Masterful Mindsets

“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.” - Mother Teresa

I’ve been a bit nostalgic lately for some reason, revisiting many relics from my childhood. First, telling you about the book, “Love Is” and now, I want to share another memory…

I had a little plastic figurine, that had a sickly-looking person on it with the caption that read, “I love you so much it hurts.” Truth be known, I think it belonged to my big brother or sister and they probably got it from a high school sweetheart, but none the less, for some reason, I really liked that little figurine. It was meant to be funny, whimsical, and cute. (Which it was!) And although I didn’t understand that feeling then, I have to say that in my lifetime, I’ve actually experienced that feeling on many occasions...

With my husband, when I’m away from him. With my girls, when I watch every bittersweet moment of their growth into independent young women. With my father and my be...

“Love is…” ~ Kim Casali

What does love mean to you? What does love look like? Feel like? Act like? What is love?  

When I was a little girl, I found a book titled, “Love Is…”by Kim Grove-Casali. She made the book from a series of love notes to her soon to be husband, Roberto Casali. It was a funny little cartoonish book that had illustrated images of a couple in love doing mostly random acts of kindness for each other. Beginning with the cover which displays the caption, “Love is… what gives you a smile from ear to ear.”

It was a cute little book and yet so influential. I mean, here I am, 40+ years later, writing about this book! For some reason, I was completely intrigued by it. Maybe it was the adorable little cartoon couple who looked so in love or maybe it was the message of how simple love can be. I still don’t know, but it always lifted my spirits and I’ve never forgotten it.

So, although Valentine’s Day is over for this year, let’s not forget that love is something to b...

"Embrace your grief. For there, your soul will grow."   ~Carl Jung

The holidays aren’t always “the most wonderful time of the year” for everyone. As a matter of fact, this time of year can be a very difficult time for many. Especially if you are grieving from a loss, struggling financially, dealing with an illness, coping with depression, or feeling alone and isolated. 

The holidays can significantly increase sadness and grief, amplify emotional wounds and even escalate to serious depression. If you have experienced a loss (of any kind) recently, it can be an especially difficult time.

So how do you survive the holidays if you are hurting?

Grief and depression are natural when you are experiencing a loss in your life. For some, loss isn't just the death of a loved one, but can be the death of a dream, a relationship or even a job. Just know that grief and depression have many causes and take on many faces. You don't have to label it - if you are feeling it, you are feeling it. ...

“Flourishing goes beyond happiness, or satisfaction with life. True, people who flourish are happy. But that’s not the half of it. Beyond feeling good, they’re also doing good-adding value to the world.” ~ Barbara Fredrickson

As I shared with you last week, each year around my birthday I take time to reflect on my life. And again, this year was no different. I journaled and reflected on those three questions that one of my mentors, Brendon Burchard always asks, "Did I Live? Did I Love? Did I Matter?"

But then, I decided to move from reflection of the past year to asking a few questions of myself in a future focused manner. And this is where I embraced the ideas from another mentor of mine, Brian Johnson.

Brian is the founder and CEO of Heroic Public Benefit Company. And I had an opportunity this fall to spend several days with Brian, his wife Alexandra, his right-hand man Michael, and an amazing group of other Heroic people.

You see, Brian has a mission. His mission is to help ...

“At the end of our lives we all ask, Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?”  ~ Brendon Burchard

Every year on my birthday, I like to take time to reflect on my life. Honestly, some years I spend the entire month in reflection. It’s a fun way to celebrate and be grateful while also seeking ways to make the next year even better. And this year is no different. However, some years, I have had the opportunity to spend it with one of my mentors, Brendon Burchard and a group of fellow Certified High-Performance Coaches™.

We get together every year for training and some years it happens to fall around my birthday. We are able to be in a room together sharing love, wisdom, energy and an intense passion for helping people live their best lives. (It’s a training but it also feels a bit like a celebration!)

Anyway, as I sat to journal on the questions that I might want to ponder for my birthday self-reflection, I found that something Brendon always talks about kept coming up for me…

If yo...

"You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection." ~Buddha

Relationships require effort. Anyone who tells you differently is misrepresenting the truth of relationships. Now I am not saying that they have to be difficult or hard. But they do require effort. Trust me, after 31 years of marriage (which we are celebrating today) we wouldn’t still be deeply in love with each other if we didn’t put effort into our relationship. Don't get me wrong, sometimes even we need a reminder. Life can get busy and overwhelming. And when that happens, it's easy to take your closest relationships for granted. But to keep any relationship alive and strong, it requires attention and effort. It requires kindness, love and affection.

Do a check right now before you read on… On a scale of 1-10, how much effort do you put into each of the relationships you value most? If the score you give yourself doesn’t match the value of the relationship, then I’d say it’s tim...

“Create a Life You Don’t Need a Vacation From”

My family and I had a trip to Italy booked for three years. Seriously… we booked it in 2019, planning to go in 2020 and then of course, COVID happened so we postponed it till 2021. And then it again got cancelled due to COVID. Only FINALLY getting to go last summer!

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how disappointing those cancellations were. But the one thing that I can honestly say I am thankful for is that over the years, we have created a life that we don’t need a vacation from. Yes, we really wanted to go so we were super bummed not to be going on our trip to Italy, BUT it’s not like we needed so desperately to get away that our mental and physical wellbeing suffered from the cancellations. Let me explain a little more…

Creating a life you don’t need a vacation from doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take vacations. Vacations are awesome! And I totally encourage you to take vacations. BUT what I’m really talking about here is not needi...

“Be your best true you.” ~Michelle Weimer

My youngest daughter will be graduating from high school this weekend so I thought it would be nice to write a special note to her and all those graduating this year. Or for that matter, anyone who might be coming to the end of a chapter in their life and preparing to embark on a new one.

Then as I started to write, my eyes filled with tears… and my mind went blank. I honestly didn’t know where to start. There was so much I wanted to say. And yet, I couldn’t seem to find the words.

Deep feelings of happiness, joy and pride are mixed with sadness, worry and an odd emptiness. I was quickly reminded of the old saying, “I love you so much it hurts.” As my heart aches every time I think about her leaving for college. And yet, it is exactly what we’ve raised her to do… to go off and be a strong, independent young woman.

So I hope you find value in my thoughts this week as I write this post to her. I think you will definitely see that it can ...

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ~Mother Teresa

As we wrap up February, let’s take a look at the journey of love we’ve been on all month. Inspired by the reality that our world could use some much-needed love and kindness right now, we’ve ventured into a month-long exploration and challenge to amplify the goodness within and share it generously with our families and communities. Reconnecting within to build self-love and create an extraordinary impact of cultivating love in our homes and communities. I am hopeful that this journey goes beyond the calendar and leaves an indelible mark on the very essence of who you are as we continue to create ripples of love to transform the world. So, if you missed any of these big ideas for little ways to exemplify love, then read on for this quick review and reminder. Let’s keep the love ripples rolling…

"Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act crea...

“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” ~ Mother Teresa 

In the last several months, I’ve repeatedly spoken with others who are feeling a great need to do something to heal the current state of our world. Which is why I’ve been writing about this topic all month. And while I agree, our world is in dire need of healing, I also think that we can get so focused on what’s happening outside that we forget to look inside – inside ourselves and our own homes.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think it is important to do our best to be active parts of our community and support others with love and compassion, but sometimes we need to begin in our own space. Which is why when I saw today’s quote, it actually lit me up because it’s something I’ve been talking to several of my clients about. As a matter of fact, I recently told a group of women that I was working with, “If you want to change the world, start with your family. You might not be able to change the whole world a...