Live Aloha

My work place tends to get a bit stressful. It's not uncommon to work over 50 hours in a week, plus I have an hour drive to/from the office. Put on top of that trying to make time to work out, be a mom, be a wife, plan meals, plus all of the things I want to do like make curtains for our home, paint Mary's room and plan her birthday party...Often I feel that I am so busy trying to keep up with the have-to-do list, I never get to the wish-list.

I have a sign outside my office that says "Live Aloha" - In the midst of my mid-west, corporate life, I feel so far away from my favorite beach in Ventura, CA, at the end of Spinnaker Dr. where the canoes are kept. Where Brian and I met, we got married across the street and I even walked around there when I was in labor with Mary. I close my eyes and I can see myself walking to the canoes, friends getting the gear ready and always (no, really, always) welcoming with a smile. We paddle out and are six-as-one, a team, while it is a workout, it is a rhythmic mediation. This is my 'Ohana, this is Living Aloha.

I open my eyes and I am back in my grey and blue walls - BUT I have a picture of Brian and me next to the canoes, our wedding in the harbor, sitting by the jetty with Izzy and Eddie, and sweet picture of baby Mary by the pier right before we moved.


*Smile*

All of these things are reminders, even though I truly feel we are better off in Chicago, I miss our other home. As I write this, I have notifications popping up at the bottom of my screen of clients emails adding to my to-do list and trying to pull me back from my fantasy. When it all starts to get a little crazy, if clients get tense and I start hearing my heartbeat in my eardrums, I take it as a cue…Breathe deep. Live Aloha. Living there, experiencing this has made me better in my days today.

Aloha.