Taking the time to enjoy the journey

One thing that I know for absolutely sure is that we are so lucky to be on this journey called life! Life is just so amazing, joyful, awe inspiring, goofy, serious and sometimes very confusing, but it’s ours!

This morning in the shower it hit me! My life is blessedly going exactly how it is supposed to. There’s just something about the shower that helps me put my heart, soul, and thoughts all on the same page. I realized that I am rediscovering that thing called “fun”! It’s totally okay to not always have an agenda, but to kick back and enjoy the journey!
For me that means it’s perfectly okay to; sit with my husband in the evenings and watch him snore beside me ’cause it still makes me smile, to discover this new phenomenon called “Pinterest” playing with my favorite things and people, to write just to write for the love of writing, and not always have a focus or goal, but just to be in the moments.

That’s what I am doing right now. I am taking a break from Debi Johnson Coaching. I need some time to regroup, laugh and rediscover what direction that I want to take. I know that it will involve using my life and coaching experiences to make a difference in the lives of others.

For those of you that have read my posts here, “thank you”. I will be back, but I just don’t know what it may look like. I am letting go of the outcome and just following what my heart is telling me right now.

I’d like to pass on, please take the time to realize that ~
Your life truly is an amazing adventure.
You matter.
You are perfectly okay exactly as you are.
Love yourself, put yourself first and it will all fall into place.
It’s great to be imperfectly you!

Take care of your amazing self,
Debi

Words to Inspire ~ 2012

As the New Year gently unfolds and I feel the cold temperatures outside, I am taking some time to tune into myself, just slow down a little. I’m comfortably sitting in the middle of books, with my hot tea and toast. I love, love that it’s a new year. I feel as though we have been given a “clean slate” that’s ready to be filled with amazing things.

This year I’m bypassing New Year’s resolutions in favor of something that makes me feel hopeful and light hearted. I am choosing “words that inspire me”. That takes the pressure off of doing my resolutions just right. Words that help me get into that good feeling state.

My words are ~ Joy, Ease, and Let Go.

Joy ~ We have so many moods and feeling changes throughout the day. We may wake up happy, but as the day goes on and life happens, we could go into sadness, anger, anxiety, and so on. When I think of joy, I think of it as a core feeling. I can be sad or mad and have joy too. If I’m having a stressful time at work, I can look at a picture of my family and find joy. I’ve learned to keep my eyes open for little pieces of joy through out the day no matter what I am doing.

Ease ~ I have had this long time belief in my head that everything is a struggle, but it’s just not true. I want to feel at ease instead. The dictionary defines the word “ease “as “freedom from pain, worry or agitation”. Love that! As I go about my day focusing on finding “ease”, that just feels so much better. The word makes me want to go ahh.

Let Go ~ This is a big one for me because I consider myself a “hanger-on-er”! I try to take the situations in my life, hold them tight, and fix them myself, but it just doesn’t work that way. It feels so good to place my worries, struggles, and unhealthy habits in the hands of God (my higher power). I know that He has the answers and will lead me into doing what is best. I let it go.

If you were to think of a word or two to carry with you into 2012, what might they be? That simple act might just set the intention for you to find more of (your amazing words) in your life in 2012.

Happy New Year, my friend.

2012…Time to thrive

It’s December 22nd and I am excited. I have wrapped my gifts, the tree is decorated and sparkley and I will soon be on vacation for Christmas. It’s time to say ahhhh. I can’t help it, there is just something about this time of year. I feel blessed. I am ultra thankful for my life and my healthy friends and family.

Now as I look ahead to 2012, I know that even greater things are on the horizon. I am comfortable right in my life, I have a good job and my health is okay, but I yearn for more than okay.

I love the phrase, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. Scary? yep! Fun and exciting? You bet! There are just some things in my life that I want to make better. I want to THRIVE at a career that I LOVE! I want amazing health and a strong body that feels great.

It’s all so, so possible, for me and for you.

In the next year I pray that I will be my own hero and that you can be your own hero. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!

Wishing you the best this holiday season and into the new year.

Take care,

Debi

A bittersweet good-bye

I’ve been wanting to blog about the old Safeway closing it’s doors for awhile now. These words have been on my mind and knowing myself and how I process things, they just won’t leave until I write them down. I took the photo with my phone so I’d have a visual of how it looked. I think we all have memories of places that live in our hearts , but how often do we stop and remember or speak of them? Here is my bittersweet good-bye to an old store:

An old Safeway store closes its doors. A new fresh & modern Safeway emerges and, “wow, it’s awesome”! It’s what our area has needed. Sometimes even a good change can be uncomfortable though. The old store wasn’t just any Safeway, it was “my Safeway”. I grew up going there week to week!

I drive by the big, old empty shell now and if I look that way, I can feel my heart drop a little. I know it’s just a grocery store and by looking at this photo; it’s not a very good looking one. It was time. It’s just that the old store was one of the many icons in my life.

I just can’t help think about how things used to be. If I close my eyes and remember….I see myself as a little girl with my mom walking down the aisles. I believe that my mom bought my first candy bar there, which means my chocolate love began behind those walls. Ah, my mom, I can see her in the store with her dark hair and loving big brown eyes. It was always a fun adventure to go shopping with her.

I remember when I got my first apartment and shopped in that store with my roommates. I have to smile now as I remember how we tried to buy all of our favorite foods, but with very little money. I think we lived on macaroni and cheese for months, so much that I can’t touch it today!

I began taking my own boys to that store when they were just babies. That’s probably where I bought their first candy bar. (I see a candy bar pattern here). It’s part of their past too. It fascinates me as I look at all of the simple, everyday memories that happened in a grocery store.

Can you remember any stores from your childhood that are no longer in your life? Do the memories make you smile now, too? I drive into our “downtown” area that was once the hub of shopping. As I stop and think about it, I can still see & hear the hustle and bustle of all of the friends and families shopping. Now the stores are closed and vacant buildings or offices sit in their place. We now shop in our little mall or on line! I know that change is part of growing older, but sometimes my mind likes to reminisce of how things once were.

I am ready to say goodbye to the old and hello to the new. I went into the new fancy Safeway. The aisles are wide; there is a bakery, a floral department and a Starbucks! It’s what I have been waiting for. It’s like the “big city” stores. My grandkids will grow up with their own memories of the new Safeway. It will be one of the icons in their own lives.

Life is an adventure in so many ways. It’s nice to see that things change….yet things stay the same.