I don’t wake up every day inspired- but I do actively seek out inspiration. Today, my inspiration came in the form of a phone call with my friend Michele. We’ve been what my daughter would call BFF’s since second grade. She was meeting a friend who has cancer for coffee. As I spoke to her, my mind drifted to the many women I’ve known this year who also have found out they have cancer. Sadly, this horrible monster has no filter when it seeks to attack its victim: mother, wife, friend, daughter, sister…We are all targets.
As I spoke to Michele, I was driving over the Courtney Campbell bridge that connects Clearwater to Tampa. Early in the morning, the sun was still rising, about midway to its final resting spot with rays cascading down, onto the water. The yellows and blues combined with the stillness of the water and the backdrop of the city took my breath away. “I’m alive,” I thought. Sometimes it seems that when living, one our greatest failures is forgetting to actually live. We work, work, work and when not working we are busy, busy, busy. There is always someplace to go and something to do. With the surge of technology over the past decade, we don’t often personally connect with other people in a meaningful way. Sure, we connect with our families that we see daily, but what about friends, co-workers, mentors, and extended family? We text, Facebook, and watch one another live our lives versus being a part of their lives.
I am alive! You are alive! All we have is right now in this moment. Yes, it’s fun to look to the future, to ponder what we might do with our lives, where we might go, or what we might experience, but even more important is the present. What are you doing right now, today, and tomorrow afternoon? Who will you spend time with, how will you spend that time, will you connect in a meaningful way and purposefully be present and in the moment?
My other company Bild & Company is a national consulting firm that specializes in health care. We work with many seniors. So many times I’ve walked through the doors of an assisted living community and further on into a memory care center. What strikes me through the heart most often is the images that hang outside the rooms of the residents- One in particular, of a beautiful woman on her wedding day. So happy, full of joy and at the beginning of what I’m sure was a grand life adventure. As I looked inside her room she sat in front of a mirror, brushing her hair. What was she thinking, did she remember her past at all and what would she give to have it all back?
My eyes fill with tears as I write because it’s personal. Someday this woman could be me. Someday this woman could be you. So in her honor and all those who don’t have the ability to do so, go- live your life and make it grand.
If you struggle to stay in the moment and tend to get so busy that one day blends into next, but you really want to live in a more meaningful way, join my Get Your Girl Back movement and let me help you get your girl back- the one who was passionate, rarely looked at a clock, loved the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair and who lived each day as if it were her last. Start by reading the first Chapter of my forthcoming book, Get Your Girl Back. And get ready to live…http://gygb.com/gygb-chapter-one/
Written by Traci Bild