No – I’m not a Days of Our Lives fan. 🙂 Sadly I have no time for soap operas in my schedule unless you count Game of Thrones and Once Upon A Time (these are my guilty pleasures and I love them).. ?? The days have been slipping by – I swear I don’t know where the heck they go and we have been very silent on the blog front. Sorry about that. It’s not due to a lack of desire to post- that’s for sure…so much has transpired. I personally have had some major family stuff to deal with. Normally I would not address that in a blog but it’s pretty serious. In a 45 day window my brother Doug and my grandfather Gene both died. 45 days apart in fact. Wasn’t prepared for either one. Needless to say it’s been difficult .
I’ve hesitated and struggled with whether or not to write about any of this… But this is real life, horrible tragic things do happen sometimes and I have never felt more strongly about encouraging every person who will give me the time of day to follow their heart and dreams. Girls Gone Global is that for me. After coming to terms with the losses to the best of my ability ( I mean can you ever really come to terms?) so much has changed perception wise for me. Now- having a very personal connection to all of the cliché sentiments I never took very seriously such as “Everyday is a gift”, “You never know which day may be your last so live each one to the fullest” …you know those ones – I really understand the messages conveyed. Now let’s be realistic…if I was living each day like it was my last you would likely find me on a nude beach located somewhere in the Seychelles drinking a cocktail with an umbrella in it eating an entire loaf of bread full of gluten. So the statement still has parameters to really be applicable in day-to-day life – but here is my very expanded interpretation of it from all angles bullet pointed out for you!
- If you’re gonna do something – really do it. Dive in…and I do not believe in regret. If that head first dive didn’t or doesn’t work out for you, learn from it and make a different choice next time. For those of you who don’t know my background is in therapy and I worked as a very successful therapist for quite some time years ago – One of the most prolific things I learned was that guilt is an entirely useless emotion and serves no purpose other than to make you feel like crap. Let go of the guilt people. Learn, make different choices and move on.
- If you have unsettled emotional business with a loved one or friend…work it out. It’s not worth hanging on to – TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. Fortunately I had the privilege of holding my grandfathers hand when he passed away and had told him just that day how much I loved him and what he meant to me. I also was fortunate enough to of talked to and seen my brother shortly before his death. We had just had a giant heart to heart about life and – yes you guessed it I told him how much I loved him. Phew- THANK GOD! Rest assured – All the people in my life that I love have now sincerely been told 1897 times over the last two months.
- Getting back on track to living life to the fullest and my interpretation – If you don’t like your life – make steps to change it..even baby steps are great steps. When we are little we don’t just stand up and run. We start with one little teeny tiny step at a time and we fall an awful lot. All those little steps add up and before you know it you are taking great big strides! Daydreaming, imagining and fantasizing all count as baby steps too! Believe in yourself and be kind to yourself. You have the choice of either being your biggest supporter or your own worst enemy. While on the topic of enemies..If you have anyone in your life you have assigned that astute title to – I suggest you eliminate the word from your vocabulary except in the context I just used it in and make up or forgive those people and move on. Life is to short to hold a grudge..it’s all about the love friends.
- Live your life for you…not your parents, your children or your partner. I’m not saying that your children or partner should not be a factor when making ‘some’ decisions…but you have to follow your heart and your dreams and your inspiration. Work with your partner towards a career change if you hate your job. Take time for yourself. Instead of spending all your moolah on trinkets and crud for the kids..set some of that dough aside just for you. I do not care if your parents told you that you had to be a lawyer and in order to make them happy you went to law school and now you’re a fancy pants lawyer and now you fuc*ing hate it. It’s never to late.
- I am officially giving you permission to do what makes you happy. Personally, professionally, socially – you get it. And I don’t want to hear any ‘buts’. There are no ‘buts’ about it. You could die tomorrow.
Now for me… the things that makes me happy are travel, my family, spending time with my girlfriends, making out, telling the people I love how much I love them, listening to really loud music while driving in my car, singing along to that really loud music, pursuing my dreams, making tv and movies, writing, encouraging people to follow their inspiration – heart and dreams, reminding people that they are ‘worth it!’ and inspiring them to believe in themselves, sweet little babies when they are not crying, you get the idea and that’s just naming a few. Do you have a happy list? How many of those things are you doing or have done recently? Lets make a game plan. How about you make that list and agree to do at least three things on it over the next week. You must put at least 10 things on the list. They can be small things or huge things. Whatever you are comfortable with. Just make the list, choose your three and do them. Oh gosh. How did I forget – my cat Princess Diana – she makes me really really happy.
We have lots of good stuff coming up over the next month too! Every friday in March I will post a new blog. I’ve asked each one of the girls to write a blog about why they love to travel, why it’s important to them, what’s their favorite part of a trip and why do they think you should be traveling too. My secret mission is to inspire you to go somewhere. You’ll have to let me know if it works. 😉 Speaking of going somewhere…there has been a fair share of traveling happening for me and the ladies over the last two months as well. Melanie was in Hawaii twice and is headed to Florida and Grand Turk next week. Just yesterday she finalized plans for a trip to Costa Rica this April. Her husbands ( Kaleo Wassman ) band Pepper is currently on tour and were going to head out and meet up with them tomorrow. Yay- always a good time with Kaleo and Melanie! Angie spent a glorious 10 days in Anguilla and St. Barth over Christmas and then flew to LA to spend New Years with me. She dragged me to Hugh Hefner’s New Years party at the Playboy mansion. I wasn’t kicking and screaming but I definitely utilized the fake it til’ you make it attitude that night.
I spent a week in Seattle during January and then took another short road trip up the coast with my hubby. We took the 101 North and kicked things off house hunting in Montecito (planning on moving by August) then headed to Solvang, Pismo Beach, Avila Beach and San Luis Obispo. It was a great little mini trip that was incredibly inexpensive. Gotta love those. We paid $68 per night for a suite with an ocean view in San Luis Bay…deal of the century!
We also spent a long weekend in Palm Springs with friends. We rented an absolutely stunning house that I was able to negotiate a last-minute rate on…never hurts to ask – sometimes you get a YES! Weather was 75- sunny and the pool was outstanding. Check it out here… http://www.vrbo.com/70857 .
So it’s safe to say we’ve been logging the miles. Angie promised to write a post about St. Barth and Anguilla so that should be coming soon- the pictures I’ve seen are outstanding! I’ve also got an extensive travel itinerary over the next 6 months… Seattle, Canada, France, Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and maybe a Mediterranean cruise with Mom (I’m taking my own advice and doing what makes me happy while living my life to the fullest!). So I promise..we have lots of good blogging on its way! On that note I leave you with Angie and I counting down the New Year straight from the playboy mansion itself.
This blogs for you Dougie and Grandpa…so much love and missing you both every single day,
Eden
Girls Gone Global 