“And -- and to all the little girls (and boys) who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”
- Hillary Clinton
Every life is a gift. I believe this with everything in me. And I know that it can be easy to get so caught up in our day-to-day lives that it’s easy to ignore this fact. For so many, simply breathing each day can be difficult, which makes it even more important to embrace how lucky we are! How we choose to wake up and live our lives each day is up to us. Whether this past week was a disappointment or not, I personally found myself feeling sad and angry. And then I had a thought: We can either opt out of living in this incredible country that allows us so many freedoms that others are not privy to, or we can choose to do one thing each day to help make this country a better place — no matter who is our leader. For some of you, that may mean donating to Planned Parenthood; for others, it might mean helping an underprivileged child, feeding the homeless, understanding those that think differently than you, or simply making a concerted effort to smile more at your neighbor.
It’s my birthday week, and as many of you know, I treasure this time of year. I simply LOVE MY BIRTHDAY! It never gets old to me, and I will celebrate the day as I have since I was a little girl — because I feel life is way too short not to celebrate our time here. During this time of national transition, I think it’s even more crucial to celebrate the positive. For me, that means rejoicing in the fact I LOVE my studios and interacting with our clients every day, meeting new students and hearing their stories. It’s like I can literally feel my heart bursting with pride. In a world that is filled with confusion and ugliness at times, my heart is my private island hideaway from it all — and you’ve all got the same place of respite in each of you. I can honestly say that I am happy to grow older with these studios, and my loving staff and clients help me feel more vibrant by the day.
The message I’m embracing and trying to share right now is that life doesn’t need to be as complicated as we tend to make it. If we could all find a way to love each other a little more, smile a bit more, and steer clear of the drama that’s so easy to get caught up in, we could all contribute to a better, stronger world — even if it’s just the one in each of our own hearts.
Let’s all forge ahead into the New Year with bells on, embracing new determination to live our lives to the fullest. That’s my plan as I enter this 45th year of mine.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and please know how incredibly grateful I am for the many gifts all of you bring to my life.
Big hug and lots of love,
Lisa