“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves
the gift of living well.” – Voltaire
What a year it has been for me and Mindful Adventures as I reflect today, on my birthday.
A year full of change and what I know to be true is that change is inevitable and…required for our growth. Stepping out in faith hasn’t been easy though. And, there have been trust issues along the way as well. Yet, I’m standing on my own two feet and inspired to continue the journey I signed up for. One of the highlights of this past year was my latest cross country road trip taken over the summer. All three of my solo journeys required trust and faith and they fulfilled me tremendously with new lessons from this latest one and the potential for more growth moving forward into this next year (more on the latest road trip in another post).
Many of you that follow this blog, and my Facebook and Twitter posts know that while my writing focuses on travel, spa and wellness; it is also about creating a life you love – one with hope, inspiration, mindfulness, authenticity, and positive and healthy living. And there are times when you have to embrace the ebb and flow and dig deep within and know that everything will be okay. It reminds me of the movie, ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,’ when one of the characters (played by actor Dev Patel) said “In India, we have a saying: Everything will be all right in the end. So if it is not all right, it is not yet the end.” I love that because despite our best intentions there will be challenges in our lives. I have been through some difficult challenges over the years and the key word here is ‘through’ and while it wasn’t easy (at all!), I did get through them with hopefully more grace than I give myself credit for and while some are still on my mind it’s important to step in faith as I’m sure that’s one of my lessons and one for many of you (and to trust and have patience…..).
Several months ago I met a woman that was fighting cancer – it turned out she wanted to go to one of the destination spas I work with with her daughter. She and I really connected and we would read each others blogs, review the services and activities she would do along with her daughter and it was the start of a friendship. She was filled with joy and was living her life on purpose. We both agreed that we were destined to meet because we connected almost immediately and she used our connection as a topic for one of her blogs, I was so touched by her words. Sadly, about a month ago she passed away and I felt a deep sadness over her loss. Her joie de vivre inspired me then as it does now and she left me with a profound image for what it’s truly like to be living life to the fullest – I believe that was a large part of her legacy and a gift to those of us whose path she crossed.
I’m simply speaking from my heart in this post and if you’re still reading, and I hope you are, then I just want to remind you that our birthdays are a time to celebrate our life and a time to embrace who we are and to continue taking action towards creating a joyful and fulfilling life. I am choosing to live life more fully…..for my friend above, for my late husband, for myself and those I love. My birthday wish is for you to do the same.
Happy Birthday to all of you celebrating in October and to those of you
who choose today to be the first day for the rest of your magnificent life!
Photo credit: ©Donna Adinolfi
