of accomplishment when you stay the course you’ve set out on.

Whether you make resolutions or not I believe that the time of the year that has the strongest energy is at the beginning and if there is something you want to change or accomplish now is the time to initiate it.  The energy circling through the universe at this time is magical, full of hopes and dreams, use it to your best advantage!

Happy New Year!   I wish you all a Safe, Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2013.

happy new year

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2013 in Blog

 

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