What Are You So Worried About?

I’m a worrier. Always have been. Hoping to not always be. My mom used to always say to me when I was little, “What are you so worried about?” In my head I thought there are a million things to worry about! How could you not? I have found that over the years, the worrying has subsided the more that I have learned that there is so much in life that I cannot control. And then the other day I came across this quote that I found very thought provoking.

“It is reported that more than 90% of what we worry about never happens. That means that our negative worries have less than a 10% chance of being correct. If this is so, isn’t being positive more realistic than being negative? Think about your own life. I’ll wager that most of what you worry about never happens. So are you being realistic when you worry all the time? No!”

~ Susan Jeffers Quotes from Feel the Fear…And Do It Anyway

So my question to you is, what are you so worried about?

Escape

This weekend my husband and I decided at the last minute to head up to Napa for two days. We packed up our puppy and our things and escaped. It wasn’t until I was up there that I was reminded of the importance of getting away. Even though you think when you are in your routine that there isn’t a need to break out of it, once you do the benefits are enormous. There is something about change of scenery and a change of pace that does the soul good. Even Saidy, our dog, was smiling ear to ear! She had a whole new level of boundless energy and seemed to be soaking it all up. And for me, just to sit outside and play cards at 8 o’clock at night in warm weather was a treat!

I highly recommend that you also plan to “escape” soon. Even if it is just to go for a hike on Saturday afternoon. Get out of town. Explore. Escape.

Morning Ritual

Every morning before I get out of bed, I make sure to do three things. The first is think about all that I am grateful for in my life. This morning I was grateful for our puppy, Saidy. Although she was driving me crazy this morning with her digging while I was only half awake and freezing outside, I am so grateful that she is healthy and for how much joy she brings to our life. I was also so grateful for my wonderful husband who let me stay in bed while he fed Saidy. And I was grateful that the sun was out first thing in the morning, finally no fog!

The second thing I do is set an intention for the day. Today my intention is to be creative. I will keep that in mind as my day goes on and try to work it into everything I do.

The third thing I do is think about one thing that I am really excited for. Something that I can look forward to. And if there isn’t anything in particular already planned, I make sure to come up with it before I get out of bed. Today was to have a banana milkshake! I know it probably doesn’t sound very exciting to most but I LOVE banana milkshakes.

So, what are your three things for today? Grateful for? Intention for the day? Excited for? Write in the comments below and share with us!

Happy Friday!

p.s. I think our dog Saidy’s answers would be:

Grateful for eating three meals a day and treats in between.

Intention is to learn how to get food off the kitchen counter.

Excited to go to the beach and play with other dogs which is why first thing this morning I laid by the door as shown in the picture above.

Exposed

This past week I’ve talked with a lot of people about their fear of being vulnerable. It is usually associated with dating or being in a relationship but I find that it relates to a lot of areas of people’s lives. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable, we are exposing ourselves. The protective armor comes off, the swords are dropped and there we are, fully exposed. Most of us don’t ever allow ourselves to do that because what if we get hurt? Or what if someone laughs in our face when they see us for who we really are? And so we keep the armor on and we march ahead with the swords held strongly in front of us. Sure, a few of us sometimes maybe lower the sword and think that is “exposing” ourselves enough, allowing others in. But is it really?And doesn’t it get heavy and cumbersome to walk around with all of that heavy armor on? It’s exhausting. What if you could stand free to the world and say, this is who I am, bumps and bruises and all? When in fact it’s those very bumps and bruises that you learn from and become a better person for it. But if you have all of that armor on, you’ll never learn those lessons.

This week, I challenge you to take it all off (metaphorically speaking of course – this is not that kind of blog:)). Whether it be in your dating life where you have been hiding out or in a job that you have been afraid to go for, whatever it is, try throwing it all to the side and feel the liberation. You might just find that you are welcomed with open arms more than you ever would have been.

My First Post

I have officially entered the world of “blogging”. I suppose I should start with talking a bit about myself and how I came to do what I am doing.

I spent about 10 years climbing the corporate ladder and switching companies and careers in search for a job that I didn’t dread going into. I started in design and merchandising which brought me to living in New York for a few years. I found that career and lifestyle to be both exciting and incredibly draining. Everything was always about “what’s next?”. Both at work as well as in my social life. It was about the next trend or the next hot restaurant, I felt like I could never be content just “being”. So I quit my job, packed up my apartment and moved to the one place in the world that epitomizes just “being” – Italy. My sister had moved there one month prior and I decided that nothing sounded better than getting grounded while living in Italy.

For 6 months, my sister and I lived in Rome where we worked as waitresses in a local restaurant. It was probably the most transformative time in my life up until that point. All of a sudden my learned NYC habits of going going going were looked down upon. For the first time in a long time, I stopped to enjoy what was. I ate long meals, I took the time to learn Italian, I spent hours writing in cafes, I watched the sunset everyday and I felt incredibly fulfilled.

When I moved back home to San Francisco, I tried to figure out a way to stay out of the corporate world. After 6 months of unsuccessfully trying to “discover my passion”, I gave in to the lure of a steady paycheck and sold my soul once again to a corporation and my old life of merchandising. After two years there, I tried to “do something different” and went to work for a wine company where I headed up the marketing department and developed wine brands. I was promised that I could work from home 3 days a week when I accepted the job. That never happened. There I was once again stuck behind a desk doing a job that I wasn’t passionate about.

It wasn’t until I was traveling to France for work and found myself in the barrel room of an old chateau with a winemaker who spoke little english. While I could not understand most of what he was saying, what he was feeling was undeniable. Passion. This man was incredibly passionate about what he did for a living. Winemaking was not a means to an end for him, it was everything to him. It was in his blood. All I could think to myself was “I want to feel about my job the way that he feels about his job.”

2 weeks after that trip, I hired a life coach and quit my job.

In my time with my life coach I discovered that I was very attached to what I thought I “should” be doing for a career and what was “expected” of me. While everything in my body told me that I wanted to help people and that I wanted to work for myself, I couldn’t get past what people would think if I decided to become a life coach. And couldn’t get past the possibility of failing.

I have to say that my biggest inspiration and support was my husband. Here he had started multiple companies, absolutely loved what he did and was very successful. It was obvious to him that this was what I was meant to do and as long as I worked hard, I would be very successful. He already had a vision in his head for what my potential was. And for that, I am so lucky.

And so, I went and received coach training, launched my life coach and image consulting business and have not looked back since.

Finally I can say that I have found my passion and that is help others to find and follow their passion.

I will be using this blog to publish my newsletters and to give daily/weekly inspiration as well as resources to those who want to make changes in their lives. Or if you just want something to read other than work emails first thing in the morning, you are welcome to join as well!