Here I am November 9th and I just noticed that I hadn’t posted since July!  Okay so the plan I made two years ago – completely out the window. 

I could give you 101 excuses why I left my blog silent and alone for over 4 months.  In fact, that in itself could be a fairly lengthy blog post.  I could tell you that work has been crazy, that family has been crazy, that I -have even gone a little crazy.  And to be honest, each of these in one way or another would be the truth. 

But they would simply be excuses, and for those of you who are still taking the time to read my posts, well you deserve a little more than excuses.

So how about this?  I’m sorry. 

Simple right? Two words oppose to the list of 101 excuses.  Whether you choose to accept my apology is up to you.  I have absolutely no control over that.  But, I do have control over how I frame that apology and what I choose to do moving forward. 

I could beef up that apology with a whole lot of fluffy nothing.  But sometimes, in my opinion a simple, genuine to the point “I’m sorry” is all that’s needed.  Because it’s what you do afterwards that really counts.

So having said that, am I going to start writing articles every week again?  Well, no.  If I promised that in 6 months I’d be back here apologizing again.  It would only show you that I really didn’t learn much. That I didn’t take the time to reflect on what went wrong and make the necessary adjustments to correct them.

I made a commitment 2 years ago to write every week.  A commitment that I knew may work out for a while, but may fall short somewhere down the line.  Even knowing this, I still made that commitment.  That was the mistake.

So here’s how I plan to rectify the situation.  I commit, to not committing.  You’re probably thinking “that’s just a big cop out.”   Well you’re entitled to your thoughts.  The bottomline is I just can’t commit to writing a blog post every week.  I can’t even commit to writing a blog post every month. 

All I really can commit to is writing at some point.  This expectation I know I can meet right now.  I’m not saying it’s going to be another 4 months before I write again, I’m also not saying it isn’t going to be another 4 months. 

What I am saying is that I will write when I feel like it, not when I feel like I HAVE to.   It doesn’t do you any good to throw up some useless crap because a month has gone by and my guilty conscious is yelling at me. We all get far too much useless crap come our way, I don’t’ want to join in on that. So here’s the deal… When I have something of value to share, I will I promise.  That is what I am committing to.  This is the expectation I am holding myself too.  A realistic expectation at this point in my life. 

I hope you’ll still be here on those occasions when I have something to say.  Cause when I do, I think you’ll find it worth reading!!!

These all important people in your life and mine are the people we turn to for advice, approval and as a sounding board. They form a very diverse group from family, close friends and business colleagues, whose opinion we value and respect. I know mine would be a very lonely, desolate world without these special people in my life.

Just think if you didn’t have someone to turn to, to offer solace in trying times or to go wild with you and celebrate the big and little achievements in our lives. Someone who understands when you just need to vent about some small trivial occurrence that even you are going to laugh about latter, or who is there to console you when the bigger tragedies in life happen. It is important to have these people in our life who are our biggest cheerleaders and genuinely celebrate our achievements with us and wish us the best.  These people give our lives substance and value. They are who keep us grounded and resilient; better able to face whatever comes our way in life.

If we are lucky we have more than one person to fill these giant shoes. Our special relationships are with people we have known our whole lives, like our parents and siblings; or friends we have made along the way from grade school to a kid who lived down the road who we have shared our growing up years; to people whom we share mutual interests with and have built a strong bond between. Some who understand us on a personal level, some who understand us on a professional level and often if we are really lucky, some special someone who understands us on a deeper spiritual level, a soul mate.  Eerily enough it feels like these special people practically share our thoughts before we have even put them to words. That is a very special bond.

Thanking and recognizing these special people in our lives is very important. Little gestures are just as important as grand gestures. Feeling and knowing they are valued and appreciated is all that is really required and there are many, many ways to do that, as individual as the relationship.

Be they close friend, family or valued business colleague I know I  would be lost without them in my life as they  help make it rich and full; saving my sanity when the world just gets too crazy to handle. Their help and support comes in the form of giving advice, being a sounding board, mentorship, a shoulder to cry on, a babysitting service, faithful companion on wild girls night out; anything I need to overcome challenges or celebrate successes!

Be sure to celebrate the important people in your life and let them know what a huge difference they make and how much you appreciate their support and friendship in your life.

A big thank you to all the special people in my life!

 So… here we are the year 2011!  What are your plans for this year?

 Let me tell you what 2011 represents to me — doing all the things I’ve always wanted to do but never had the time, courage or money to pull it off.   Yep, I guess we could call it working on my “Bucket List”. 

The Bucket List contains all those things that you have the upmost desire to do and experience before…well you’re around to do them anymore.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in a subtle way letting you know that I’m on death’s door.  Not even close, I’ve simply started realizing that there is so much more to experience out there and up until this point I have continually made excuses for not doing them. 

For instance, for those of you who know me well, you probably know I love to write.  But did you know that writing a fiction novel is at the top of my bucket list?  One of those things I dream of doing.   Yes, I’ve written books, which I am very proud of, but they are books that I’ve written drawing from my professional experience.  They are not books that I have written based solely on my imagination.  

Trust me, I am no JK Rowling, but I do have a story in me and this is the year that I plan to hone in on that story.   Of course I don’t want to walk into this blindly, so I’m taking a few writing courses to help me through the process.  Another item on my bucket list. 

 Two down, another 20 or so to go.  I know I most likely will not get through the list this year, but what’s important for me is I’m finally taking the steps to “tick” a few off that list. 

And what a better time to start than 2011.   Why not join me?

I absolutely love this quote and the book itself is a classic.  Every year I make a point of never missing the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas when it comes on TV. Not just because I’m a huge Dr. Seuss fan, but because it seriously helps put things in perspective for me.

Christmas shopping for me can sometimes become a little frustrating. Finding just the perfect gift for all the people on my list can become more like a military mission than an act of giving.  So, you see how the Grinch has the ability to give me the reality check that I need during this holiday season.

I’m not sure when my attitude shifted from “it isn’t the present that counts but the thought” to “that gift will never do”.  But somewhere along the line, it did and every year it’s a same thing, walking through stores, having the perfect idea for a gift, only to 2nd guess it when it’s in my hand.  Put it back on the shelf and then having to start from scratch again, because it “just won’t do”.

That’s why I love the Grinch. I figure if “that cuddly as a cactus and as charming as an eel” Mr. Grinch can figure it all out…well there is definitely hope for me each year.

So, his treasured story is the “check in” that I need each year, the reminder that “Christmas perhaps, means a little bit more.”   

Have a safe and happy holiday season!

“Seriously it takes this long to cash a few items out?” I would mutter under my breath.  “OMG this cashier is so slow.”  This was not an uncommon attitude I would have, like I said patience is not a virtue of mine.

There was a situation that changed all of this for me.  Recently I was doing some shopping at our local “big box” store, trying to make a dent in my overflowing christmas list.  I was in line and again it was about 8 people deep and the cashier was slowly swiping things through, she wasn’t even cracking a smile, in fact she look absolutely miserable and obviously “service with a smile” was not on her agenda.

“Geez, you think maybe she can be a little more customer oriented…unbelievable.” I said to my mother who was waiting in line with me.  Clicking my heels, sighing and looking at my watch.

The line was getting shorter, and when I was about two people from the cashier, something happened. Apparently this cashier had made an error and the person she had made the error with was not impressed at all.

“What is the problem, how hard is it to punch a few numbers, I’ve been waiting in line for 40 minutes now.” the angry customer yelled, of course to ensure that the rest of us heard him.  Every one nodded in agreement, myself included.

I watched as the cashier’s eyes started welling up with tears, of course she quickly turned her back and started trying to fix the problem.  Where I was standing I could see just the corner of her face and thought to myself “What you’re going to cry now…okay girl, get a grip, this is what being in customer service is all about”. 

The problem was solved and the cashier composed herself and away she went cashing us all out.  When it was my turn, again “no service with a smile” and I grabbed my bags, and uttered some comment about “the awful customer service, and boy I’d be out of business real quick if I treated my customers like this” and went on my merry way. 

Not far from the cashier I bumped into an acquaintance of mine who worked at the store and we began talking. 

“You may really want to get a friendlier cashier, she was absolutely horrible. She kept us in line for over 40 minutes, apparently had no clue what she was doing.”  I said, on my soap box. 

“Who, Gillian?” my acquaintance answered.  “Oh, yes, well Gillian had bad news just before her shift started, her grandfather passed away this morning and apparently they were very close.”  she said. “We had no one else to cover and well Gillian went ahead with her shift, she’s actually a very hard worker, one of our more reliable cashiers.”  she went on.

Okay, so you can imagine, I felt like a total heel. Less than a heel.  I felt like stuff, stuck to that heel. 

Here I was complaining about the “service with a smile”, up on my soap box looking down judging this poor girl, thinking she was just lazy, unmotivated…and she had just lost someone very dear to her.

It was a lesson I needed to learn.  How many times had I been impatient and in fact sometimes just downright rude because my time was so much more valuables then everyone else’s?   It was like a smack to the forehead…one that I needed. 

How dare I presume to know anything about anyone.  How dare I judge other’s without fully comprehending what may be going on with them. 

So, a few weeks later I went to that big box store, and Gillian was on cash, her mood was lifted and she really does have a fabulous smile.  Again I was 5 people deep.

I waited patiently…. and thanked her for the great service.