Today marks the eve of my 27th birthday. Twenty-seven years of life. I’m not entirely sure I believe it. After all, it seems like just yesterday, at the age of about 8 years old when I couldn’t fathom being as old as 16… 18… 21…I was fully aware that my parents had somehow made it, but me? I had no concept – at some points I remember being excited to turn 16, finally able to put the many nights I spent  propped up in Dad’s lap steering our black Blazer and running the break and gas pedals to good use… it seemed like eons away. And it was, at the time; it was double the number of years I’d been on the planet. Needless to say, even today, 27 years old just about blows my mind!

Wow, where has life gone? What have I done? I reminded of a wonderful speaker I was recently introduced to, Brendon Burchard, author of Life’s Golden Ticket, who speaks to the three questions we ask at the end of our lives: Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter? It seems I ask the same thing of myself tonight.

I wonder, what have I learned from this year? What have I done? What have been my best moments?

  • I have forgiven my parents for everything I thought they did to me in their own lively pursuit to find and to be happiness. And that forgiveness started with forgiving myself first and foremost for taking on circumstances, events, and a relationship that was not my own. I have learned that life was never meant to be perfect, and that we are given many opportunities to be made wonderful through life.
  • I learned to buy nice things for myself – and to actually use and enjoy them… no longer keeping them for “the perfect time.” There is no perfect time, today is it, my friends. Today is the the very special, most important day. It’s all we’ve got – it deserves the best we have.
  • I am also learning to give things away… I don’t need to keep everything around me. There is a time and place for new things to enter into our lives and we must give it space to enter at the perfect time. I have prepared myself for an abundance of great love and experiences to come flooding in!
  • I completed my professional coach training and learned that I absolutely love helping people to get what they want from life… and in the process, I too, am getting exactly what I want from life.
  • In a very real, true, emotional, and healing moment, I learned that I’ve been operating from the perspective of my 15-year-old self… the self before my teenage world changed the way I would know life forever. This year, with the help and love of my friend, I acknowledged that I too have life experiences that have effected me. I deal with the very real post traumatic stress of learning a whole heck of a lot real fast with only the teenage mental capacity to process it all at the time. There is something about learning to accept death, to fight so hard for life, and to go through pain and struggle beyond anything I thought I could go through… and live. So, this year I am nurturing the 15-year-old in me that needs the love, acceptance, and safety to know that it’s okay now… it’s time to enjoy the here and now… it’s time to be and feel 27-years-old. It’s time allow my full self out to play and run wild in this wonderful world I fought so hard to be a part of! It’s time to have a real functional relationship with a man. It’s time to really let love into my life and to live in love and operate always from love. What a gift.
  • I learned that my intuition is right on… I quit two jobs that I didn’t love after one and two days on the job, and found a job that allows me to continue coaching and training -  what a gift to be able to pursue a career that is my entire world. I also learned a lot through taking on temp jobs for 6 months… I was offered a job at each place I temped and I believe I left each company better than I found it. I like to think of it as my research for conducting better trainings…the experience has already landed me a contract.
  • I learned that I have a great deal more to learn about my family… our history, beautiful stories, love stories, vacations, my childhood, my parents’ childhood… I think I’ll learn a lot more about this through the book writing process with Mom and Dad. Yes, I am writing a book about my life and my experiences… It’s a book about my own life story that is meant to inspire, validate, nurture, and love on others’ and their stories – we’ve all got them. I also aim to share my insight from my perspective in hopes that it helps others and I continue to grow in understanding and love for myself and others.
  • I learned that my parents, no matter where I am, teach me something new everyday… and everyday I thank them for even the smallest things they’ve taught me… and the biggest things they’ve done to keep me alive many times over, keep me happy, and give me the best chance at life. I love making them so proud.
  • I’ve come to believe even more fully, that things always, always work out. Growing up, my Mom had a quote on the wall in her art studio that said, “In the end all things turn out to have been appropriate.” I couldn’t agree more. Life is good.
  • I’ve learned that I can have anything I want, I just have to decide what it is that I want… from there, the world is at my fingertips. On that same note, I’ve learned that deciding what I want and allowing myself to move and work toward it has incredible power.
  • I’ve learned that letting go, chilling out, and taking in the moment and seeking to understand others really makes a world of difference.
  • I’ve learned that through validating others, we validate ourselves.

I end this post, tears dancing down my face as I smile in awe, in love, and incredible appreciation for the incredible year I’ve had and the beautiful life I live. I choose every single day to live with passion and purpose, love and joy, and in every moment.

On that note, I say, “Cheers to 27-years-old… to the best year yet!” And that is just what it will be.

The soundtrack to my blog post? Rent – Seasons of Love and I declare my theme for this year: Rent – No Day But Today in honor of living in the present, allowing myself to soak it up, enjoy it and think less about everything… Yes, think less, experience more.

My question for you… How do you measure a year in your life?

To showing up, daring to live, and loving fully,

Lacy

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