Do you know that your life has been a series of choices and that those choices have led you to where you are now? What thoughts you hold, what company you keep, what activities you do and don’t do, what you have chosen to believe and millions of tiny decisions made over your lifetime have all added up to where you are now. Most of the choices you made were actually done on autopilot. They were not made consciously.

That is great news, really. Once you realize that you made this, then you realize that you can make it another way if this one isn’t suiting you. This time you can do so consciously. Give thanks for where you are and for this new awareness. Now make a decision to move to where you would like to go. You do not have to settle. No longer do you have to continue to live the way that you have. Do you realize this?

I am not suggesting in any way that you beat yourself up about where you are currently or that you have guilt or regret about any choice you have made in the past. Those are all in the past and they helped you to get here. This is now. Now is all we have. Now is all we need to move into a brand new and fulfilling life. We have been given free will. What a fantastic gift and a wonderful responsibility. Take charge of this. Use your free will to create the life that you know you desire. The life that is best for you. It is not one of misery or quiet desperation, I can assure you. It is a life of abundance and joy.

We have been blessed with everything we need to succeed. Use it. Stop making excuses. Stop refusing the gifts you have been given. Make the most of them. Make a choice. You know what your heart desires. Accept that you are worthy and that you can and will have it. Now take steps to bring it in.

If you require some further instruction or assistance, I am here to help. You can start here.

I am on my final day of my bliss creation vacation. It is an indescribable experience that I am having. So much good and creative time just with myself. It is a rebirth of sorts. It is also a preview of the life I am creating permanently.

As you know, I still have a full time job. I love my job. I love my boss, as I have written about before. Last week, I wrote about disconnecting completely during this time and how important it is for each of us to build this into our work lives. Whether it is a week and a day, as I have been blessed to do, or even a few minutes within your day, taking a step back is a powerful, energizing and creativity building skill to develop. It will enhance your productivity tremendously because our best thinking comes from being alert, aware and present. Our worst thinking comes from being stressed and in fight or flight mode. The paramount prefrontal cortex, problem solving, new paradigm thinking can only come when you are relaxed and present.

So today, I remain present in the last few hours of this particular journey. Tomorrow I will be present in my wonderful job, grateful for whatever comes my way, knowing that I have the tools to bring value. A greater value than I did when I left for vacation.

It started a few years back when I got a pager. Or perhaps even earlier when I got voicemail. I became obsessive about checking in and returning messages. I loved the surprise in people’s voices when I returned their calls so quickly. Then I got the pager to page me when a voicemail was left. Next came the laptop and now, I could return messages well into the evening without any issues. I could simply reply to an email or send an email any time day or night. It became a game of who would stay on more, be working harder than whom. I always thought that my clients would like that I worked harder than they did. Why? I never asked them or myself. I also never thought that perhaps they wouldn’t be working so late if I hadn’t been encouraging it.

Then came the mother of all addictive connective technologies. The crackberry. I got mine in 2005. I was already a serial night e-mailer and voicemail junkie as I mentioned but this one took it to a whole new level. One never had to “boot up” anything or call anything. Simply check the little bitty screen. And so it began. With me and pretty much the rest of the world by now. Now everyone has his or her own version of the crackberry, the mobile phone. And that little device can do 1000 times more than anything before it. We no longer have to be silent or still or connected or present with anyone. We can have 10 or more conversations going at the same time and texting and emailing and watching a video and playing a game with some random people on line. In many ways, this is so excellent and positive. But as we all know, it can also turn negative very quickly.

I generally kicked my habit of constantly looking at messages about 4 or so years ago. I realized that I was hurting my relationships by working all of the time. I wasn’t present anywhere I was. I wasn’t serving myself or my family or my clients. So I stopped. But the urge still shows its head sometimes. Like it did on vacation a couple times.

That little voice that says, just check in and knock out a few of the emails. This way, your transition back next week will go more smoothly. And what if you are missing something? And the big one – what if someone needs your help?

We now live in a workplace culture where somehow everything became an emergency. We have let ourselves believe that we are expected to be available 24/7 via our smartphone to deal with these “emergencies.” Because we allow this, we have allowed everyone else access to us, at all times. We have allowed that to be expected of us. This soap opera drama in the workplace deserves a lot more attention so I will write on it further later.

Guess what? I am not an emergency surgeon. I don’t know about you. If you are, then perhaps this doesn’t apply to you. Except that it does because you have hours you cover and hours that you are off. If you don’t then I would prefer that another surgeon work on me or my family, please. We all require time away to recharge and refocus. Ask yourself, is this really required? Is this actually absolutely necessary to run a great business? If so, am I truly the only one who can handle this? Am I in charge here? If the answer to all of these is yes, then get someone to handle things when you are away. If the answer to any of these is no, well then…

Love yourself enough to give yourself the time away that is required for a healthy, sane and optimal renewal. That may be a few minutes in some cases or a few weeks or even months if you have let it build up over time. Do not let that last line discourage you. If you really require months, it doesn’t mean that minutes or any time carved out for this is a waste. Quite the contrary, it is the beginning. The decision and the action of that first minute can turn it all around.

Oh what a wonderful, blissful vacation I am having! It hasn’t gone exactly as I had planned as far as what I would do, but it is all perfect. I am getting refreshed and renewed and my energy is increased. I have a list of shoulds and have done pretty much none of them. And it feels fantastic! I feel exhilarated by this amazing gift I am giving myself. It is truly a time when I am just doing what my spirit says to do. Like we used to do every day in summer as kids. I bet children don’t even do that now, actually. Most of the ones I know have schedules so packed that they make mine look like unscheduled playtime. Now that I think about it, I have gone to two birthday parties so far! Now this is life!

I am laughing at myself in some ways because giving myself this gift has not been without costs. I knew there would be a price to pay and I was fine with that. I didn’t expect the one that has me the most surprised. That is the feeling that I have had periodically this week to check in at work. The weekend was fine because it was the weekend. I am also blessed to work where we have Patriot’s Day as a holiday, which was Monday. My work emails go to my phone, as I am sure yours do, too. By Monday, I had to make the conscious decision to turn off the email feed, lest I get sucked in. I am committed to having a real vacation with no work interruptions, like our parents did. I have resisted all urges. I can tell you that it is worth it. I feel empowered.

PS Yes, I know I still had my phone for non-work. Baby steps.

I am back at home and full of renewed energy, focus and strength. My body is ready for action and I am ready to move forward in creating my life. It is a very exciting time. I have the outline for my new program and I am looking forward to rolling it out at the best possible time and in the best possible way, which will be when it is. The bones are there and now the sinew, cartilage and flesh are layered on. There is no rush, nor is there any delay. There is only listening to my true self and proceeding accordingly.

Feeling great is absolutely underrated. I am so used to feeling good every day that I forget sometimes how fantastic it really is! My little bout with whatever that was has served as a magnificent reminder of the excellence of superior health!

In the same way, knowing you are on the right track, in rhythm with your desires and destiny feels so good. Only when you get on that track can you experience the euphoria it brings. You may feel some discomfort when you are out of synch but more likely it has now become comfortable enough because it is all you know. It is a chronic pain that you have begun to accept as normal. I am here to tell you it is not.

I am out on the balcony this morning and as I am out here, I hear the guy next door also on his balcony talking on his cell phone. He is talking business. A new company he is forming and he is quite excited about it. Of course, who wouldn’t be? He was talking about some legislation that changed the way things are done, similarly to what Sarbanes-Oxley did for accounting firms. All of a sudden, there is a huge market that wasn’t there before.

All politics and laissez faire aside, we live in the reality of today. Benefitting from current conditions is just smart. Unless it is something that truly doesn’t sit well with our conscience, then making the best of what we have is wise.

There are new markets being created every single day. There always have been, but with the speed of communication and information availability it is faster and more prolific than ever. There are opportunities everywhere. Everywhere.

However, it is just as likely that they are no longer where you thought. They may not be where you used to go looking for them at all. They may not look at all like you are used to. They probably aren’t where you are now in your comfortable discomfort. They may not even be created yet. They may be waiting for you.

Years ago there was a very popular book out that made the corporate rounds. It was a clever book and the concept was solid. It helped a whole lot of people. I have realized something very powerful recently. It was like a lightbulb moment. Holy cow, I am allergic to cheese entirely! You very well could be, too.

I am so blessed. I am here at Animal Kingdom Lodge for my writing getaway. It is just me and my computer and notepad. I had a plan and a goal. I still do, despite a bit of a detour.

I chose this place because I love the energy of it. I love the natural aspects with luxury and fun combined. I really feel at home here and knew it would be a wonderful place of creation for me.

I flew in Saturday night, late, and stayed elsewhere that first night. Yesterday, I got up and just asked myself what shall we do? My body said a massage. I fought with it. I can get three massages at home for the same fee. Yes, but we are here now. My body said, get the massage and then have breakfast. I didn’t listen.

I went and had breakfast first. Then, in an effort to honor my body, albeit not exactly as requested, I walked over to the spa and sure enough they could get me in right away. Hot stone massage. There you go, my wonderful, powerful body. Relax. It was nice. I couldn’t really linger because I had already requested a late check out and that time was approaching. I had things to do!

So off I went. Checked in over here and got a fantastic room. Then I decided to go shopping. I am not a big shopper. Five years working in retail pretty well cured that for me. But yesterday I went on a marathon. I had certain things in mind and I was on a mission to get those things. I spent some dedicated time and got the items at the top of my list. I decided to keep pushing. And pushing. Searching for one other thing. That thing proved elusive and my body was really trying to get my attention. Something wasn’t sitting well with me. At all.

I finally got back to the car and drove back here to the hotel. I crawled into bed for a nap. An hour or so later and I felt absolutely terrible. Like oh no terrible. So I simply asked my body what would make it better. Gatorade. Uh, ew. I don’t drink that stuff! But okay. Off to the store downstairs for water and Gatorade. I made it. Sort of. By the time I finished paying for my purchases I knew I was going to spew. I asked for a bag. I didn’t get one in time. Awesome! After a few expulsions I felt remarkably better. Somewhat embarrassed, but better. I imagine it is a pretty common occurrence around here.

I came back up to the room and drank a little water and a little Powerade and then went to sleep. I stayed asleep as long as my body said to. I gave gratitude for the amazing and formidable healing mechanisms of my body. Absolutely astounding! Now, my clothes are in the washer getting all clean as my body is, too.

I knew this time would be powerful and cleansing but I didn’t know how much would be purged. ☺ I see the big lesson in this about staying in tune with my body and what is best for me. I heard it but chose to ignore it. It is a process and I ignore it less and less. Now I have an even greater understanding of the value in listening and heeding.

What do we do when things go awry? Do we come to a dead stop and look around waiting for something or someone to change it? Or do we forge ahead, doing the best we can with what we know and stay on track, on focus with our mission? I guess I gave it away somewhat with that last statement. If it is mission, then we likely just plow ahead with doing our part, knowing the rest will be resolved in time and in the right way. We do not give up or quit or even slow down really, we just move ahead with what we know to do.

Yesterday, when I went to post, the admin part was broken. This meant that I was unable to post. I had waited to post until very late in the day, much later than normal. In the last couple weeks or so, I had played with posting later in the day rather than first thing in the morning. I began doing this so I could think about things and change it if I so desired edits. I mentioned this to my smart, intuitive husband last night. I remembered that I hadn’t posted and told him I would do so when we got home. He asked me simply, why do you think you should think about it? Why not just post your original and go with your initial gut? Hmmmm. I will definitely be chewing on that, what is gained and lost in waiting?

Anyway, it is not fixed today yet. I am flying to Florida later and have a whole lot of things on my must do list before I fly out. But I am writing, I am doing my thing. I am doing it for you and I am doing it for me. It is habit, routine, an investment. It is as much who I am now as anything else. Even if the machine is broken at the moment, the Creative behind it is not. It never is. We only must remember this in the moment.

Post note: This Creative somehow fixed it using the law of least effort. It again works!

Why is it that we only really get serious about fixing up our houses completely when we are going to sell? How many shows have you seen when they make some changes to stage the place to sell it and the owners are blown away and decide to stay? How many months or years or decades have you stayed in your home with some aspect you knew had to go when you moved in? Or what about that expansion you have envisioned? Or that wall you thought about removing?

What are you waiting for? What excuses are you giving yourself for not doing it for yourself? Are you going to wait until you are moving and cannot get the enjoyment out of it yourself?

I am not saying to go take on a bunch of debt and do everything over night. I am saying to go inside yourself and ask why am I waiting? Am I not worth this? How can I make it happen? How can we start now? What is the first little step? Do I even know what it will take? Research is usually free or close to free. Cleaning and tidying is free and freeing.

When I speak of cleaning house, I mean it literally here and I also mean it as a metaphor. What have you been waiting to update, improve, repair, upgrade, renew, refresh, or enhance in your life? Isn’t it time to move toward getting our houses in order? The first step starts today with a decision. Yes or no. You decide. It is your life.

As I gaze outside my office window, I marvel at how gorgeous the landscape is. It is so lush and green and so completely different than it was even a few weeks ago. The textures, shapes, sizes, depths and variances of green and wood are remarkable. And then, in stark contrast to all of the leaves and the drop cloth of green in that landscape are three large bright red rose bushes heavy with blooms. Simply fabulous!

Those bushes speak to me in a way that is intense with colorful insight. They are saying it is time. The bloom is on. We are ready. You are ready. Take the steps and take the leap. No more hiding. No more winter of discontent. Make the move. Step out. Show up. Be bold. Be you and be you in a mighty and big way. The time is now.