Love YOU first...confessions of a (tired) daydreamer

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I never met you. If all the pieces and roads that led me to that very place, that moment, hadn't happened. I think back to the few weeks prior when my life was headed a different direction. I wonder what life would be like now, had that detour happened.  Sometimes I wonder where we would be had you not left. Would we have made it, then? Would our lives look like our plans and dreams that we thought? I wonder where our journey would have taken us, what memories we would have made and what adventures we would have experienced. I wonder where we'd be at today.  Sometimes I wonder if you miss us. The dynamic trio. I wonder if you miss the fun we had and the memories we made. I wonder if you thought about him growing up and wishing you could be there too. I think he would have loved you. I wish he could have known you. I wish you could know him now like you did back then. I sure miss you and I wonder if you miss me too.  Sometimes ...

Friends, do you have a tribe? Do you have people there to catch your fall, to listen to your ramblings, to love you fiercely through life? If not a tribe, do you have a person? That one support person that is there for every high and every low? Someone who knows you better than you know yourself? Someone who never leaves? If the answer is no, then let me be your person.  I will walk with you in the trenches and help you claw your way out of the darkness. I will be your voice when you feel so broken that you can't speak. I will be your compass when you feel lost and alone in the world. I will be the wall you can lean on when you're tired and you can't stand. I will sit with you in silence and I will celebrate every victory. I will hold your hand while you cry and I will hug all your broken pieces back together. Let me be your person and I will help you build your tribe.  Everyone needs a tribe and I am so grateful for mine.  A simple text. A short video message. A quick FB...

A few years ago, I had the honor and privilege to listen to two very powerful motivational speakers. This husband and wife duo spoke many times throughout the years that I was involved with a company with them, and each time it was exactly what I needed. I never walked away with dry eyes. I always sat so intently, listening, and frantically writing pages of leadership nuggets. They were so inspirational and I made every effort, every time, to be in their presence.  During one of those sessions, was a message that pierced me right in the gut. It was one of those 'slap me moments'...pinch me and make sure this is real life. It was so profound and struck all the nerves in me. I was frozen, stunned, in shock at the words she spoke. It's something that I have kept with me since that day and every so often, I have to remind myself of that message.  "What you tolerate, you give permission to exist." - J.D. We are in charge and we have the ability to CHOOSE what we want i...

Taking risks is always scary. I am not one who typically dives head first into the unknown. I'm a planner. I am a thinker. I thrive on the details and mark off the to-do lists. So when life throws curveballs, my little world becomes chaotic.  However, sometimes taking risks can be exciting. The kind that you see coming. The kind that you have been wishing and hoping for. The ones that you have a good enough plan to say "yes" to even though you can't see the whole staircase. Those are the ones that have the possibility of changing your life forever.  On March 6th, I took the biggest risk. I packed up my life and headed east. I left behind everything I've ever known...my home, my friends, and my family. I left the state that I was born and raised in, the one I never thought that I would leave, for a new adventure...a risk, a chance, a hope and dream of seeking better. Better for myself, better for my kids, better for what life had in store for my family. The only pl...

I told myself when I started this little blog that I would write when I felt like it and only when I felt like it. When I felt like my words were there...when I felt like what I had to say was worthy of being re-read or repeated.  I've taken quite a bit of time off of here because that's what I needed. Sometimes I think it would have helped by writing, but I wouldn't want to go back and re-read those thoughts - depressing, angry, betrayed, sad, self-sabotaging thoughts. All things not worth repeating.  But I am ready now. Ready to write the things out that are on my heart. Ready to put myself out there and share myself with the world again. I am fully in control of what I put out into the universe and I have learned to release the control of how others interpret my words.  So if you're here, welcome. And if you're struggling with something hard or trying to calm all the racing thoughts in your head, let me share what a sweet friend told me during some of my roughest...