Today is your day

Tonight, as my husband was flipping through the channels waiting for his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers to start their game, he found a show with Shania Twain where she was singing a song titled, "Today is your day". Beautiful song. What I also found interesting is that her show was titled, "Why not?" -- do you know why that spoke to me? My theme for this year is the same..."why not?" I was recently told about the "Trek up the Tower" which is done in February as a fundraiser where people run up a high rise in downtown Omaha to benefit a non-profit organization. I have taken up being on the elliptical for the next three months or so (yes, they will be longest three months ever), but still want to challenge myself. Does something special have to happen for it to be "YOUR" day? I had so much fun surprising someone for her birthday as she didn't expect it, but I loved to see her smile. But, today is your day. Today is my day. Nothing extraordinary needs to happen and no one needs to sing to you, but every day can be your day when you BLOOM. When you know you are where you are meant to be, without question and without regret. You feel it. You become swallowed by the very surroundings that others just see as there. It becomes who you are and you love every minute of it. One of the very first ideas that came to my head when I started this journey was "It starts today." Today. I was quick to point out when it was someone else's day but never took ownership of my chance at having a day for me. But I deserve today. I am a great friend, love my family, and work hard at making this world better. And because of that, today is my day.

Ambition

I thought about ambition this past week on one of my walks. Yes, I said walk. My week has been off since I was off work most of the week helping our son recover from his surgery. Day time TV is pretty much a waste of time, but I was able to get some things done that otherwise I had not had time to do, so that was a good thing. Don't we have ambition? Although the goal might be something different, we still carry ambition. Ambition are hopes and dreams that we aspire to create and live. But too much ambition can be a bad thing. If you become so focused on your end result, you could forget about others that are the ones that care about you and love you. You could create enenmies where you once had only friends and supporters. Sometimes, we lose sight of what we are doing, not even realizing that we are doing it. Being focused on things is a great thing, don't get me wrong. Ambition and the aspiration to do great things is on the horizon for all of us. It is just right beyond our grasp, but we can see it and we can feel it. Nothing is more great and makes us shine more than we we have ambition and we know what direction we are headed. Isn't that the best feeling ever? What ambitions do you have? Have you given yourself a chance to look for them? We all have goals. I succeeded a goal last year when I set out to lose 20 pounds and ended up losing almost twice that much. I still have more more ambitions, but maybe not so much in the losing weight area. I have dreams I want to pursue...need to pursue...in order to say I gave my all. I might fail, but at least I can say I tried. What do you want others to say about you? That you never achieved anything because you never tried anything or that you failed because you tried? I pick the latter. Thomas Edison tried numberous times on how to create a lightbulb -- can you imagine what would have happned if he had given up? Carry that ambition with you...it will never steer you wrong and will actually catapult you to places you never expected but you will be grateful you went there. Hold true to your passions and use your ambition for good and in changing your life, you just might have the time of your life doing so. You might even surprise yourself.

Dog-leg left

I am not sure why I was thinking about golf today this morning on my walk. I mean...I am not a golfer, although my husband and two of my sons are and our third son golfs like I do, not well. But you don't have to know about the game of golf to relate to its message and the things we can learn from it. We shots are taking out our biggest club -- the Big Dog -- and showing everyone our game. What we can do when we shine. Everyone walks up to the tee box with the thought that they are going to make it, but sometimes we hit the dirt before our club hits the ball and we flub it. We ask for a mulligan, but know we don't get those in life. But, even if we don't hit the ball right off the tee box, we get another shot. As we approach our ball in the fairway, we get another chance to recover our worse-than-average tee shot with a swing of one of our hybrids or an iron. We line up our with our intended target, through some trees, trying to avoid the bunkers we really can't see, but know are there. Then, we look at our score card, we realize there is a dog-leg to the left. The end result is just around the corner, and we try to see the goal - whe white flag on the end of the stick that is stuck in a hole some 200 plus yards still away. So, what do we do? We take another hack at it. We take another big swing at it. The dog-leg represents what we cannot see around the corner. Maybe we see just what we can between the teaves and branches and around the bushes. There are surprises just around the corner. So, we gently make our approach shot, with our goal in sight. Just because we can see it, it doesn't mean we will succeed at getting our little ball, our little contributions to this world, in the hole. Chances are, we are going to miss. But we get closer, and closer, and closer. Finally, we succeed. We hit our mark. We have accomplished what we sought and then we realize we are not on the 18th hole. We have several more opportunities to hit our mark again. We have many chances at life to flub a shot, to excel, to do the best we can with what we have right now. Don't be afraid about what is around the corner with the dog-leg to your left...it will be ok. For what you reach for and desire will be right there waiting for you.

How will life surprise you today?

Well? Do you have an answer? Maybe you should ask yourself this question every morning, but maybe it is not just a question for you. Maybe I need to ask myself this question every morning also. Since I love surprises, that word alone makes it just more exciting to see where life's going to take me in the hours I have been given. A chance meeting could change your life forever if you see the right person, at the right time and make an impact so great, the outcome will be too impossible to imagine. Can you do that? Can I do that? I shared recently about how KR started her day like any other day, but then things started to happen and they were strung together by mere coincidence (or was it?) as her day progressed. Do you think she asked herself that question that day? Probably not. Will she from now on? My surprises come from many directions and not from ones that I might have seen coming either. They come from people that I have not seen in some time, but somehow we cross paths at the gas station. Why was it important that I see "so-and-so" just now? What am I supposed to learn from that? I thought I had it all figured out. But I was wrong. Dead wrong. I even thought I could figure it out if I hadn't yet. There was still hope for me to solve the puzzle. But I have to admit that this puzzle is not one to solve, but one to let play out. I am not the mastermind behind it. Most of us really only like the "good" surprises, but might wish to pass on anything less. But remember, that life is like that...it ebbs and flows likes the waves falling on a beach. So, again I ask you...how will life surprise you today?

Making my day

As you may have previously read, one of my favorite things to do is to surprise people. I love to see their face and the smile that is usually on it. A couple of weeks ago, I was the one with the smile as someone surpised me by just stopping by my office for a quick visit. TK and I have known each other for a few years now, and every time he comes to see me, I am always grateful he did. In fact, he tells me that he told his mom that he was not leaving the area until he saw me. Isn't that sweet? I was on cloud nine the rest of the day. It did not matter what happened the rest of the day, because I could look back and smile at the nice, kind gesture of just being there tells me. Most of the time, it is me. Remembering a birthday with sending a card in the mail - I love to surprise people that way. Sometimes cards have money in them, too. Remember that, Rock? It is easy to do little things, but they make such an impact and last longer than it took you to fo that little thing. Those little things...those simple tasks that get overlooked and we get too busy for...minor details that we think no one will notice...make the world better. Make the people in the world want to be better. It makes our days better and I am grateful every time. Thanks, TK. You make my day every time I see you.

Surprise Yourself

Have you ever done that? Where you did something, maybe got caught up in the moment and where it was taking you and then after it was all over, you took a step back and said to yourself, "Did I just do that?" I do that ALL the time. Not because I am second guessing what just happened (ok, maybe I do that too), but more about my part in what just happened. After Tuesday night, I received a nice little text from LL - she said, "You just might have saved a life tonight." Whoa. As much as I do not always believe that I have the ability to "save someone's life", I also understand what she meant. She meant that maybe someone's life will be different because of me starting the G.I.F.T and where some of these wonderful women travel going forward. I have planted the seed and hope they continue to come so that we can grow together. I surprise myself everyday when I find something to write about here or in talking to someone new about my journey. That happened this week also - a guy I work with who will be known as "Your Holiness" or YH for short and I had a nice conversation about life. Before I know it, I was telling him about my blog and the G.I.F.T and my dream. YH tells me that he has been out to check out the blog and that we will talk more. He and I have had casual conversations at work, but we got here real quick. I was not doubting what I shared with him as being something I regretted doing, but was merely surprised that it occurred at all. But I am glad it did and look forward to our next conversation. I surprise myself all the time at where this crazy rollercoaster of a ride is taking me. I will be surprised many times and will relish those times and smile when it happens. Best ride of my life so far and I would not trade it for anything.

I love surprising people!

Sending a little card in the mail...supplying a friend with Fun Dip (it is Fun Dip Wednesday, after all)...texting a little note that says, "I am thinking about you." I do not like being surprised...but take it all in stride when it comes my way. Don't you have to just smile when you think of others and send a little surprise their way? I do. Sometimes, it is a little longer hug or a smile to a stranger. Today, I got to surprise Rocky in an ABSOLUTELY HER way! Although her other great friend and I were betting tears would fall, they never did. But, boy, did hugs and smiles surface. I had been working on something for her new venture for months and it was just about killing me keeping it to myself. I did get some relief when I told LR, and I knew once I had it in hand that I couldn't hold onto it for long. I knew that I needed to give it to her right away. I so wanted to tell her that I was picking it up after work, but since I had waited this long, what was a few more hours. I don't think...no, I am going to say I know she never saw that coming and that is why surprises are some of my favorite things to do for others. She was so excited and I am not even sure what she thought when she saw it. I think I remember her asking, "Where did you find this?" (This is a stained glass window with her company logo, colors, and initials.) I simply told her, "I had it made for you." I wanted it to be a reminder of how far she has come and how far she has yet to go. Today, I was reminded of where she is in my life, even when she is not there with me. There is something in about every corner of my office that she either gave to me or she wrote. Then, there are the things that I wear than are also reminders and, of course, those things that no one ever sees. No one ever gets to see. I know she lives there too. She told me earlier of how she surprised (pretty much a complete stranger) by going out of her way and doing what she does. She gives. She did it because it was important to that someone else, not because she wanted someone to know she did it. I hope she knows that I knew she would love it and that is why I loved surprising her today. Loved your smile, Rock. That in itself said everything I have ever wanted to know.

Plan on being surprised

There are some things in life you can plan....you can plan on going to college...you can plan on getting married...you can plan on making it on the PGA Tour. Most things in life, however, do not go as we planned on them to and we get something different instead. Maybe not entirely different. But different. Growing up, I never imagined (once) that I would move away from California. I planned on being an attorney. In case you were wondering, I am not an attorney in California. As much as I thought I could plan out most things, I am still taken aback at some of the wonderful things that have happened and the best people I have met - and I didn't plan any of it. Life takes us not where we think we should go - but where HE knows we should go. When my husband and I got married almost 22 years ago, it was a leap of faith...promising to love each other, despite whatever good or bad came our way. I remember telling my dad after we had just celebrated our 10 year anniversary that I was not surprised, but everything we said we would do, we did. We planned on our marriage working, but there have been many surprises along the way. Are you thinking that you can have this all planned out and know what is coming? Are you going to be disappointed if it doesn't happen that way? Probably so. I have done a little bit (ok, a lot) of questioning and have not accepted even the good things that have surprised me. My biggest surprise has come over the last couple of months. That surprise has been that I cannot plan where my heart is taking me...what drives it most...above everything else. A chance meeting changed my life forever and I am better for it and always will be. Take each surprise as something you must experience, with a lesson to be learned. Growing each time as you need to be better than you were the day before. As you take in a breath, take in life and all that it brings your way. Accept it for what it is and what is before you right at this moment. Do not try to plan out your future with the most specific of details. You will meet new people, you will see and feel new things, and your life will be forever changed. You cannot plan for everthing...you just can't. You can try, but sometimes wasted effort and time can be used more constructively, using that energy to make the world better. It may not be what you planned on, but you will treasure all that comes your way...because you couldn't plan on it or expect it. EMBRACE THE JOURNEY!