It's been too long

Well, it's obviously been too long since my last post. It has taken me the past 15 minutes just to get past the password gatekeeper of Google to even access my blog. That's when you know you have been gone too long.

Well much as happened since my last entry. Let me start by saying, even a life coach needs a life coach to keep him/her on track. I am the poster child for "Women in Transition" hence my passion for what I do. I have had my share of adversity and it just keeps coming. However, RESILIENCE is the mantra of my life at this point. After two and a half years of nurturing my life long dream to own my own gift shop, the economic downturn left me with no other alternative but to shut the doors in February. Yes, I became one of the many statistics. You know, most small businesses either rise or fail in the first 2.5 years and if they make it to the fifth year they usually begin to turn a profit. Well, yes I had to close the doors but in keeping with the resilience theme, I have no regrets and do not see it as a failed business venture. A large share of my life savings are now depleted and I some days struggle but I would do it all again (with modifications of course, you should learn from your mistakes, shouldn't you). Here's why; I was blessed to have met so many great people, I learned as I taught, new doors opened that otherwise might not had I taken a different path and most importantly, as I got up each morning, I enjoyed where I was going and what I was doing. It's called following your passion.

So here I sit today recalibrating. I have gotten side tracked as a result of outside influences such as bill collector's call, the mortgage payment that yells from the mail box, the teenage daughter that pushes every button until she gets what she wants, and a assortment of other reasons. I took two jobs after closing my shop to make ends meet, one that I was over qualified for but it was a paycheck and benefits and the other which was simply a panic response. I finally came to the realization that if I remained focused and followed my passion, I could make a living wage doing what I love, what I'm damn good at and what helps others. Here's were the life coach comes in...Stop running from your future, your destiny and using the gifts you have been given because there are little white envelopes yelling in the mailbox. Get back on path, walk the talk, put your energies where they belong and the little voices from the mailbox will begin to simply say "thank you for your payment" and those gray hairs on your temples will be from some other source.

So today, I am back in the saddle. I am writing, I am getting to sharing my experiences so that others might benefit, I am getting out of my office inside the safety of my home and meeting new people and offering my services and I most importantly am smiling. Life is for living and victims are made not born. What a lovely day this and the ones to come will be with this new and fresh outlook I have on life. Come join me on the journey and find your own path versus sitting on the sidelines whining.

A very dear friend told me recently, "You have to have a test to have a testimony!!" and this is mine. Amen.