Birthday Lessons & Reflections

Thank you for joining me for this special birthday post. To celebrate our last year together, I’m offering 43% off all tutorials, merch, and downloads using code BIRTHDAY from today (November 3rd, 2020 - November 22nd, 2020)! Consider this a thank you for celebrating and supporting me this last year.

I’m not sure what 43 is supposed to feel like. I suppose it’s relative to where we are in life, what’s going on in our world, and our reflection as to how we feel about it. In so many ways I feel like every year I get a little bit younger. Yes, there are signs that my physical body is aging but it shows me how much my physical body does for me. And for that I am grateful. 

I feel like my energy body is younger. And though I believe that energy has no age, I notice that there is difference. It feels lighter. I feel more aligned with who I am and my true self. I feel more appreciation and gratitude for each and every wrinkle. I feel joy in the life I see before me.

At 43, I have just completed my advanced scuba certification, I’m back in school to advance my knowledge, I am single, I am thriving and I am in constant transition. The life that I had gotten used to, no longer serves me in the same. Letting go and having an acceptance of what is, has been a great gift and also incredibly challenging. It’s hard to release an identity that you’ve held for nearly 40 years: Athlete, competitor, performer, achiever, people pleaser. And although those aspects of myself, still resonate and serve me well, it’s time to allow them a little rest. 

I believe that the inner athlete will never leave me. The competitor and performer are parts of myself that are ingrained in me. I am noticing that they are tired and I want to allow them to rest. They have taught me beautiful lessons in striving to be my best and also win the approval of others. I do believe we should always strive to be our best but not in competition with anyone externally if it means there will be a loser... or someone determined less than. There will always be someone with a higher skill set. But you are worthy, just as you are. 

Choose to grow because it’s your choice, not because you feel pressured. You are of great value and worth just by being here. And in its own way, Life is a performance. We show up with our best selves, even at our lowest times. Even then it’s still our best self putting a foot forward. Your performance, is one of a lifetime. Your lifetime. You show up just as you are, and win. Learning how to feel comfortable, worthy, and confident in your own skin. Let the world see you for you. 

You are beautiful in your imperfections. You are perfect in your flaws. When we own our actions and take responsibility, we can live with courage and dignity. When we are transparent and authentic, we add our uniqueness to the world with genuine flair. It’s ok to make mistakes. It’s called being human. You may not get any awards for showing up as you are, but you experience great victory in this dance of Life. The performance of your lifetime is now.

Let the performance be a dance with Life. 
Let the performance be a dance with energy and love. 
Let your performance be an interconnected pulse with divinity. 

In this performance every step is carefully choreographed, yet free flowing, and effortless.

It is wonderful to achieve, if achieving is done for the sake of personal growth, interest and curiosity. I think it’s wonderful and beautiful to offer your best to those around you when you can. But I don’t think we’re here to please other people if it causes harm to ourselves. It’s a gift to be with people who, when you show up at your lowest, still love you just because you’re you. There’s no need to please others, just yourself. 

What dear loved one do you want to do with this wild and precious life of yours? How can you love more? How can you open yourself up to even more joy and gratitude? How can you open your eyes even wider to fully experience this incredible thing we call Life. 

Every year I put release and shed the skin of the past. Thanking it for the protection that it offered when I needed it most. Exposing my gentle, new skin to the world knowing that it will be burned, scarred, scratched and exposed. And that’s OK. There will be new life and new opportunity and new experiences with this new skin. 

Fear is a familiar friend. We shake hands often with the agreement that it won’t go away but that it will offer a gift of learning every time I step into its path. It’s taken 43 years to feel more comfortable with saying no… It’s also taking me 43 years to feel more comfortable saying yes...

I am beginning to notice the long-term generous gifts of meditation and mindfulness practices. Continuing to look within and find the answers... there is much to learn from the external world, but even more diamonds and gems in the treasure chest of our inner wisdom.

Seeking and searching not as a quest to find the endpoint of the holy grail, but to experience the journey. A gathering of deep riches and pearls of wisdom offered along the way. Treasures to fill the heart, uncover forgotten knowledge and gain insights from lives once lived. Trying on new ideas, concepts, new ways of thinking and exploring. Understanding that along the way some people will decide to go another way, and that is the journey of Life. As we all try on new skin and shed what no longer serving us, people will not be sure how they feel about your new clothing. They might not be sure how they will feel about their own. None of this is personal. It just is. We are connected in more ways than we are able to understand and one day we will see how true this is. And until we remember once again, we will continue to travel the road before us. We are invited to step off the safe and paved path to take the road less traveled. 

And at some parts of the journey, you may choose no path at all... taking a step at a time into wild and uncharted territory and see where we arrive. Once you’ve climbed to the top of the mountain, you see how many more mountains there are to climb! Whatever route you take to get there, is yours.... just keep going. Take time to smell the roses. Take time to get pricked by the thorns.

Whatever path you choose and whatever mountain you climb, don’t forget to love yourself along the way. Don’t forget how precious each and every day is that you are alive. Remember to find joy as often as you can. Remember to say thank you and I love you to those you love, to yourself, and even to those who challenge you. Remember to be kind. Remember to be open to receive all that you were being offered. Remember that the universe is conspiring for you! Remember to breathe, and to smile. Remember that whatever mess you’re in, it’s not that serious. I promise, you’ll make it through. And remember that in the end, Love wins.

Here’s to another year around the sun.

Thank you for a wild ride…. and I’m excited to see what’s next.