Heck, if there is only just one person who is interested in reading about my life, then by all means let me continue to write about my adventures (my ego voice proclaims :-) There is a narcissistic trait in all of us (ja,ja,ja), even when it is mixed with an ultimate more altruistic motive - to share my experiment on living an extraordinary life and perhaps along the way inspire others to do so. So below is an overdue entry.
This last Christmas, my husband Antonio and I went hiking in Patagonia, which has always been one of Antonio’s dream destinations. I am so grateful that we managed to pull it together, considering that we threw together the plan less than 10 days before the start of our vacation. It was an amazing trip and I am still in awe of having seen one of the most beautiful sights in my life - Perito Moreno glacier. Completely surreal and pictures don’t do it justice. So if you have a chance, go and see it. Better, do an ice trek on it.
This reminds me how fortunate I am. So let me take the time to write my gratitude list for 2008. By the way, it´s one of the most powerful tools that you can do to change your life and I would encourage this practice to anyone. Once each day, say 5 things for which you are grateful in the previous 24 hours.
"Gratitude is the most passionate transformative force in the cosmos. If you give thanks for five gifts every day, in two months you may not look at your life in the same way as you might now." —Sarah Ban Breathnach
2008 blessings
• Completing my CTI Coaching Training and finding one of my vocations
• Working in my field and being exposed to great speakers on human performance
• Having the courage to turn down a promotion and not settle
• Learning so much about who I am as a leader in 6 months at Orange
• Managing a team, taking risks, making mistakes and striving to be a good boss
• Mentoring someone and seeing her shine
• Being laid off
• The words and support of my team and coworkers who rallied behind me
• Leaving with my values and spirit intact - continuing to believe and being passionate about what I do
• Taking part of ProjectMichelle and an incredible community grass root effort to save lives
• Being with Michelle during her transplant/recovery and forgetting the minutiae drama of my life to be there for someone
• Having a supportive husband who did not mind being left "behind", "wifeless"
• Receiving all the emails from friends in Spain while I was in the US
• Having 2 precious sabbatical months with no other identity than simply being a sister and daughter again
• Converting myself from a junk food junkie to a juicing fanatic (thanks Mom!) and anti-cancer food amateur nutritionist
• Stopping my diet coke addiction
• Discovering chirunning and achieving my lifelong dream of running a marathon
• Hiking in Patagonia and standing in awe at the beauty of Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina, one of nature’s wonders.
• Climbing Kilimanjaro, this time with my hubby
• Ice climbing for the first time in Patagonia
• Receiving the gift of Michelle’s illness: facing the possibility of death as a reminder to live life more fully
• Seeing history being made and sharing with fellow Americans and people around the world the hope of a nation for a better future, "Yes, we can!"
above, standing on Africa´s highest point
left, my attempt at ice-climbing in one of Patagonia´s glacier
2008 was a breakthrough year in many ways, even though at times, it was not clear how it would make sense. This reminds of what Steve Job said in his famous 2005 speech at Stanford: "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever."
