Ask yourself: How did I get here?

How often have you looked at your life and thought “how did I get here”, and not in a good way? Wondering what happened with the dreams you had and how come you ended up somewhere totally different?

More importantly, how often you look at your life in an amazement “how did I get here, this is more than I ever dreamed of”?

I was recently on a trip in Mexico with a few fellow bloggers, and we were sitting on a boat and watching the incredible blue water of Sea of Cortés (pictured) and a few of them had the “how did we get here” talk feeling incredibly thankful for the rare opportunity to travel and be on this boat and enjoying the sea.

I was incredibly thankful of being there too, and loved every minute of it, but it made me think the opposite: how did I end up living a life without any MORE time by the sea and on boats?

I grew up spending every single summer on a boat. Water is my element like nothing else. To me the sea has always represented the infinite possibilities of adventure and life experiences – you could sail your boat to a new harbor and experience something new while being on your safe homey boat.

I know what happened, a married a pilot, whose element is air, and who does not feel the same way about boats at all.

On that moment I felt like I was living the life I was supposed to be living, on that boat in Mexico and realizing that this was what I had been missing in my life so badly, without even noticing how deeply I needed the element of water surrounding me, and the feeling of living life to the fullest when on a boat.

A little voice inside said to me that I should find a skipper with a boat and run away to sail around the world to full fill this need of being surrounded by water, on a boat.

But a louder voice inside me was agreeing with the other bloggers on the trip – how truly blessed we are that we have been able to create this lifestyle surpassing our wildest dreams.

Because I know if I WAS on a boat sailing the seven seas, I would be craving the many adventures I have in my life now.

One that one moment, I had both: I had my moment of bliss on a boat and my amazing life including the wildest adventures and events that I could have never even dreamed of when I was just a little girl and spending my summer days sitting on the back of the boat and watching the waves and dreaming of sailing the world one day visiting the exciting harbors of it.

Go figure, I had to marry a pilot to realize that it’s actually faster to see more harbors and exciting places in the world when you fly. Sometimes life has it’s weird way of giving you exactly what you wanted even when you didn’t really even know what you were after.

Now when you ask yourself “how did I get here” think of the choices you have made by following your heart and where they have gotten you. Have you found unexpected new “harbors” in life that you never even imagined visiting? Is your life the opposite you thought it would turn out – in good or bad? Is your life going to right direction or should you steer the course?

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.
Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.
Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.
And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
They somehow already know what you truly want to become.
Everything else is secondary.
by Steve Jobs

We have just lost an amazing visionary, Apple just announced that Steve Jobs passed away. Rest in peace, you will be remembered.

I love the above quote by Steve Jobs about not wasting your life living someone else’s life and listening to your gut to follow what you want your life to be.

How often have you looked at your life and thought “how did I get here”, and not in a good way?
Wondering what happened with the dreams you had and how come you ended up somewhere totally different?
More importantly, how often you look at your life in an amazement “how did I get here, this is more than I ever dreamed of”?

Are you living life to the fullest and enjoying everyday?

Do what I do: carpe the shit out of diem.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.”

Sometimes we don’t think about just how powerful our minds really are. Our mind really is the number one tool to enjoying a gracious life. If we see life as empty, we will be empty. If we see life as a journey, full of opportunity– even if the opportunity isn’t ideal–we will have endless opportunities.

Although it’s not always easy… what do you do to keep a Half Full perspective?

To celebrate a new reality TV show coming up on Lifetime TV Network where we can peek into a real delivery room in an Ohio hospital, all of us Lifetime Moms were asked to share a delivery room story. I shared all my three stories. My three children were born within three years and all of them were born in different countries. Life just sort of worked that way. Now looking back I feel very hard core and almost like a super mom for being able to go through all that.
Being pregnant in a foreign country, with no friends or family. Moving to a different country while 6 months pregnant, or with a baby less than two months old (twice!). Becoming a mom for the first time isn’t easy, neither it’s easy to have two kids still on diapers (almost three!). But doing it all while traveling around the world or country, moving your entire household, being often alone as a military wife whose husband works long days… those years were absolutely insane and now looking back I have no idea how I did it.

I have never wanted an easy life, and I rather have hard times than boring times. Yet looking back I feel so proud that I did it all. Of course those were the happy times, and some of the most amazing moments of my life happened during those years, but at the same time, I remember those days as busy as my life now with my own company and corporate responsibilities for the company I work for. In fact, I have more me time now than I did back in a day I was “just a mom”. Today my “me time” is my work. I wonder if ten years from today I look at back these years and think how did I do it all, and how come I was so busy already back then, even though I didn’t even do half of the things I do now. I sure hope so.

I hope that my life keeps getting busier and crazier and I keep challenging myself. Because the feeling that I get from looking back and saying “wow, I really did that” is very cool. The feeling that I have had guts to do insane things like having a baby (on purpose) less than two months before moving overseas makes me feel stronger each day. It drives me to test my limits again, and ask myself “what else I can do”.

Oh, and want to know my secret how I’m able to do it all…? I live life to the fullest. Every single day I take it as it comes and enjoy what ever there is to enjoy. I see bad things as exciting opportunities and road blocks as ways to learn a lesson. I’m thirsty to drink more of life’s nectar, and taste it as sour or sweet as it can be. I don’t want it perfect and the same every day. I want to taste a little bit of everything, because to me that’s living life to the fullest. That’s Skimbaco Lifestyle.

I was sitting here reading Jerri Ann’s entry post this evening. She is talking about her husband and her story reminded me a little of my own husband. Originally I was going to enter this contest too. I thought it was so sweet when I hear that Katja had sponsored Amanda. Then I thought it was amazing when she asked who else needed sponsored. She is going out of her way, spending her own money, to help other women. Asking nothing in return, just out of the kindness of her heart. That is unheard of these days! It’s sad, but it’s true. Hardly anyone does something just because they care anymore. It seems everybody forgot that 4 letter word… LOVE. How can anyone live their life to the fullest without love?

I thought of a million things I could say on how I live life to the fullest. I thought about all the people I could ask to vote for me. I thought about how nice it would be to win. Then I snapped back into reality. I cannot afford the plane or any other costs, so I wouldn’t be able to use the ticket. Honestly I couldn’t afford it right now if it was $40. Jerri Ann’s story reminded me of that, but not in a bad way.

My husband and I had just had a conversation about this. He was urging me to go ahead and enter and share how we live life to the fullest. He said I should tell the story about how every time life seems low or every time we are down I remind him, “It’s okay, because we have each other. Our love for each other and Elijah (our son) is all that matters.”

It’s true, we live life to the fullest by filling it with love for each other. The little things don’t matter, the money doesn’t matter, the material things don’t matter. WE are what matter. The love for each other is what matters.

I explained to him that it would do me no good to enter because I couldn’t afford the rest of the trip. I could see it in his eyes that he understood, but he WISHED for that second we did have the money so I could go.  I hugged him and told him it’s okay I will go to a conference eventually, taking care of our family is more important.

My husband loves me so much that he got upset we can’t afford for me to go to BlissDom. That act of love means more to me than ANY conference ever would. I am not sharing this story to enter the contest, I am sharing this because I wanted to remind each of you how powerful and fulfilling love is. Whether you are going to Blissdom or not, live life to the fullest now by sharing and treasuring love.

“Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings it’s melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.” ~Kahlil Gibran

Written by Erin Pyle. Erin Pyle is a writer, graphic designer and mother. She enjoys spending time loving her family and playing with her toddler son, social media, organizing and being creative. To find out more about Erin, the other places she writes, and how else she lives life to the fullest, connect with her on her parenting site, www.pyleoflove.com , and on twitter @erinjeany.

This post is part of Blissdom Conference ticket giveaway.

Sometimes we think that our greatest influence on others will come in the way we live our lives. But for me, the greatest influence I have ever had on my life was in the way that someone died. That someone was my mom.

In August of this past year, my mom was diagnosed with Stage IV gastric cancer. It was the most difficult situation I had ever faced in my life. I wanted to be angry with God. How could He do this to my mom and my family?

Mom told me that she didn’t understand why God was allowing this cancer into her life, but she trusted Him. She said that despite our circumstances, we needed to be looking for the blessings God had in store for us.

So that’s what we did. For the seven short weeks that Mom lived after her diagnosis, we counted our blessings every day.

I remember a time when Mom was lying in her bed. Her legs were swollen 3 times their normal size. She was unable to sit up or stand on her own. She had lost over 20 pounds and could barely eat. The cancer was winning the battle. She looked at me and said, “I feel so blessed.” I said, “Mom, you are lying there with cancer throughout your whole body, how can you say that?” Her response? “Well, I could be writhing in pain, and I’m not. Some people with cancer are in a lot more pain. So I am thankful that I’m not.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Mom continually found blessings through the most difficult days of her life.

Mom’s example in dying changed my life.

Now I try to live each day to the fullest by counting the simple blessings that God has given me. When I am standing in a long line at the grocery store, I thank God for the legs on which I have to stand. When I am overwhelmed by loads of laundry, I thank God for a house full of loved ones who wear those clothes. When I am frustrated when I don’t get what I want, I thank God that I have all that I need. And when the overwhelming pain of missing my mother wells up inside of me, I thank God for the promise that I will see her again.

What a blessing!

Written by Traci from Beneath My Heart. Traci is the only girl in a house full of boys! She loves spending time with her husband of 12 years and their four amazing sons. She started her blog, Beneath My Heart, because her mom encouraged her to. It has become a huge blessing in her life! She shares about remodeling projects, furniture makeovers, crafty ideas, some adventures of being the mom of four boys, and the legacy her mother has left behind. You can contact her at beneathmyheart4 (at) gmail.com.

This post is part of Blissdom Conference ticket giveaway.

Big news: we are not moving anywhere this summer.

It seems like it was just yesterday when we moved here in New York, rented this temporary apartment and kids started school. School is almost out – two more half days left – and we already got a notice we should either renew our rent lease in two months or move out. We’ve been in New York for almost ten months already – where did the time go? On the other hand I feel so at home here that seems impossible it’s only been ten months – did the life in Europe, then traveling across the US and living in Colorado really even exist?

We have moved almost every year the past 7 years we have lived in the US. Out of the past 7 years we have lived in hotels or furnished temporary apartments for total of over a year. It may not seen that much out of my life, but that’s over 15% of my kids’ entire lives. You know those 100 days projects kids do at school – my kids do world maps and “100 places I’ve been” on those days.

We have decided just stop and breathe and enjoy life right here where we are. While it is tempting to move again, find a nicer place (we have tried, no such luck finding anything), maybe even closer to the city, but kids like their school in our little town and have gotten some friends. And the pool season just started and I finally found my way to the free gym we have in our club house. I miss owning my own home, renovating, painting and ripping of the carpets and installing wood floors. Maybe there will be a day that we can buy a house again but as of now our kids won’t have a “childhood home”, they just have a childhood of adventures, new experiences and they are getting different kind of tools for life with the lifestyle we have.

I do feel we deprive our children things – like their grandparents. One set lives in Texas, other set lives in Finland, and we live right in the middle, New York, and equally far away from both. The thought being away from family and my parents not seeing my kids to grow is killing me. My father said a few years ago they’ll come and visit us when we “settle down” and our life is “normal”. I hope he’ll change his mind some day, because I do not seek “normal life” and settling down, I seek living in the moment and experiencing every bit of life I can.

While our life may seem too chaotic and crazy and even totally not stable, the traveling and moving around isn’t the only thing we do differently in our family. On the other words: I am not a soccer mom. Since we travel and move so often, I want our every day life to be as low key and calm as possible. Kids don’t do soccer, nor baseball or take any other classes after school. If we are not doing something skimbaco, adventurous and exciting, we lead pretty boring life. You need to balance it, you know. We don’t do many play dates, don’t go to movies or hang out at the mall on Saturdays. We don’t have babysitters, we never do anything without the kids. Think of it – the way we move around and travel, if our every day life was the typical suburban busy family life with baseball games, sleepovers, date nights for parents- our life would be so busy that I would never have time to actually get to know my own kids.

This summer, the summer when we are not moving anywhere, our kids are also not going to summer camps, and we haven’t even planned a big family vacation. This summer we are having a “Summer Camp At Home”, we have set rules for activities like reading and TV and list of fun activities kids want to learn and do. I will keep you posted how it goes – because after all, while the kids are on summer vacation, I will be running business as usual while organizing all the summer fun for the kids.

Ask me after two months if this was a good idea.

Guest post by Carla Molina Martins

Before I had my daughter in the summer of 2007, I thought that I lived life to the fullest. Her arrival, however, made me realize everything before her was a far cry from living each day to its full potential. Motherhood has put life into focus for me and I’ve taken stock of what I want and how I want to achieve those goals. I now live each and every day with those goals, and my family, in mind.

One of the things I put at the top of my goals is to become a better writer and use that to develop a career I’m passionate about. I wasted no time and started my personal blog, Mama Hearts Baby. Late last year, I had mentioned to a friend some of the goals I had for focusing on the Latina mom market and a few weeks later she approached me about blogging for Latina magazine. I’m now their mommy blogger at The Mami Diaries. I took the end of 2008 to plan my action plan for 2009 and the ball is already rolling for some amazing collaborations with some great Latina bloggers.

In addition to wanting to work with the Latina mom community, I discovered a passion for supporting mompreneurs and signed up for The Mogul Mom’s Helping Out Directory. As a result, I’ve been lucky enough to write press releases for several mom owned business and taken on a few clients to help with them with social media marketing. It’s a great feeling to be able to develop my own skills and help other moms out in the process.

I have a lot to learn and I’m willing to ask the people I look up to for their input. I’m such a curious person that I decided to start a series on my blog called Interviews to Inspire where I talk with someone in social media who I’d like to learn from and I post their interview for all to benefit. It’s my way of giving back to the incredible community of moms who have helped me to realize my vision. My plate is full and I’m glad to have it that way. I’m enhancing my skills and building a solid foundation for the goals I have set for myself.

In my personal life, I love to enjoy life with my family. From a walk in the park to a road trip into NYC. I savor every moment we have together. I make sure that when I’m with family nothing else is on my mind. I value every second and being a parent has made me realize how quickly time flies. I focus on the activities we are doing in the moment. I try not to rush through anything. I plan a lot, which may not seem very fun, but it allows us to enjoy our time together to the max. Enjoying my family gives me a greater drive and appreciation to go after what I’m passionate about.

Motherhood has been the best kick in the pants to get my life started!

Guest post by Carla Molina Martins. Carla, a Jersey girl at heart, is a freelance writer and aspiring social media maven living in the Ocean State. Carla blogs at MamaHeartsBaby and The Mami Diaries for Latina magazine. On her blogs, you’ll find Carla interviewing mompreneurs she admires, writing about parenthood, social media and featuring products and services that make life as a mom a bit more fun and a bit easier. Carla also does social media marketing for small mom focused businesses. When not freelancing, blogging or working at her full-time job, Carla spends her days playing with her husband, daughter, their kitty cat and new bunny rabbit. The family will be adding a new little girl to the clan this Spring!

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