2017: The Best Year Ever

As I’m lying on my beach mat in Miami, soaking in all the beauty around like the sun, weather and one of my best friends (Nancy aka “My Fave”) giggling as she takes a snap of us I couldn’t be more grateful of life. I know I wrote a piece when I was leaving L.A. but in Miami I found myself engulfed with the happiness and wander in my life right now. Feeling the carefree wind hit my skin while the sun kisses all the exposure takes me on a path of reflection. Oh, I know its December 13 and I’m already reflecting on 2017 but how can you not? Who knew that I’d draw inspiration on the beach while Nancy giggles away with me as if we’re sisters playing pretend?  Here I am smiling thinking about how great this year has been to me minus a few tragedies such as having Trump as our President and Hurricane Harvey. Yet throughout all the storms, I’ve been blessed to have been kissed by the sun more than usual.

So now you’re wondering, well why has 2017 out of all the 25 years of me breathing on this planet been different? Well, 25 has been my year and 2017 just happens to ride along with it. It’s like I woke up and felt that I’ve “arrived” as a woman. I feel so confident in my skin and going on this journey to find out what makes me, Me. So here’s my secret, this year I chose MYSELF, always. No, I didn’t go to a brunch instead of attending a family event so don’t tell your loved ones that you read my blog and found it as an excuse to be selfish in a rude way. I chose myself as in I discovered that the most important person to serve and prioritize is yourself. This year I made one of the most difficult yet best decisions of my life and everything else seemed to have fallen in place after that. I left a relationship that I felt was toxic and didn’t serve me in the best way possible. I finally had the guts to be like, “You know what? I’m not happy and I’m going to do what makes me happy.” After I did that everything just got better in my life. I’m not kidding! Everything improved from my relationship with friends and family to work to my social life. If I wanted to be alone one morning, grab coffee at Common Bond and read, I did that. If I felt the travel bug itch at me, I booked a flight and was lucky to have Nancy come along.  Whatever I wanted to do whether it was stay in bed and read all day or be out and about, I did.

Choosing yourself is the only way to make it through the hustle and bustle of this world. You are your only compass to direct you to who you are, your reactions and what serves you the best. You can’t steer by what anyone else wants or needs because then you are not 100% there for anyone. It will feel scary. You’ll probably get some things “wrong” but guess what? It’s OKAY. This year I cut off anyone or anything I felt was toxic to me and it felt so great. Like shedding excess layers you don’t need. When something or someone isn’t right for you it doesn’t matter how many ways you try to spin it to make it work.  You will never be happy and the people you choose over yourself will never be satisfied.

So think about people you love, read books you enjoy, go to events that you actually want to attend, deal with people who are good to you the way you are good to them and dance to anything even the noise of the AC vents.  Just do whatever makes you happy to be human and that makes you breathe and think, wow life is “funderful”.  Choose yourself, every morning of everyday and I promise everything falls into place afterwards.

Love,