Hey Guys!

Last week was super exciting! I got to spend time with my little brother (LOL) back east and I also celebrated my 30th high school reunion. And can I tell you I had mixed emotions about seeing that number 30?

Whaaaaa…? Has that much time really gone by? Yep, it has.

At first, I was super apprehensive about going back. I hadn’t really maintained consistent contact with my friends from that time in my life.

Will they remember me?  

What will they think of me?

Will they pre-judge me?  

You know - all the stupid, unnecessary crap that goes through all of our brains. And then the thought about how much time as gone by.

30 friggin years!

It’s funny how we experience life:

We can be grateful to be alive and at the same time resent aging.

We can feel unsatisfied by our work, and yet be complacent about making changes.

We have to wonder what we are telling ourselves. What thoughts are interpreting our experiences?

Last week I wrote about a challenge I was having with my business and how I was interpreting it. If you caught it, you heard me say that as I changed my thoughts about the situation, my experience changed. It’s true!

AND I am doing it again right now….

At the end of next week, I’m leaving for a trip abroad. First I’ll land in Frankfurt, Germany and then onto Romania, Amsterdam, Birmingham, and finally London before I head back home to Denver via Washington DC. Before you start drooling, think about this: It’s a business trip and I’m doing this in 8 days.

Gives you a whole different outlook, right? Yeah, I will be busy, but since I love what I do, it won’t feel like work.

Instead of thinking:

“Geez, this schedule is cray-cray. How am I going to do this?”

“I have so friggin much to do. Ugh. I’m going to have a hard time catching up when I get home.”

I’ll be thinking:

“I am so excited to be connecting with my teams abroad.”

“I’m so lucky that I have an international business in so many different markets that allows to me to see the world from different perspectives.”

“I’m so lucky I have friends across the globe now.”

“I’m so grateful for every experience I am having."

Depending on the kinds of thoughts we have, our experiences can feel real even when they are not. I consciously create my experiences with my thoughts because life is too precious to waste even a minute being angry, disappointed, or making up things in my mind that don’t really exist.

So, the next time you’re facing a situation that brings up feelings, check in. Are you making it mean something about you? Pay attention to your thoughts.

XO,

Hayley