Fortune Favors the Bold

It's about to be the beginning of yet another year.  They seem to pass so quickly.  This past year has been an absolute whirlwind.  I can remember New Year's Day 2011, just like it was yesterday, and I can't imagine that an entire spring, summer and fall have past.  So as always, it's time to reflect, a time to ask ourselves if this past year was everything we wanted it to be?  Were we happy?  Did we accomplish the things we hoped?  I always look at the beginning of a new year as the chance to work on the things that didn't work so well in the past year, and work on doing what I need to do to change them.  For the most part, 2011 was a great year.  I graduated from Pastry school, where I added some new friends to my life, I spent a great week of vacation in Costa Rica, I even lost a few pounds this year.  But for all the good, there are some things I wish would have been different.  Some opportunities I may have missed, some chances I didn't take.  In a sense, that is life.  Good and bad.  Missed opportunities and things that we overlook, mixed in with good and happy times.  But I ask myself how much I (we, if you will) miss out on by letting opportunities go by, by not saying yes more often, by not being more bold in our lives.  I read the quote "Fortune Favors the Bold".   For whatever reason, it stayed stuck in my head for several weeks and I knew in a way, that it was something I needed to apply to my own life.  Don't get me wrong, I have my moments of boldness, sometimes maybe even foolish boldness, but if you look around at successful people, people who make an imprint on the world, they didn't sit quietly by and let their lives happen to them.  They made some moves, struck out boldly to make a difference or to be successful or to stand for something.  I think on any level, we can all stand to be a bit more bold in our lives.  Whether it's just living day to day or some greater goal,  be bold in your beliefs, in your rights, in obtaining your heart's desire, in getting exactly what you want out of life.  Happy New Year everyone!

It's Thanksgiving people....

After what seemed to be the fastest summer I have ever lived through, we find ourselves here, in November, just a couple weeks before Thanksgiving.  The problem...someone forgot about Thanksgiving and skipped from Halloween to Christmas...let me explain (as I always do). 

I think it was August (even before Halloween or Labor Day for that matter!) that I first caught a glimpse of Christmas trees, I think it was Hobby Lobby.  I've known over the past 20 years or so, that retailers tend to push Christmas on us earlier and earlier, but is it just me or does this year seem far worse?  I remember back in the day when school started in the Fall and it seemed like forever until Halloween.  After Halloween, Thanksgiving was a far off thought on the horizon, and well Christmas ...we had months to go, it seemed.  Thanksgiving did finally role around and THEN, and only then did any talk of Christmas begin.  I remember spending the afternoon of Thanksgiving, after the table had been cleared, with the Wish Books spread out on the table, where I would diligently turn page by page, making my list of wanted items.  I would always include the item number, page number and of course color (if that were an option), I would leave no doubt as to what it was I would be expecting to see under that tree come Christmas morning.  The tree didn't go up until well into December and then came the annual viewing of claymation Christmas specials.  I don't think there were any of those sappy Hallmark Channel Holiday movies!  Here is my opinion....The Holidays were much more special then, because they were something that you looked forward to and you enjoyed during that time.  Nowadays we (I) grow weary of it being 24/7 beginning November 1 (yes, we have already endured an entire weekend of Hallmark Holiday movies), and by the time the day actually rolls around...you're over it.  December 26, we're ripping down the trees and moving on.  So, here is my challenge to everyone.  Anticipate Thanksgiving, savor the turkey and all the fixings, then on November 25, go full throttle into Christmas...that gives you 30 days of Christmas and that my friends is plenty of Christmas.  I do understand that if you're knitting Christmas sweaters for your entire family, you may need to think about Christmas before November 25, so get busy.

It's Growing Season...

Spring is quickly becoming summer and with it the earth comes alive.  I planted a garden this year, for the first time in many.  This is the first summer I've been in a house with a yard for over 4 years and I'm so excited about eating some of the tomatoes from my very own garden.  I've been thinking a lot about growing.  Not so much about plants in the garden, but growing as a person.  I think I used to think that as we become adults, we "arrive" at some place and there we live happily ever after, knowing all we need to know to live out a happy life.  At some point, that changed for me.  I don't remember exactly when, but at that point in my life I realized that this life is a classroom.  That in every aspect of life, there is a lesson to be learned, every experience, every encounter, every day offers some thing to take away, something that feeds us and helps us to grow.  One of the things that we tend to forget, is the idea that perhaps only the good things that happen to us help us to grow.  It's not always good, but it is an opportunity to learn and grow nonetheless.  What struck me the this week was not so much the idea of growing, but the notion of what to do when you stop growing?  Think about it like this.  Are you in a situation, be it a career, a friendship, a relationship where you have grown all you can?  Is there anything else for you to learn that will make you a better person, the person you are meant to be?  This week it hit me while I was on the treadmill...when you stop growing, it's time to move on....it's the sign, it's the realization you need to make yourself better.  I challenge myself to be someone who continually grows, in hopes of becoming all that I am possible of being.  I challenge all of you to do the same.

Well done Oprah....well done....

The Oprah Show came to an end this week.  25 years.  I remember when she started...I was 4 I think.  I would race home early from preschool and plant myself in front of the tv set and listen to everything she had to say.   Okay, okay, I wasn't really 4...I was 7.  Anyway, although I wasn't an avid, everyday viewer, I watched her enough to learn some valuable lessons.  Lessons that I try to remind myself everyday.  I have spoke of one of these in a previous post.  I'm not exactly sure if it was her or Dr. Phil, but the advice was..."when someone shows you who they are, BELIEVE them."  That little piece of advice helps me daily in how I interact with everyone I encounter.  You might not know them right off, but eventually everyone shows you who they are, and you should take them for who they are.  Don't expect something different or be surprised when they act the way they do.  From her early "O" Magazine days, I remember a quote, that sticks with me.  "Stand in your own space, and know that you are there."  It's kind of powerful when you think about it.  Acknowledge everything around you, take in everything.  Recognize the things that you love and appreciate them, take responsibility for your life, your "space" and make it what you want.  Now, the other two lessons have come in later years.  When you start to examine your life and ask yourself if it really is everything you want it to be, you can't rely on luck.  I remember Oprah saying there is no such thing as luck.  We always think that someone is lucky, or they caught a lucky break.  In actuality, they were just prepared.  Oprah's advice.....Luck is really only preparedness meeting opportunity.  I've tried to think of the times in my life when I felt like I had hit a string of luck.  I'm not sure I can say that I felt like I was prepared and I seized an opportunity, but I definitely look at it more closely now.  I try to always be prepared (like they boy scout I was) and continually keep my eyes open for the opportunity to arrive.  That's not to say I just sit around waiting for opportunities, I search them out as well, knowing I'm prepared.  We can't argue with Oprah's success, it speaks for itself.   Being happy in our careers is part of what makes us successful people.  So many people are miserable in their jobs, and it carries over into their personal lives.  So take a look at your job, your career, your chosen profession and ask yourself this....would I still do my job, if I didn't get paid for it?  I know that's a silly question, because of course we all need money to put a roof over our head and pay our bills, but is that the only reason for doing what your doing?  Is it something you are passionate about or is it just a job?  "You know you are on the road to success, if you would do your job and not get paid for it."  Success is about the work, the passion, never about the money.  So I've asked myself that question...I know without even having to think (of course I'm not going to tell you that here, but if you know me, you know the answer).  So, we bid Oprah goodbye, at least for now, I know she'll be back soon enough.  So, let's all get about the business of making our own lives better, just like Oprah taught us for 25 years.

The men's room is a filthy place....

I travel a lot for work, I think over the past few years, we have established that.  I would like to talk for a few minutes today about a disturbing phenomenon (really not a phenomenon, it's probably happened for centuries, I just noticed it as a disturbing trend).  As part of my travel adventures I spend a lot of time in airports.  Now as it is a rule of mine to avoid public restrooms at all costs, there are those times when it just can't be prevented. 
So, innocently enough I make my way in to the cess pool that is most men's rooms (ladies, I'm giving you some insight, although I'm sure you know that men and their bodily functions can be extremely disgusting).  I try not to make eye contact with anyone and go get my business taken care of .  As I make my way in there are things I notice....WHO in their right mind would put there bag down on the floor of a men's room?  Have you not seen the studies of how far stuff flies when flushing?  I try to follow the "take a deep breath, flush and run" method.  But now, let me get to the root of my observation.....there is a demographic of men (I won't say the age range) who must have learned to pee at a different school....here is how it goes down.....
Guy walks up to the urinal, bends at the waist slightly while he unbuttons, (this creates a good 2 feet space from the urinal ....Really Mr,?  Don't flatter yourself)....then stands at the urinal and places one or both hands on the wall over the urinal like he is about to be frisked by the cops.  Do I need to get into what is wrong with this picture?  First, we have already discussed the filthy factor of the men's room, so I am led to this conclusion....these guys feel as if the force  that is about to flow from within them is going to be so great that they need to steady themselves as to not be blown back across the room by the shear force, and risking any sort of various diseases from the dirty walls is worth the risk.  I for one am seeing the benefits of a catheter....