When I was 16, I decided to leave my small hometown of Beaverton, Oregon, where I’d lived since birth, to go overseas and study in New Zealand. I have no idea how I made this decision, or why I wanted to leave home, but the idea quickly got legs and before I knew...
“C’mon Dad, it will be fun!” My oldest daughter Bailey kept saying that to me, but I couldn’t get past the feeling I was going to throw up. Two summers ago I was about to turn fifty and wanted to do something I had never done before. Bailey thought that skydiving...
How could this happen to me? How could I develop an autoimmune disease at the age of 36? This was not supposed to happen. Not to someone in their 30s, not to someone who had dedicated their life to health, wellness and fitness. Not to a microbiologist turned personal...
"Creative thinking inspires ideas. Ideas inspire change." - Barbara Januszkiewicz I grew up like every other teenager of the 80’s and 90’s - watching MTV. I was obsessed with Madonna, moshed my teen spirit with Nirvana, then entered the dark side of pop with Nine Inch...
“You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the universe, deserve your love and affection” – Buddha...
“I didn’t know where I was going until I got there.” When we were kids, life was so fun and fresh. Maybe it's because we dived straight into adventure. Because we didn't think of success or failure in the way we think now. I've always been passionate about creativity....
The cold office wall held me upright as my breakfast teased the back of my throat. All I could do was focus on my breathing. My boss had booked me to coach a workshop for corporate professionals. She believed I could do it, yet my self-belief had quickly dissolved two...
“It’s OKAY to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave.” – Mandy Hale I am a 46-year old mother of three girls and I am terrified of heights. I tend to get queasy by the third step on a ladder. I am also really adventurous and...
I was always an obese kid. One that would eat and drink the same things as my friends, but gain 10 lbs while they somehow stayed young and slim. Things were this way for many years, then one day I’d finally had enough - I was going to start eating healthy and lose...
I’ve always been a very anxious person–easily overwhelmed and stressed; consumed by worry; overly sensitive; and prone to outbursts and panic attacks. And I’ve always been extremely sloppy and disorganized–constantly losing and misplacing things; a bedroom floor made...
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.” ― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird Every year when my mother’s birthday rolls around I visit the same story in my...
“When you’re in your head, you’re dead.” - Tony Robbins I love this quote from Tony Robbins because I can directly relate to it. There have been times in my life when I’ve been so in my head that the best parts of me were dead. I was taken over by my negative mind...