Your Heart Does Not Lie!

2013 was a pivotal year for me. After having worked 12 years at my previous company, taking on a new role and a new challenge each year pretty much, I decided to call it quits and take my chances going after new opportunities. People thought I was nuts, having a pretty good gig going on. I loved the people, the place but no longer felt challenged or excited. I had nothing lined up nor was I actively looking right away after I quit. Instead I took the time off, to discover, play, travel and take on new challenges I would not have otherwise experienced had I stayed PUT! Just a few of my highlights;

1.    Gained my PMP (project management professional certification)

2.    Figured out social media and ran some marketing and sales campaigns

3.    Except for Lincoln, I saw all Oscar nominated “Best Picture” movies

4.    Disneyworld with my family…. Loads of fun!

5.    New Orleans!!

6.    Opened up my company and started a blog…which reminds me I have to write more often!

7.    Gained some awesome friends and mentors

8.    Got an opportunity to serve on the board of directors for the Canadian Mental Health Association in Peel region

9.    Landed a terrific new opportunity that affords me the privilege to serve and challenges me with some very exciting projects ahead

10.  My very favourite……LOTS of family time.

I am a NOT a believer of good things come to those who wait. I am a believer of going after what you want. So, go get it!! Don’t wait! Apart from the highlights, here are three very important lessons I took with me this year……

Listen to your heart

Do what feels right to you. You will have tons of naysayers. Learn to tune them OUT! I remember hearing the phrase “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” over and over, again. I tuned it out. I took a risk. A BIG risk and live to tell you that it was sooooo worth it! Do what you want to do and what feels right! Learn to listen to yourself more and tune out the white noise around you. Listen to your heart.

Seek out and cherish your support system

Being a mom of two, a wife, a mortgage holder, a bill payer, I couldn’t just up and quit and follow my speaking heart. I needed the support of my family. I needed them on my side. They encouraged me to follow my heart and when I was ready to seek out my next opportunity, they became my biggest cheerleaders. They cheered me on every single day. Make sure you have a very strong support system. I had the very best!!

Surround yourself with positivity

You are what you think. Guard your thoughts and actions carefully. Surround yourself with positive people. You can’t soar with the eagles if you hang around the turkeys. Figure out who your eagles and turkeys are and pick your company wisely. I surrounded myself with positivity and with people I could learn from, and did I ever learn a ton! Your attitude will determine your altitude and you want to make sure you aim high! Positivity is key!

So, what are some of the things you learned in 2013? Do let me know …..

Grudges are like little cancerous cells that eat at you slowly

Ever had a grudge with anyone? Please contact me if your answer is no. I would like to talk to you. We've all had a grudge with someone at some point or another. They may have said the wrong thing, rubbed you the wrong way or done something quite unforgivable. Your grudge may start with annoyance, to dislike, to a negative feeling that just doesn't go away. Like the little acorn that grows into an oak, this tiny little grudge grows into something quite large that can't be shaken off that easily. Before you know it, your little grudge has made shelter and turned its tiny spot into a full blown warehouse with underground parking and all.

The sad fact is that this grudge can eat away at you like a cancerous tumour. Your mood changes, you feel irksome, you are short tempered, you feel sick and are not yourself. It keeps chipping away at you until it gets the most of you.

I have learned to let my grudges go. I flick them away like a stray piece of bread crumb at a picnic table. Forgive and forget they say, and if you cannot forgive then move on! It doesn't deserve an ounce of your thought or time for that matter so don't give it that precedence. You just end up feeding the little tumour.

• Let grudges go. They don't deserve the attention they usually get!
• Do forgive and forget. Life is way too short to be annoyed at anyone or anything for too long. It does feel good to forgive and if you really can't do that then just move on. Don't give it a second thought. Not ever.
• Ask yourself if it's really that important. Most times it's not. So, get off of that petty chair and patch things up.
• Grudge rhymes with sludge. They also mean about the same thing, with the difference being one's internal (and it's not sludge!!)
• Be free! Live free! It's never fun carrying a lot of baggage.

Don't get sucked in!

Is it just me or is there that much more negativity around us these days? Conversation seems to be that of bitching, complaining or whining about someone or something. It weighs you down, leaving you feeling heavy and miserable.

Can you spot the negative Nellies? No matter what the circumstance they always have something negative to say or complain about. Nothing is ever satisfactory or good enough. Something bad is ALWAYS happening to them and they can't help but complain about life incessantly.

Just as you can spot the negative Nelly, so can you pick out the positive Pollies or Petes as some would say. It's refreshing to be around them. They are the folks that choose to make the best of things. They look on the bright side of life. They leave you feeling good and happy. They leave you with a smile.

I am drawn to positive Pollies. Maybe because I am a positive Polly myself. We all have our off days but for the most part you are either a negative Nelly or a positive Polly. Which one will you choose to be?

• Stay positive.... don't get sucked in to the negativity. Move away or change the topic. Misery loves company and you don't have to be the company they seek.
• Be the light everyone draws towards.
• Don't take life seriously. Whatever negative circumstance you are going through there is someone who's going through much worse.
• Choose how you react to every situation. You do have the choice of being negative or turning it into a positive one. 
• Be selective. You do become the company you keep.
• Don't get sucked in! Life is way too short to be bitching and complaining or to be miserable for that matter.

What I learned on our family travels....

Apart from having oodles of fun and good times here's some of the things I learned along the way of our family travels;

• Not all highways will lead to where you want to go! They don't all connect. You really must figure out which highway takes you where you want to go. Just travelling endlessly hoping you get there doesn't really work. You end up taking the back roads the opposite direction!
• If you don't have enough toll money, talking to the camera and saying "we will pay by mail" will get you no where. Eventually it catches up and a .50c toll becomes a $15 toll. Could have been worse.... perhaps jail for not paying. Make sure you have change on you at all times on a toll road!!
• Looking for the perfect spot at the ski-chalet to sit and watch the kids at their ski lesson may end up taking all the time allotted for the lesson!! By the time you find the spot, drop down the pile the size of Everest coats, hats and gloves...the ski lesson is over. The kids are waving at you to come get them. You end up picking up the Everest sized coats, hats and gloves and sauntering off to get them.... aarrrrgh!
• Pay attention to the printed maps for direction. You are not sitting in the passenger seat for conversation!! Sometimes you must navigate.
• The dimming of lights in a strange house you rented on vacation may be due to timers and not a burglar. It may not be necessary to drive in bikinis to get a fellow renter and his softball team to tour the house...
• When all else fails, throw your hands in the air and circle them around like you just don't care and oh yes..... DANCE!!!

Be yourself!

Ever heard the saying "be yourself everyone else is taken"? How true it is. I have also seen a picture of several little yellow rubber ducks with a bright pink rubber duck in the middle and the saying "why fit in when you are born to stand out?". My daughter has this on her twitter account and I had to smile when I saw this. I had only been preaching this.... like forever... lol!

It's saddens me to see tweens and teens these days just trying to fit in. Trying to belong. Be part of a group. I do think it's important to have a sense of belonging and fit in, in general. It's human nature and it's being part of society. Let's face it though, not always will you fit in, nor should you. We are all different and may not belong to every group even though we may want to. It's then that you should look within yourself and celebrate the difference, the diversity and individuality. It's YOU! Be who you are and love it! We often tell our kids to make good friends. What we omit is to let them know to be themselves when making those friends. Don't change for anyone...unless it's for the better. No one likes hanging around mean and unkind people so if you are then, please change! Life is too short for nastiness :-)

• Be who you are and be proud of it
• Celebrate your diversity and you will have more to offer
• Difference is a beautiful thing. If everything was the same, it would be called booorrrinng!!
• Smile knowing that there is only 1 person like you.... YOU!