AKA Honesty Can Be Brutal

Honesty can be brutal. And it can be scary. But it can also save your life.

When I sat down to write LOVE, The Beat Goes On, many habits that helped me achieve my life goals came back to me. One was the vision board.

In the early nineties, I was living in Montreal, worried about the recession, my future and that of my family. I started thinking about what I wanted in my life. I had two photos on my wall in my office. One showed incredible majestic ski home in Vail. The other photo was the turquoise water of the tropics. I wanted that life. I’d forgotten about both those photos until this year.

When I decided it was time to write LOVE–actually it was Dr. Wayne Dyer who reminded me it was time–I started writing down the habits I’d developed the things that helped me heal from incurable heart disease. Envisioning was a big one. And I remembered those photos.

Have you ever made a vision board? If not, it’s a great way to gather your thoughts on what precisely you want out of your life. Over the years I’ve cut and pasted photos on my cork board, written lists and notes to self. Last year in the fall, I was feeling restless and my dreams were begging me to pay attention. I’ve always been in tune with my heart, so I knew I needed to make changes in my life. I used Canva—a free online website dedicated to graphics—downloaded photos from the Internet, and designed a composite poster of the life I really wanted for myself.

In January events transpired that I could say were out of my control. But, were they?

I envisioned a life that would leave no room for the emotionally draining work I did at that time. I had what I thought was the perfect timeline stretched out over two years. I assumed I was in control. Major changes would have to happen for this life to occur. And they did. Quickly.  And then I woke up one morning saying “Oh my God!” It was clear to me. I knew I had created/envisioned the life I was meant to live.

It’s been a very busy spring. Two months ago I published my first non-fiction, a memoir/healing book LOVE The Beat Goes On. Six weeks ago I began a daily Yoga practice. It has turned into a physical commitment to gratitude for the extraordinary health and life I’ve been blessed to live. I’m writing full time now although Oprah hasn’t yet discovered my book. I’m traveling to Paris this summer to visit family. And my current work of fiction features this amazing home on the water in the PNW. All of the above are on my vision board, the one I created last summer.

Never, ever underestimate the power of your mind.

And by the way, that amazing ski home in Vail, I custom built something even more spectacular in Whistler B.C. in the late nineties. After I sold it, I found that tropical getaway in a coastal town in Mexico.

What inspired this blog? I was standing having lunch in my kitchen looking out at the swaying palm trees and thinking about the newest Jet-Displaced book 4 I’m currently editing. I wondered about my grandbaby in Paris and hoped he was enjoying his first airplane trip to Italy. I’m so excited to be spending a month with them in August. I had the sudden realization that I was truly living The Life I Was Meant to Live.

If it’s to be, it will always be up to me.

Ask yourself the question: do you deserve to live your dreams?