Circling Back Around

In many ways this week revolved around the above image, my inner child – still caught somewhere in dreamland between childhood and young adulthood, sparkly, excited about everything, full of dreams and limitless possibility. My father recently came across this old picture of me while cleaning his office. It was in slide format, which made me scratch my head – where could I get a print of this made? I found my way to a traditional photo shop – remember those? There was something I absolutely loved about what was captured in that image – I loved that version of me. I wanted to hold onto her, to have something tangible to stand as testament that she existed, that some part of her remained, alive and well and still pulsated through my being. But did she?I parlayed it into a little TBT (Throwback Thursday) fun on Facebook and received a huge response. Interesting. It must speak to others as well, transporting them back to their long forgotten selves. These images of our youth tap into something within each of us, Aaah, deep sigh - they are our placeholders, our reminders of our often forgotten selves. What did you want to be when you grew up? Do you remember? What stopped you?Underneath all those layers of years, life events, and all that the world told us we had to be – we still remain, a faint flicker.So much has been written and probably will continue to be, about what we would say to our adolescent selves if we could go back in time. It’s more like, Man, where would I start, with all this hindsight?! But the real reason I love this topic / question so much, has nothing to do with regrets or mistakes, and everything to do with moving ahead, carrying forward a little bit of that fairy dust mojo.One of my favorite things to do now is to speak with young women who are about to go out into the world. In the same way that I talk to my 14-year old son about college and his future – I tell them to pursue what they love. Follow the feeling first. Do what you are passionate about. This past Friday, I had the privilege of speaking with 3 high school classes, a true joy. In prepping for my speech I realized, these kids inspire me as much as I hold the intention to empower them. It is a full circle healing. My next realization came in the form of listening to my speech on video afterwards: these are Universal truths. While this advice was initially intended for youth, it stands as a Post-It note to self, one that could be placed on our refrigerators – a daily touchstone to remember who we are.A little take-away:• TRUST YOURSELF – trust your gut, your inner voice, your power – you are more powerful than you allow yourself to be.• GET CLEAR about what lights your fire, what are you passionate about.• BLOCK OUT THE NOISE. Circumstances are only perceived obstacles. Don’t fall prey to limiting beliefs in the form of excuses.• BE RESILIENT. If you fall, dust off, get back up and carry on.• DO WHAT YOU LOVE. Because if you don’t, your heart will send up smoke signals for the rest of your life.• HONOR YOURSELF. Every single person is born with a passion, a purpose and has something to contribute to the world.• REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. Hold onto your dreams and the sparkle of your youth.• THE REAL EQUATION. Passion + action, sprinkled with a little faith = an unstoppable YOU.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”~Confucius