Live the life you want to live

addiction

My name is Diane and I too often break promises to myself.

Insert the way people introduce themselves at the start of and Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. (I think, anyway- based on movies and TV shows.)

I’m not announcing my problem with boozing here, just standing up in front of you all to admit my problem out loud, and start to hold myself accountable for a most unhealthy habit.

If you ask me what I love love love to do first thing in the morning that makes me feel high as a kite, joyful, hopeful, healthy, balanced, thankful, badass, and overall as happy as a 7 year old swimming in a mountain of gummy worms- it never changes; writing and/or exercising. I know this, many people around me know this, I talk about this, yet I epically fail at doing either of these things during much of my Monday – Friday lately. Especially the writing part, which is super sucky-poo because I’ve got great stories, a lot to say, and anytime I finish, I feel like I’ve exorcised all the worlds demons or just returned from some kind of life altering detox cleanse.

So here I am, Friday February 19th, 2016 proclaiming my addiction (the healthy kind; moving my body and sharing my words) in a huge attempt to hold myself accountable just like I hold my clients accountable for what they need to do…to just do more of what drives my days straight down that Blue Lollipop Road I know is out there.

What’s got me all off track and breaking promises to myself? Lot’s of little things that I could use as excuses of course, but really It’s simple; not taking the time I know I need and want, to be the best version of Diggidydi. (That’s me, high school nickname. Shout out to the MAU boys for coming up with that one back in 1995:)

As I talked to a single Mommy friend this morning who is just burned, like extra crispy bacon exhausted burned, I advised on my high horse; Take more time for you! You deserve better and more! Draw the line! You are going to run yourself into the ground if you don’t recharge! – I have to laugh. Aren’t we all so good at giving advice to ourselves by giving it to someone else?

If you’re reading this now and you don’t see a post again from me within the next 3 to 5 days, I hope you will write to me and call me out. If you’re reading this right now and running around multitasking like a freak show (I can relate), just stop it. If you’re reading this right now and don’t even have the faintest idea what fuels you to start your day with that I’m going to kick ass and take names, today! feeling, take some time to start figuring that out. (It is Friday after all, everyone takes an extra long lunch on Fridays. Your boss won’t notice. He’s probably golfing anyway.)

Let’s all get less addicted to email and other work day time wasters, and more addicted to becoming an expert at exactly what were passionate about, so we can share that awesomeness with the people around us.

What’s your healthy addiction that’s been collecting dust lately?

#GetAfterIt #DontForgetYourself #TodayIsTheDay

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how to find money & happiness this holiday season

1.) Stop going to Target. (That absurd “Dollar Spot” section right when you walk in the door riddled with plastic crap made in China should seriously be outlawed.)

2.) Stop going to the mall.

3.) Stop shopping online for things you, your kids, your brother, your mother, and your neighbor don’t need.

Black Friday sale, Cyber Monday sale, sale for no reason to warp your mind into thinking you need it to be happy sale…all this holiday shopping marketing and mayhem blows my mind. Moreover, the fact that so many of us still buy into it all (literally and figuratively) in the year 2015 when we know better, makes me feel like I want to smack my fellow humans to wake us up and out of the drone zone.

People, what are we doing?!

Can we discuss some examples of what you, me and the people you love and I love/like/work with/share office or home space with/teach our kids might actually need for gifts or “treats” this year?

*Our health

*Some extra free time

*A break

*A good laugh

*Some love/lovin’/a big fat hug

*A few extra hours of sleep

*Quality, accepting, comfortable, company

*Yummy fresh food

*Clean water

Every hour we spend at the mall, we’re not spending making dinner with friends, playing with our kids, or making whoopie with someone we’re in love with. Every hundred bucks we spend on our 20th pair of jeans, the newest electronics, or another pair of shoes, we don’t spend on an extra mortgage payment to pay off our homes a year earlier, a gym membership that could help keep our hearts ticking a few years longer, or a credit card payment that could finally set us debt free. Every minute of time we spend on putting energy into “stuff” instead of ourselves and the ones we love around us, we are failing at truly taking advantage of this ONE SINGLE LIFE.

I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t like wasting time when it is the only thing we cannot get back. 

Later in life or at the end of this life, our kids won’t remember that time they got the coolest toys for Christmas at the expense of you working until 11pm every night, they will remember when you showed up to 4th grade school lunch as a surprise on a random Tuesday. Later in life or at the end of this life our friends won’t remember that trinket or tchotchke we ran around like mad trying to find just in time for the holiday gift exchange, they will remember when we were a shoulder while they went through a horrible divorce, or that we were the only one who visited that time they were sick in the hospital. Later in life or at the end of this life, our spouses won’t remember how we left the fanciest and sparkliest gifts underneath the tree, they will remember how we always made coffee for them on lazy snuggly Sunday mornings, or that we left secret love notes around the house for them to find at random.

Save your money and save your time. Don’t buy (ahem) into this shopping frenzy chaos. Instead, maybe go call your mother or grandparents, tell them you love them, and that you’re on your way over to their house right now so you can all have tea and eat cherry vanilla ice cream together.

‘Tis the season to prioritize.

#LessStuffMoreTimeTogetherHappyLife #ThingsThatMatter #HappierHolidays

***(Have you signed up for my blog post email notifications yet? If not scroll on down to the bottom of this page and join the party now! :)***

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Live simple. Do more.

Freedom!

Hello, hello and welcome to the all-new Blue Lollipop Road!

I am SO EXCITED (did I mention excited?) about not just a fresh and different look for my site, but for finally  sharing about a huge shift I’ve been focusing on for a while now.

First I have to give huge props to my branding company, Big Ring, for taking 7+ years of everything I’ve worked so hard on and putting it in to an online presence that looks amazing! I’m happy to report all the photos you see throughout Blue Lollipop Road are my own, nothing stock photo here, just all from years in travel and everyday life. The photos we chose to use from my archive of about 10,000, are some of my all-time favorites. If they give you any sense of freedom or feeling that anything is possible, then we have done our job!

So onto this new BLR:

You will see freedom as a theme throughout this new site and everything in my work. Many conversations I had during my years on the road over coffee or dinner with friends or strangers, and now in home base life have the same theme; people feeling like they just don’t have enough time, space or money (translation – freedom) to do things like:

A.) What they really want to do for work or a hobby.

B.) Spend time with family or friends.

C.) Work out.

D.) Travel.

E.) Go back to school.

Many, many more.

This great world is spinning and we’re running around like chickens with our heads cut off because there somehow ends up being so much to do and think about in a day. I’ve never understood why it always seems to take some kind of tragedy, for us to slow down and think about what really matters, so I created a business that helps people take back time, space, and money so they can do more of what they love. That’s what life is supposed to be about, right?

This means I work with people in any kind of transition, or ready to make a change; Everyone from people moving/relocating, for work (managing everything from moving company to handyman and all in between), for fun, or for things not so fun, (Divorce, death in family), to people who are busy with their careers and kids who’s homes have become cluttered and need reorganizing, to people who want to downsize and live simpler, to people who need to reassess their baseline bills (when’s the last time you checked to see if your bank offers a lesser interest rate or why the cable company is charging you hundreds of dollars for basic cable and internet services?), to people who need systems implemented to make their homes function better, to people to want to make a huge life shift (quit job/start a business/start training for a marathon…), to people needing family vacation plans made, to people wanting to sell no longer needed furniture because they are remodeling, moving, or have just sent the last kid off to college.

All those kinds of projects and more.

I facilitate and manage whatever chaos and busy is going on and help you put healthy breathing room back into your life.

And I make the super stressful times, fun.

Boom!

When clients write or call to tell me they could focus on work because they knew I was taking care of everything with their corporate relocation, or when they tell me they are now working out regularly and cooking with their kids because they could find the cook books, or that they have time to actually go to the gym because they feel more organized in their space, it makes me happy. Like clap up and jump up and down happy. It’s like being able to gift a sense of freedom, balance, and perspective for at least a moment, or a day in this big world of madness swirling around us.

I love it!

I hope reading this post and meandering through my spankin’ new pretty site makes you feel like you have a little extra pep in your step to go for that thing, that person, or that moment you’ve been missing. Let’s live simple, and do more of what we love and with who we love. If you have a hard time getting there yourself, call me. I’d love to help you get rid of the physical, financial, or personal “stuff” that’s weighing you down. We can tackle your busy beast/lift your burdens/exorcise your demons.

Life is short. Freedom awaits.

#LessStuffMoreFreedomHappyLife #LiveSimpleDoMore #TodayIsTheDay

PS ~ Please scroll down to the bottom of this page and sign up to get my blog posts via email! I will be regularly posting great tips & tricks on how to live simple and do more- and of course continuing to share about how I make adventure in my everyday:)

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HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY, BLR!!!

Like a mother, I feel incredibly happy and proud of this being I’ve created that means everything to me. Time flies far too fast, and my “baby” is all grown up. It’s odd to say a blog/website could feel like a living thing, but that is the truth. Blue Lollipop Road has been alive and active now for exactly 7 years, and I can honestly say that my life changed forever on 10/16/08 when I wrote my first blog post. It’s as if I grew up a little more that day, ready to share myself, and pass on love & lessons within this next generation of me.

That indescribably and overwhelming never-the-same feeling people talk about when they have kids!

Amazing.

This month is graduation time for my sweet, sweet, BLR- to version 2.0. The next adventure begins on 10/26, as I give this larger than life entity a complete makeover. So excited!

Like all things or people worth it in this crazy life, hard work is required, we are likely to shake fists in the air with frustration, shed tears occasionally, and then spin around in pure bliss, too. For anything or anyone worth it, exhaustion is part of the package, disappointment will creep in sometimes, and heartbreak is unavoidable. With all the bad, comes so much good, though- and blows every last icky feeling we may have ever experienced out of the water. Ahhh…those moments It’s all worth it; those undeniable joyful seconds of purity you feel when that “thing” you have put every once of your being- your complete heart and soul in, looks up and says I love you. 

Well, I love you, too Blue Lollipop Road.

Thank you for motivating me, teaching me, making me sad, happy, confused, proud, frustrated, and for helping me to continually believe in everything possible. Thank you for holding my hand so I’m able to remain fearless and love hard. Thank you mostly, for making me feel completely alive. Because of you, I can be best version of myself and feel like I have a purpose on this planet. That is the best feeling ever.

My sweet, sweet, BLR! What a run (or should I say, drive), we have had together!

Here’s to a billion more years of the good madness that is the life roller coaster, and hoping that together, we can inspire and light good fire inside everyone we meet.

#Love #Mojo #Believe

*Took this photo a couple days ago, full on filthy in work pants at a client job in Virginia. Good times geeking out at the view and always sporting a BLR tee!

Happy Birthday BLR!

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shutting up and being grateful

I ran across this today. A good read. I’d like to hang out with the author, Mark.

On my soap box, especially lately, I’ve preached the word practice a lot, and still don’t understand why yoga seems to have stolen that word from everything else in the world. Why don’t we think about practicing every aspect of our lives, not just yoga, or sports in general? Shouldn’t we be practicing everyday, to be a good sister, daughter, friend, employee, neighbor, or just a good, fun, productive & generous human who’s nice and friendly just to be nice and friendly?

I just walked into Starbucks to hunker down for an afternoon of work and was greeted extra cheerily by a very overweight, nerdy, scruffy, awkward-looking barista guy. This particular Starbucks is in the center of the city and never fail, is always 110% filled with the most strapping looking fit businessmen you could imagine. (Occasionally these groups of men are sprinkled with an equally gorgeous high-heeled business woman or two.) It looks like the J.Crew or Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs exploded in here and the people on the pages came alive. So here’s this barista guy with the biggest smile in a scene of go go go perfectly coiffed, seriously focused executives, who aren’t smiling- throwing in his cheery personality, clearly practicing to genuinely enjoy his work and not be intimidated by this otherwise potentially intimidating scene.

As it becomes my turn to order:

Him: “Hey hey hey! How are you today?!” (in the cutest, upbeat tone)

Me: “Im great- thank you, that was the nicest greeting! Thank you!”

Him: “Why, you’re welcome- what can I get for ya?”

I order, he asks for my name, I tell him Diane, he thinks I says Diana and I roll with it.

Him: “That’s Wonder Woman’s Name! Spin around!”

To his surprise, I spin around.

We both laugh.

Me: “If only I could spin around like that and fix all the problems in the world!”

We laugh again, and agree “yeah…”

I thank him, turn to walk away, and he exclaims- “Have a great day, Wonder Woman!”

So totally adorable.

By a landslide, this very overweight, nerdy, scruffy, awkward barista guy is the most attractive, impressive, magnetic man, in this otherwise model-looking crowd I’m among right now.

In the article above, the author writes “I’m the last one to pretend everything is unicorns and rainbows.” I’m with him on that. It’s often hard to see the forest through the trees, and even harder to be grateful during sad times. It’s not easy to shut up (at least it hasn’t been in the past for me), It’s not easy to keep thinking your minutes will add up to something when you’ve felt like you’re getting nowhere fast. It’s not easy to say goodbye, It’s not easy to feel alone/lost/stuck – most things are not easy, but we all must push and motivate to practice each day, being grateful for the tiny beautiful things.

Let’s practice together!

Right at this moment I’m grateful for the luncheon I just went to with delicious food, the new people I met and connected with. I’m grateful for the notes, check-ins, and congratulations during the past few days from friends & family about a big event I had yesterday. I’m grateful to be able to work from anywhere and do what I love. I’m grateful for the huge challenges I’ve faced during the past 6 months and the lessons I’ve learned. I’m grateful for the few late hours I spent with a good friend last night scrubbing, vacuuming, and sweeping out the last bits of her apartment for a move, as we both exhaustedly and filthily stuffed our faces with a pizza-on-paper-towel party, and laughed about the chaos. I’m grateful that I could still laugh at myself, and this crazy life, as I sweat my butt off in my little car, looking like The Clampetts yesterday while talking to my little brother and almost getting pulled over by the police:

Moving…again

I’m even grateful for the wrinkles around my eyes in this photo. They mean I have smiled a lot:) Mostly today, which kicks off Breast Cancer Awareness Month- I’m incredibly grateful to have called Kaitlin McLellan not only a tried and true friend, but a very best one, and for many, many years.

Lucky, lucky me. So, so, very grateful.

Enjoy it now, and be grateful my readers- this life, this amazing, nutty life…is far to short not to.

Thank you, Mr. Barista, for making me spin around and bringing extra sunshine to me on a day I’ve been missing my dear friend. I won’t forget it.

#AlwaysLearning #AlwaysAdventuring #AlwaysGrateful

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stop screwing, start doing

This TED Talk popped in my inbox this morning. (Thanks, M!) I watched it as I sipped my coffee on the porch, cheering YES! and laughing through the whole video.

This woman is awesome. I’m a big fan of people who cut straight through the bs:

TED Talk

This makes me think of one of the books I just wrote about in my top 5 read this now list; The War of Art. I wholeheartedly agree with the theory that every single one of us has incredibly special things about us and unique ideas that can change the world.

Let’s all keep forcing the covers off to spend our days going for what we want.

“Get outside! That’s where the magic is.”

#Jump #CarpeDiem #BeMoreThanJustFine

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read these books

Run, don’t walk- to your nearest library or bookstore to get these books:

Great Books

Can’t run or drive? Log onto Amazon.com and buy them, walk, or ask your friend to pick them up for you.

Seriously.

Pre-2015 my book habits were terrible. My attention span for getting through a whole one was like hiking Everest; arduous, painful, and seeming impossible. A racing mind, not finding good reads or whatever the reason, I was the queen of get through the first 50 pages, 10 times, and throw a book back in the pile. Based on how much I love these 5, I’m thinking that I was ready to receive some good information this go-around, and I really dig eff-bombing, no bs, tell-ha-like-it-is, raw, do your own thing writers and life “do-ers” like the above authors.

I gobbled up each of these paperbacks this spring/summer at lightning speed. (A close runner up I dig from recently is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. You might want to add that one to your list, too.) I think I’ve found my any and all occasion, any age- go kick life’s ass gift package! (Just add ribbon and It’s a party.)

If you need some inspiration: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you need a reality check: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you’re feeling bummed about anything: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you don’t think It’s important to do what you love: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you want a good laugh: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you’re feeling like you’re living in the drone zone: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you don’t have the slightest idea about what you should do with “the rest of your life”: READ THESE BOOKS

If people tell you you’re crazy because you have a passion or idea that seems a little off-kilter, kindly tell them to shut up and: READ THESE BOOKS. (Then give them your copies when you’re finished, those people will need them.)

If you’re doubting you are capable of going, doing, being, seeing anything: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you need a break from the life gerbil wheel: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you’re searching for a bit of freedom: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you want to feel alive: READ THESE BOOKS.

If you want to learn about 7 billion things about yourself and all that’s possible when you’re ready: READ THESE BOOKS.

You get the idea.

Tiny Beautiful Things, is by far the biggest and best punch in the gut out of all of these,. As I mentioned in another recent post here- one of the best things I have ever read. (If you read none but 1 of these…please choose Tiny Beautiful Things.)

It might sound just a little bit mad that a few books could’ve changed the course of my life, or propelled me into a place I’ve always wanted to go much faster than I was getting there on my own- but that’s what I feel like happened to me this spring/summer because of these good reads. Perhaps it was just some kind of stars aligning or magic or something else. Either way I’ll take it, and happily pass onto you these words on paper, that’ve shifted many things to the positive in my everyday.

Give them a whirl and tell me what you think.

#GetLost #Think #BooksAndBlueLollipops

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get unstuck

Feeling like you have a 96,000 pound boulder super glued to your chest, stinks. Having too much “stuff” is debilitating, whether that”stuff” is physical, financial, or internal. How do you tame the beasts of “stuff” that are in the way of your happiness?

Here are 9 great options to try. I’m a big fan of actually clearing out/downsizing/cleaning out your living and working spaces as well so you’re able to function at full capacity. Those are big ones. Clutter of any kind creates major unnecessary suffocation and stress, and keeps your freedom at bey.

Feeling trapped is a total bummer. Freedom is sweet. Oh sweet, sweet, freedom:

Find Freedom

*(I took this photo at a 4th of July parade. What a cute kid. What a great outfit.

Clear out some mental, financial, and physical real estate, and remember- you are in control of this life. You can do it!

#FindYourFreedom #GetUnstuck #TodayIsTheDay

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“it’s all about doing something that matters to you”

Oh man do I love this guys TED Talk! I feel like he stole words out of my mouth; the ones I stand on my soap box about all the time. Ones that he obviously has put together more eloquently than me and then been invited to TED talk about.

I’ll get there someday. For now I have this little platform on the Blue Lollipop Road to shout from.

Some of my favorite quotes from this piece:

“I wanted to find the work I couldn’t NOT do.”

“Everything wasn’t possible until somebody did it.”

“People are giving a middle finger to this scripted life.” 

My favorite minutes is probably at the 10:30 to 11:50 mark.

Like this guy, I have “corrupted” people to quit their jobs and start anew- not because I thought they should, but because if someone ever comes to me and tells me they want to do something that burns in their soul- of course I am going to tell them to call an eff it and do it. What kind of crappy friend would I be if I listened to someone tell me about what’s burning inside of them and not tell them to go for it?

Living on a treadmill speeding a million miles an hour, en route to the drone zone is a terrible waste of a run for any of us.

I had my aha moment this spring, at nearly 37 years old, that made me realize exactly what I wanted to do for work. I thought this would never come. If you know me, I have probably driven you bonkers over the years with endless “what should I do with my life/what is BLR really/why can’t I figure out what I really want to do/what is wrong with me” conversations and questions. (Thank you for listening and trying to help when I was impossible to help not realizing all the answers would be inside of myself. I owe you all big time.) I now feel like the weight of the world has lifted off my chest because I’m finally doing work that matters to me and I’m getting paid for it after YEARS of searching. It has been a painful process, but every step was needed and worth it. I just kept trying, believing in myself and following my instincts and it happened. I now have a business that helps people organize and downsize their physical, financial and internal lives- so they can do more of what they love.

It is awesome.

(New BLR website launching in October by the way. Woot!)

My work life typically looks something like sporting crappy old clothes as I pull things off dusty shelves or out of old boxes, sort, schlep, managing movers/handymen/donation trucks, etc., host Craiglist sales, sit in piles of bills organizing and game planning for clients. (Sounds glamorous, right? Not glamorous at all, but I love every minute of it.) Most of my clients have hit a forced “have to do this” place because of an impending move, death in the family, divorce, and some just want to take control of their space back. Whatever the reason, I know I truly help them feel more freedom during often crappy/sad/stressful times. It’s incredibly rewarding.

In my adult life, I’ve always felt like a freak of what the hell do I really do with career that means something and I love?! – nature, this work has changed my life. I cannot encourage you who are reading this enough, to quit until something feels right, move if you feel like you need a change, quit again, move again, whatever you need to do to get to a place where you find that work that means something to you whether It’s working for a big fat fancy corporate bank, or starting your own trash company. (I went to high school with a guy, Trevor in my teeny home town who started a trash route in about 11th grade, and 20 years now later, he is crushing it. Good for you Trevor!) Trash people, trash! And in a tiny town! Anything’s possible.

Whatever your thing is- It’s out there. Trust yourself and drive your life in the direction that feels right, or at least the direction that’s away from what doesn’t. It’s OK to leave anyone who discourages you, in the dust.

“Everything wasn’t possible until somebody did it.

Spending time doing work that matters is so hugely important for a happy life. Please go for it. Take that spin on the wheel and don’t look back; you will find exactly what you’re looking for whether it takes 10 days or 10 years, and it will be so worth it. I promise.

Today is the day. What are you waiting for?

TED Talks

#WorkYouLove #WhatMatters #LiveYourLegacy

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your legacy starts now

Today is the day after Labor Day. A new time, a new beginning, a new season (at least in my mind), and the perfect excuse/motivation/reason to start brand new/over/try again, kick something off, etc.

Hell yes!

I have regular conversations with strangers and friends about how they may have screwed up, missed out on, gotten too deep in, feel too old for … some kind of shift, or complete life overhaul.

Never, my friends, never:

Leaving a Legacy

Today is the day. You can start right now.

Whether you’re 18 or 80, boy or girl, rich or poor, gay or straight, have 1 friend or 100, live in the city or the country, have bookoo bucks in the bank or zero, whether you’re scared shitless or semi-confident, kind of sure, but doubt yourself, whether you feel like the freakiest of freak shows for whatever you desire or the loser-ist of losers, for not knowing even what the first step even looks like- you can figure it out. You can dooooo-eeeeet! I’m not talking self-helpy bullshit you can do it because it will be easy-peasy, I’m talking you can do it BECAUSE YOU ARE ALIVE TODAY, and moreso- why they hell wouldn’t you?

It’s never too late for anything until you’re taking your last breath.

Think about it.

I plan to go down kicking & screaming in the flames of a good fight whether my last day is tomorrow or in 150 years. I’ll be kicking & screaming with delight as I’m doing what I love, sucking every last ounce of awesome out of this world, as I simultaneously feed it back.

Won’t you join me?

This summer of 2015 has kicked my ass to the moon and back. The wrath and fury of a terrorizing beast has pummeled me in the face like it never has before. Thank goodness for family & friends. This season that has taken shit show to a whole different meaning, and has also has reminded me more than ever that people and time are the only things that truly matter.

Do you ever think about that?

If you haven’t already, It’s time to get rid of your stuff. Your physical, financial, and internal “stuff.” The stuff that weighs you down and keeps you from breathing & living what matters to you. Clear out those walk-in closets in your home and in your heart that are chucked full of clutter and crap you don’t want or need, and start waking up everyday to a life you deserve. One where you don’t suffocate yourself or beat yourself up anymore. A life where you’re alive, thrive, and do good things. A life that is authentically you, and that will remind people of your smile, long after you are gone- because you truly lived while you were living.

Jump in. The world needs that mojo you’ve got inside.

What kind of legacy will you leave?

#TodayIsTheDay #ClearingTheClutter #NeverTooLate

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