HERE ARE 2 THINGS I KNOW FOR SURE: 1.) YOU WERE BORN TO SHARE YOUR GIFTS WITH THE WORLD IN YOUR UNIQUE WAY (WITH YOUR OWN SPECIAL SAUCE), AND 2.) IF YOU IGNORE #1, THE UNIVERSE WILL COME KNOCKING.
Heed the call, ‘cause hell hath no fury like A Universe scorned! Trust me, I know!
It was through my own wake up call that I realized what is possible when we align with who we were meant to be. It is why I am so passionate about inspiring others to tap into their best selves.
But let’s roll it back a minute.
I had been sleepwalking for a long time. Things had been ‘fine’ — it all looked good on the outside, but life wasn’t truly vibrant nor passionate. The busyness of my life set on autopilot left me flat, disconnected and lost.
One day, it all came crashing down in a BIG way. Time to wake up. Time to reclaim all the pieces and parts of my life, to assemble them into meaning and to finally rescript a new story.
We all fall (and I’m here to say that we will continue to fall until we recognize what is really going on). I have been through it all — heartbreak, deceit, anger, fear, shame, finger-pointing. But I tired of my victim bootstraps and yearned to find a way out.
Here’s the scoop:
IT ALL STARTED HERE: Grew up in the carefree suburbs of Long Island catching fireflies and playing kickball.
15 YEARS OLD: Departed the sedate suburbs for the seduction of Paris, after being discovered by a top modeling agency in NYC. Thrust into the juggling of a crazy career, studies and adolescence, while appearing in magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar and dodging the advances of a sleazy agent. (Yeah, not so glamorous).
KEEPING IT REAL: Quit modeling, got a ‘real’ job and went back to college.
OOPS I DID IT AGAIN: Married a Wall Street Wonder Boy. I thought I was beginning the ‘stability’ phase of my life. A fairy tale wedding ensued — a fairy tale about to go terribly awry.
GETTING DOWN TO BIZ: Started my own business management company.
BECAME A MOMMA: 18 months after fairy tale wedding, I stepped into my greatest life role with the birth of my son (and REALLY fell in love).
CAP & GOWN: Graduated Fordham University summa cum laude, with a toddler on my hip.
LOST IT ALL: 2½ years later, Wonder Boy is carted away in handcuffs from his Madison Avenue office by federal agents. Lost everything — husband, home, money, stability. (Bye bye Happy Ever After)
REALITY CHECK: Moved back to Long Island to live with my parents in my childhood room with my little boy. (Now that’s keeping it real!)
TIME TO RESCRIPT: After finding myself in a you-know-what storm, I took one step in the direction of rebuilding an authentic life. (It was an idea whose time had finally come).
I always laugh that my path to healing was anything BUT linear. That said, it begins somewhere — with one wish, one prayer or one intention set free.
Even if you don’t know where to start — I didn’t either. I read books, attended lectures and workshops, listened to audios, lit candles, drank green juices, meditated, bought crystals, went to psychics and healers, burned sage (I think you get the picture). Whatever it is for you — move towards it. Open yourself to healing. Find your tribe. Find yourself and never stop. This is the space where possibility is born.
I’ve learned that there is a modality — a path — to create authentic personal shift.
And I didn’t need to look far to begin — it starts with getting real with self. It’s how I came back to life, it’s what lights me up, it’s what I’m building my life’s work around…helping others claim their mojo. It’s how I found my way home.
And so can you.
There’s no place like home. Click your own heels, Dorothy.
The most delicious part of Kristen’s work is her ability to call forth our own inner warrior, the spirit that lives within us, that knows no limits. She summons it forward as if to say, ‘Wake up Silly, you are ON; what are you waiting for?’
~ Lysa Ingalsbe, RN, Certified Health Coach