Today Is The Day

please, please, please- don’t wait

There is no other way I can say it besides now is the time.

Like right this minute. 

If there’s something you’ve been wanting/wishing/trying to muster up the energy, confidence, “right time” for- start today.

If you’ve really wanted to make a change for a long time but haven’t gotten around to it- start today.

If you’ve been meaning to clear your schedule to take care of something important to you- start today.

If you have the choice to take an hour to spend with yourself, with your partner, your kids, your friends, neighbor, your aunt, your uncle, your grandparent your parents, your dog, or your frog, and ditch on that never-ending to-do list or time-wasting work meeting- do it today.

If you love someone and haven’t told them in a while, stop anything and everything you might be doing right now and pick up the phone and tell them, go next door and hug them, get in your car and drive to them, open up Skype and blow kisses through the screen at them, write them a letter, run outside and scream it out loud…

…while you can. 

Today I have to say goodbye to this smiling face:

My Friend Katie

…who’s been in my life since I was a middle-school kid.

My Friend Katie

Katie, my constant hometown friend of years and years who was a most amazing sweet, kind, genuine, generous, selfless, happy, funny and positive person- passed away last week. The above photos were taken during my BLR Play It Forward event time last year in Vermont.

I didn’t get home in time to see her this summer, and she lost her fight before our coffee date that was scheduled for this week.

My heart feels ripped to shreds, but Katie inspires me to share this:

Don’t wait. Life is so short. We get busy, we think tomorrow will come for sure, we always think we have more time- and sometimes we don’t. Please give yourself a gift by reaching out to your loved ones to tell them what they mean to you. Follow your heart, your dreams, your crazy ideas. Go do, be, see, laugh, love, live it up. Be courageous. Fear is nothing. Nothing is scary until you lose someone you love so much and no longer have an option to spend time together.

Remember what’s important, celebrate the memories you have, and live like today is the day.

Thank you, Katie for bringing so much joy to this world and so much light to my life. I promise to live, love, and celebrate everyday I have. You will always be in my heart.

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b*tch stole my book title/subject/vibe! (again.)

From a friend this morning via text:

I went to a bookstore yesterday to try to find this book I’ve been wanting to read…they were sold out of that book, but I came across this in my search and had to get it for you:

Books I love

(The photo came in on my phone screen and the text continued…)

I don’t know anything about it, but it seemed too Peacock-esque to pass up:)

Do cool sh*T? Quit your day job, start your own business and live happily ever after?! Does this author live inside my head or what? (And I guess my friends know me pretty well, too.)

Recently, I wrote this post after my sister sent me Jen Sincero’s Badass book that I read in about 22 seconds. That was just a couple months ago and here pops in the above book. (I see a pattern here.) I haven’t yet read a page in this one, but I have a feeling based on the title and what I read about the author, I’m going to love it.

Did Jen Sincero or Miki Agrawal “steal” anything from me? No, of course not, they just beat me to the punch on finishing & publishing books like these, and jumping out to the world in a focused way asking for people to pay for sharing their knowledge & experience. (Man I have to get better at that whole charging for the value I bring to the table, thing.) At least I’ve been plugging along with my book, so sometime this century you will see me shamelessly self promoting my written words all typed and bound so pretty on shelves around the world.

This will happen.

Until then, I will take extra motivation and inspiration from badass & cool (see what I did there? HA!) author ladies like these.

Are you doing cool sh*t, or at least trying to?

Thanks for the book, A!

#LifeIsShortDoCoolShit #TodayIsTheDay #BeatOfMyOwnDrum

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play it forward 2015 official announcements!

The schedule for our 4th Annual Play It Forward Event has been set! See full details here.

If for some crazy reason you are on the fence about whether or not you will be participating, maybe I’ll inspire you by sharing a photo from each of our first 3 events…

2012:

Play Forward Give Back

2013:

IMG_4815

2014:

B30

Get on the bus, Gus! We’re doing good things, having fun and we want YOU! Won’t you join us?

Today is the day. What are you waiting for?

#PlayForwardGiveBack #RememberCelebrateLive #LoveHome

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meet grazia

The Fabulous Grazia

This sassy, fashionable, world-traveling, 77-year-old, was the hostess of the Oscar Party I went to on Sunday night. I’d heard about how fabulous Ms. Grazia was for weeks. That was true and then some. This woman has the smile, energy, and the sharpness of a 27-year-old. She’s warm and welcoming to everyone around her. We had a blast.

Don’t you just love the sparkly vintage gown?! (Perfect that Lady Gaga is in the background on TV, too.) I’m about 40 years behind this lovely woman, but I hope to carry half the effervescence and joy for life that she has- for the rest of mine.

You inspire us with your never-ending smile, Grazia! – And absolutely embody my remember, celebrate, live mantra, by truly celebrating life. Love it!

How do you all out there, celebrate life Grazia-style?

#Oscars #LivingItUp #Ageless

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it pisses me off when i read books like this that I could’ve totally written

Could've written this one

Like really chaps my ass.

Good on ya, Jen Sincero! While I’ve been distracting myself  from doing what I really want to do; writing books like this, raising funds for the BLR Memorial Scholarship, planning events, encouraging anyone who is unhappy in whatever they are doing, to call a fuck it and jump ship- and doing speaking engagements about it all, I’ve chosen to spend too much of my Monday-through-Friday-plus time underpaid, for a terribly unorganized, immature, unprofessional client during the past 6 months just to pay my bills. (And let’s face it- this is not the first time I’ve burned myself with I’ll just do this for a little while and work on BLR on the side.) You’ve been flying to best-seller status and beyond (along with plenty others) and I’ve been sprinting on the very gerbil wheel I despise more than anything. (The same one I constantly preach for others to stay off or jump off.) Bullshit! No more.

Thanks for pissing me off, Jen! My buck stops here; I’ve fired that client. I won’t take another one like that- ever, and shit is about to get real up in here. (Holla DMX!) That’s right, you can look for my book on a shelf near you in the next year or two.

Like Mr. Martin Luther King, I have a dream too- and It’s about damn time I put up or shut up about it.

Nothing says motivation like calling yourself out publicly. BOOM!

What chaps your ass enough to finally snap?

#TodayIsTheDay #GetItDone #BLRGoTime

PS~ Thanks to my sister, Erin for sending me this book. She probably sent it because she knew it would piss me off just enough to put me over the edge to where I’ve wanted to be for a very long time. You rock, sister!

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go, be, do, see

Well happy Wednesday to me! This just in, Another Best Day interview posted. Check it out here!

I learned of ABD this summer and think their message is totally awesome. It was founded with a simple idea:

To serve as a consistent reminder to make the most of every day.

Alaska ir Bust

Amen!

I agree with the Another Best Day crew, that we CHOOSE our thoughts, the same way that we choose our clothing. We choose to think positively, or negatively, we choose to think that we are capable of going, being, doing, and seeing anything imaginable, we choose to sit on our asses, or kicking them into high gear. Luck has nothing to do with accomplishing goals. Goals take hard work and making the choice to stick with them no matter what.

Think of the last time you had “the best day ever” and imagine it happening again and again because you wake up each day choosing that it will be. Seems pretty simple, right?

Thanks for working to spread a great message and including me in your awesomeness, Dave & Brett!

How do you pursue Another Best Day?

#ABDLife #Choices #GoBeDoSee

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calling it like it is

Many years ago, I took the typical “Screw this/it/that!” and started saying; “I’m calling a f*ck it”, instead.

Calling a f*ck it, is that moment when you are so done, so over “it”, tired of something, someone, or ready to just make a move- any kind of move, literally or figuratively. It’s when you either stop dead in your tracks and draw a line, or when you begin sprinting towards something you’ve always wanted to- something brand new. A time when you smack yourself in the face or take a minute to look around and think; what the hell am I doing?! Then can’t stand living one more minute there- so you make a change. (It can also be a fleeting moment of letting yourself go and feeling free, like bum-rushing the dance floor even when you’re sober, to drop it like It’s hot.)

Oh the little things that can make you feel powerful and alive.

The girl in this piece called a f*ck it and changed her work life for good. Amen, sister! I love reading these stories. I wish we were surrounded by more of them. Life is short. We’ve got ONE life. Call a f*ck it and start doing what you want if you are not already.

Try to make otherwise serious, scary looking guys, laugh:

My muscles are bigger than yours

…let strangers kiss you from across the counter:

Stranger Smooch

…or maybe just for one minute remember that no one is the boss of your life. You are in charge! You are capable of making any choice you want. We life in a free country. A FREE country, people! (I know this post is late for Veteran’s Day, but I am sending better late-than-never love to everyone who’s fought and protected so I’m able to live a life of whatever the hell I want, whenever the hell I want it, in America. Thank you, Veterans.)

How are you going to call a f*ck it today and let your freedom ring?

#LifeIsShortDoWhatYouLove #TodayIsTheDay #LetFreedomRing

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read this

I dig this portion:

“There’s no reason for you to be contemplating the cosmic significance of your life while sitting on your couch all day eating Doritos. Rather, you should be getting off your ass and discovering what feels important to you.”

…of this article. Well, I dig every portion of this piece, actually. What an awesome and truthful bunch of words. Thanks for being a no bullshit writer, Mark Manson! Oh if the world had more like you.

I hope if you are reading this, you will pass it on.

What feels important to you?

#ThingsThatMatter #Truth #TodayIsTheDay

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