my strategic direction

At work, we are planning our new strategic direction for the next few years which made me think, every person should have a strategic direction of their own because without one, it's hard to know which way to go.  Here's what I came up with - it's a start:

What is my life’s purpose?

To experience and inspire joy, love and laughter. 

My plan:

1.       Continue my blog

2.       Live by example

3.       Be a lifelong learner

4.       Slow down to observe and listen to the signs and whispers that exist

5.       Surround myself with people that nourish my soul – keep me on the path

6.       Love unconditionally

7.       Appreciate what already exists

8.       Tend to my mind, body and spirit

9.       Trust in what is

I believe:

·         I am a leader

·         I have integrity

·         I am resilient

·         I am creative

·         I am intelligent

·         I am strong

·         I am real

·         I can

My Childhood Love # 2 - Water

"Water has no taste, no color, no odor; it cannot be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself. It fills us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses."  ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY (1900-1944), Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939

As far as I can remember, I've always loved water.  Being in it, near it or even drinking it.
I remember spending days at the neighbourhood wading pool with my brother and cousins.  The water was freezing cold, but it didn't matter, not deep enough to swim in, but we tried anyway.  Hours of laughter and enjoyment.  I remember the annual trips to the swimming spots in Campbellford, Bobcaygeon and Napanee.  To Virginia beach, California and Florida.  Being in the water was all I cared about.  Even now, when we plan for our family trips one of the main prerequisites is that we go to a place where we can swim or we're near the water. 

Water has played a role in some of my best memories, but also my worst.

Recently, my brother reminded me of a time our family was looking at new homes and one of the homes we visited had an outdoor pool.  My brothers and I were ecstatic and we ran out the back door to see it more closely.  My younger brother was only 3 or 4 at the time and thought that he could walk on the cover that lay on top of the water.  In a second, down he went submerged under the water.  My older brother started to panic and ran for my parents.  I don't know what gave me the strength at that time, but at 11 years old, I remained calm, put my arm into the pool, found my brother's hand and pulled him out.  Water could have taken my brothers life - but water also gives us life.

Water teaches me about life and love.  We need to enjoy it, savour it, respect it and appreciate it because in an instant, it could be gone.

Live Now

Living in the moment is difficult.  I've been working at this for some time now and in moments of turbulence, it always amazes me how life, if you're willing to see them, sends you little reminders.  Yesterday was especially hard for me as I was consumed with worry about meeting work deadlines, paying bills, parenting and the list goes on and on and when I visited FB, the first thing I saw was this quote from the Dalai Lama - a good little reality check on life.  Thank you for the reminder Dalai Lama.

Love what you do

Quote I Love

My Childhood Love = Dogs

Since my last posts I've been trying to remember what I loved as a child and the one thing that kept popping up was - Dogs.  Yes, I'm a dog person and from a very young age (probably starting at 6) I've always asked my parents if I could have a dog as a pet.   My love affair with dogs started when I was about six and my cousin got a puppy.  It was a fluffy, tan-coloured pomeranian named Bimbo.  It was love at first sight and I think that Bimbo loved me.  Whenever I went to visit, Bimbo would run directly for me and lay thousands of puppy kisses on me and while the others would stop him for doing this, I welcomed them.  I wanted one of my own so badly and when my cousin decided to breed Bimbo - I was overjoyed because that was my chance - get a mini-Bimbo of my own.  But when the time came and a litter of 5-6 beautiful puppies were ready for a home - my parents said "no."  My heart broke.  Lesson learned:  Just because you love something, doesn't mean you'll get it.

Fast forward to university - I met my husband in 2nd year university and he had a golden retreiver named Junior.  Sweet loveable dog who would followed us around all the time.  I talked all the time about having my own dog and the following Christmas, his gift to me was Rockit a energetic Jack Russell.  As much as I loved him, this breed is not for the inexperienced dog owner (which I was) and Rockit basically ripped apart my parents home.  Chewed tables, chairs, jumping up on everyone that visited, nipping at children, running away several times and I was never able to train him to do his business outside.  Of course this was all my fault, because I didn't invest the time to train him and recognizing that, a couple of years later we gave him up for adoption to my husband's coworker who brought Rockit everywhere - to work and the corner store. They became best friends and Rockit lived a really good life.  Althought I loved him, I knew I couldn't give him what he needed and would be happier with someone who could.  Lesson learned:  It's true what they say - if you love someone, sometimes you have to set them free.


Last December, my family and I decided to adopt a chocolate labrador retriever.  His name is Duncan - which means "Brown Warrior."  This name is appropriate, because it has been quite the battle from day one.  From training, chewing on furniture, to learning new routines, taking on new responsibilities on top of what already needs to get done, arguments on whether or not we could handle him etc.  The list goes on and on.  But this is where I stand - I LOVE Duncan.  He is a beautiful furball of happiness and love.  He's my personal trainer, keeping me active, my running partner and bodyguard at night.  He's stress relief for me, because no matter what kind of day I had, I could sit/play with him and forget all the troubles of the day.  He helps put life into perspective for me.  There he is overjoyed chewing on a sock or catching a ball and it makes me think "what am I complaining about?"  It reminds me to be grateful for the simple things in life.  Lesson learned:  Love is not easy, it takes commitment and hard work, but the rewards you get back are worth it.



Childhood Love

I took this picture of my daughter this weekend.  I call it "Soccer Love."  Witnessing her love for this hobby and the exhilaration and sheer happiness it brings her to get out on the field, it made me think about a course I took back in the summer.  The instructor asked us to visualize ourselves walking towards a child in the distance and as we approached each other, the instructor revealed that this young, innocent child we were walking towards was ourselves and to think about what we were like and what we felt as this child.  In addition to this I thought about a book I read called "The Happiness Project" where the author did an experiment and reflected on what she loved as a child and decided to reintroduce those loves back into her life and when doing so, how much happier and fulfilled she felt.  My goal over the next few weeks is to take on a similar experiment and answer the following question: 

What were my childhood loves? 

Join me and share yours too.  I'll post my findings as soon as they're found.