This last month-ish brought many opportunities, fond memories, and revelations. I am so fortunate to have my family, blood and adopted family.......my husband, three kids, and I road tripped backed to Georgia for Thanksgiving. I love road trips! I love being "stuck" in a vehicle in each other's space and working out our frustrations and differences in that concentrated time and space. I love listening to my kids bicker and then fall asleep on each other. I love the dedicated time with my husband where we have time to talk about all the silly and strange stuff going on in our worlds and none of the necessary but boring logistics that monopolize our "normal" time together. I love the singing and stories and jokes and dreams we share TOGETHER!
We had a great visit with my mom and her long time boyfriend, who is a a fantastic grandpa to my kids. I don't have the best relationship with him; you know the kind where if you both didn't love the person you share in common, you probably wouldn't hang out. He is a nice man and loves my mom and my kids, so that makes him great regardless of the lack of connection we share. My mom and I continue to try to reestablish our close relationship from my teen years and while we aren't there just yet, we continue to try so I hang on to hope.
We made this road trip fun and functional. Its much more economical to transport a family of 5 via automobile than via airplane, if you have the time. On the way to and fro, we used some marriott reward points for free hotel accomodations. We stopped to have a peanut butter and banana sandwich with Elvis Presley across the street from Graceland on the way south. Then on the way back home, we took a different route and stopped in Metropolis, IL to see a huge statue of Superman. The pictures and giggles will surely keep me company and smiling during my nursing home days to come.
I am still searching for a way to inspire those around me to strive to be the amazing humans they were born to be....we are all stereotyped from the time we are born and it really stunts our growth as people. As much as I try not to subject my kids to that behavior, I find myself doing it too......I really want to help people rediscover the part of them that allows them to dream big and makes them smile with pride and excitement and feel alive. I recently realized that the first person I have to help is me. Despite my educational, professional, and personal successes; there is a silly, adventurous side of me that I burried to make the "responsible" and "right" decisions in life. I don't regret the decisions I made or my station in life, but I do regret squashing the silly and fun side of my persona in the process. I think I could have brought her along and it would have made the journey much more enjoyable for everyone involved. The serious side of me is so much more judgmental, straight laced, and is restricted by "the box". I want to uncover the crazy side of me, the side that allowed a short, chubby, marginally intelligent young woman believe she could achieve anything and then actually accomplished her dreams......I miss her!
Oddly enough, I have started to feel "her" presence again because of a new business adventure. An acquaintance of mine from college moved to the area a couple years ago. We touched base a couple times, but I never made the effort to really reach out. I am rather guarded these days (note to self, that is not a trait to hang on to). We communicated via Facebook mostly. She is a USNA alum, too, so when I saw that she was in the direct marketing business, I was a little shocked. You know, because I was stuck in "the box" and believe the stereotypes. I tried direct marketing a couple years ago (5+ years ago) and quit as fast as I started. Yeah, tried is not an accurate description. I signed up, got my kit, had a party, and that was it. I didn't make much of an effort, really. What??? I expected my friends and family to be excited to support me and nope - that was so not the case and I had no idea how to do the job successfully, so I didn't. That being said, I was enamored by my acquaintance and her apparent success with a direct sales skin care company.
After a couple lunch dates and some brief conversations, my acquaintance turned friend invited me to join her team and so with little to no knowledge, but a ton of faith and trust - I dove in. I really must thank her because I love Rodan + Fields Dermatologists and more importantly, her for introducing me to a company that fits into the nooks and crannies of my crazy life, continues to teach me about amazing skin care, and most importantly renewed my faith in people, specifically women. The leadership in Rodan + Fields is great! They nurture, support, encourage, teach, and push you thru the doubt to be successful. My business is still infantile, but I have great dreams and big goals. This business has the flexibility of direct sales and the corporate support of a franchise. I am so excited to share the opportunity with friends, family, strangers - it really is that exciting and fun! The most exciting part is that my success and growth in this business is only limited by my own inhibitions. I am working with my R+F support structure to exterminate the inhibitions that will slow my business growth.....stay tuned for greatness!
Holy Cow! Life continues to amaze me and I love the opportunitiy to live it with my family and friends and the strangers who come into my life at God's suggestion. My life is so fortunate, sometimes I forget that BUT today I realize how blessed I really am everyday! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and I hope you allow yourself to recognize all that is amazing in your life!
