By The Sea

It's that Christmas Season. When the lights twinkle like stars, and children are full of excitement for what is to come, all the while the adults are running with their eyes closed mostly in circles. I look around and I try to stay grounded, I breathe calmly; thank you to my Calm App and Rescue Remedy. I have always loved Christmas. There is something so pure as a Holiday that celebrates the birth of God in human form. Babies are the pure essence of love, unconditional, with no strings attached. They are born and their only purpose is to make sure that somehow their needs are met. They don't have the ability to depend on themselves. Their needs can only be met by another human that has the ability to take care of them. Some babies hit the mother load and end up in a family that tries to satisfy every whimper. Some babies land in a family where they believe a good cry is beneficial for the lungs as well as attitude. Best to learn at a young age not all your needs ca...

Why do I find it so difficult to take care of me and my needs first? Or to say it another way, why is it so easy for me to take care of everyone else first? I think regularly, I am going to change. I will put me first this time. I pray about it. I journal about it and I talk to my friends about it but I continue to find myself in this same situation.  It's not that I don’t have the drive or the desire to accomplish self-care, I do. It’s not that I don’t have the resources or the support around me to help achieve this goal, I do. So what is the real reason or reasons that hold me back? If you ask a self-help guru they might say something like, set goals, be kind to yourself, acceptance is key. I work on that. That same guru may continue to say, set aside time, even if it is only 20 minutes per day, small steps to bigger goals. I find I am able to accomplish that for one day and then this happens; three teenage daughters, with three very different personalities, three very distincti...

In College He looked at me, almost glaring, “Are you committed or not?” “Yes, I am committed,” I may have even added an eye roll, but I can’t be quite sure. If I were to take a guess though I added the eye roll. This was a conversation I had with my husband 12 weeks ago. For some crazy reason he had decided that he was going to take on the job of being my personal trainer and for some crazy reason I agreed. I guess to really appreciate the magnitude of this you need some of our history. He was the athletic jock in high school.   The Varsity Athlete, Captain of the football team…He wore his letterman jacket a lot. It was a staple to his “Jock” wardrobe like the sweatpants, cut up sweatshirts and t-shirts. Not a really pretty picture but it was the 80’s. I on the other hand occupied my time with anything else so I would not have to work out. I really could not be bothered with sweating in a room for the sake of vanity. Clearly health was not an issue for me back then...

I have always held a passion for educating girls. Maybe it comes from the fact that I was once a girl wanting to be educated. It could have been that amazing all girl school in the mountains of Berkshire Massachusetts where I fondly spent a lot of time. It could have been my strong willed, Italian mother who insisted I would be different. I would be an educated female in my family. All I know is that a fire has been burning inside of me for years that girls need a real education. Not something they just slide through but an education that awakens their soul and opens their eyes to possibilities that they never felt possible. So it should be of no great surprise to anyone or myself that I attended a screening of a movie last night on just this topic. I made sure I brought my husband and daughters along. It is always a good idea to share knowledge with others if you want your passion to spread.  So there we were in a beautiful, new movie theatre in Downtown Hartford...