After all, this was what I thought I wanted. It's what we were taught to strive for above all else: safety and security. Or I should say: the Illusions of safety and security. After putting myself through college, I moved to Colorado for sunshine and powder snow. I landed a sweet gig in high tech government sales in beautiful Boulder. I honestly thought I would live here forever. I rode my bike th
ousands of miles with over 300 days of sunshine every year, had a career and was a weekend warrior snowboarder and backpacker. It was so great for about 6 years until the veil of illusion started to show through. I purchased my first home and that's when things started getting strange. I was doing and getting everything exactly according to the "plan"! You know, the pre laid out "American Dream plan" of college, corporate career, homeownership, and then Oh My God, I know what comes next...marriage and kids. Shouldn't I be happy and stoked that I'm going to be ok and not have to struggle financially? I will have lots of nice things and cars and houses and go on amazing trips...what more could I want? I have jumped through all the hoops that will give me safety and security! After all, my father was corporate man who worked for one company his ENTIRE career...the same man that implored me not to leave my corporate life behind got cancer shortly after retirement and died within a few years. One of the last conversations I had with him was that he wished he would have taken more time out to "smell the roses" like me. Can you imagine walking into the same office at the same place EVERY. DAY. For 30 years?? This sounded like a death sentence to me! There was something inside of me that was literally crying out and I couldn't pretend I didn't hear it anymore and I finally started to listen. My then 29 year old self had a talk with my future 50 year old self...
29 looked around the office at her coworkers and said to 50 "Are you going to be ok doing this for the next 35 years and this will be how you spent your life?"
There wasn't even a pause and it wasn't just a "No", it was an "Awww Hell NO!". You know when you see something that you can't unsee? This was that. I saw all the unhappy, out of shape, zombie like coworkers who got sucked into the ILLUSIONS of safety and security and the pre laid out American Dream and knew I HAD to get out. Now. Not next year. Not when I have more money in the bank. NOW. Let's back up just a smidge without detailing my entire dysfunctional childhood...we can even just suffice it to say for now that due to said dysfunctional childhood, I decided as a young girl - probably 10 - that I was not going to have kids. At the time, I wasn't thinking "I'm going to break the cycle", I simply decided there was only one way to absolutely avoid being a single mom. Don't have kids. Easy as that. So I didn't. But back to 1998, that was the next logical step. I was in a long term relationship with a wonderful man who came from a great, well adjusted family and I wanted him to have kids. He is the type of person that should have kids. He said "I don't have to have kids". Ooooh. Wrong answer. I would've only accepted "I don't want kids either". I had to set him free to be with someone more like him, from a more normal family who had a chance at creating his own well adjusted family. I ended a 7 year relationship to follow my heart and to save his. He didn't need my dysfunctional family baggage. I didn't either. What I needed was to shed all of that programmed s**t I'd been brainwashed by for decades and find myself by following my dreams. This was something I knew I had to do alone. Within a month, I moved to a sleepy little ski town in Colorado and began LIVING. Trying new things. Failing at things. Getting back up and trying again. Not knowing what's around every corner. Connecting with like-minded people from all over the world. Amassing great skills in areas of adventure, life & work. See the order I listed there? Work is last. It's just the means to accomplish the first two. NOW, I thought...THIS seems a little more how I think life ought to be. At least it didn't feel terribly wrong. Like I was making a huge mistake that I couldn't take back. Was I scared? Absolutely. How would I make money? I was just getting settled into my career, why would I do this to myself? Putting me back in unknowing and stress? The only way I can put it is that it was more stressful to come home everyday to my beautiful home after going to a job that I didn't hate to cry. Not just cry but sob. Bawl. There was something deep inside of me that knew this was not the way I was intended to spend my life. Once I made the decision, the sadness immediately lifted and I was totally committed. Thank god I listened to me. Fast forward to today
I've been on a huge and multifaceted adventure for the last 25 years. I have done literally everything completely against the grain. According to no one else's design but my own. It's been amazing. I feel completely alive
I feel in control of my life.. I've grown and learned so much. I have met more incredible people from around the world. I have rescued three dogs, 2 of whom are old enough to drive and another not far behind. I have been traveling internationally since 17 and also extensively our beautiful country in my 32' motorhome with my furry companions by my side for a 7 year full time stint. I am happily nestled in beautiful Lake Tahoe living my dream life everyday! I snowboard 130 days a year. I mountain bike thousands of miles every year,
I work when I want, doing what I want. I'm in the best shape of my life. I am finally the right person in the right place at the right time with the right people.
55 year old me is so happy she chose the life of unknown, risks, adventure, fun, and constant change. The life of LIVING. How she had the foresight, I don't know but am I so grateful. Looking back, my entire life makes sense now and that has allowed me to let go of the past that was holding me back. Way back. Let go and forgive. It's the key to forward motion and true fulfillment in every sense of the word. When someone asks me about my life, I can literally feel the regret (I'm an empath) of those that chose the illusion of safety and security, wondering where their life went & why they didn't choose a path less traveled. A mentor of mine, Scotty, a highly successful attorney with an incredible life and family, always used to tell me that t I'm "living life like it was meant to be lived & that Ralph Waldo Emerson would be proud"! Wow, I had to sit & take that in. Those are some big words! They come with responsibility
..to keep smelling the roses for my dad who admittedly wasted his life chasing the illusion of safety & security.
..to keep living life like it was meant to be lived for Scotty.
..to keep making Ralph Waldo Emerson proud.
..& to keep on my true & original path to bring joy & inspiration to the world, raising the vibration of the planet & enabling me to live the most dreamy life I ever could have imagined. As long as you are breathing, it's never too late
..to get on your path!
..to choose your own destiny!
..to realize your wildest dreams!
..to work how & when you decide!
..to get paid based on the value you bring not the hours you work!
..to finally do something you align with wholeheartedly!
..to bring your unique gift to the world!
..to live life like it was meant to be lived! I will show you my secrets.. I will share my resources with you. You don't have to do it all alone. Step into you greatness and this century's business models & capabilities while creating your dream life.
