Here are three inspirations to ease you back to post-holiday life! The first one is my trick for getting unstuck when your perfectionist tendencies are running you ragged. 

I never considered myself a perfectionist because

a) I'm more of what you might call a “clutterist”, and

b) I couldn't catch a detail if it sneezed in my face.  

Now, however, I know that perfectionism is why it's taken me a millennium to get out of my own way. I was so busy fearing failure that I encased my feet in cement.

As for me, my husband and I usually take our first step into a store on Christmas Eve morning (which, in itself, feels like a burden). 

However, we don't need to go that far this year because my 14-year-old manifested a cat.

On a drive to the store in October, when he started his cat campaign, I told him that if one were to materialize (as in a carton of free kittens on the corner), I would consider it - if for no other reason than to encourage the manifestation practice.

I’ve been on a deep dive into my inner world for the last few months. I’ve run into sharks and manatees, gasped for air, and nearly drowned, but much is shifting and coming to light.

Much like my clients (and sometimes friends) feel about me, my partner in this crime is the type you love to hate. She roots for me from the bottom of her soul, which means…

I fell off an emotional cliff last weekend—in a fantastic mood one minute, and the next, a loaf on the couch, binging cold-case documentaries on Netflix, eating everything I could get my paws on (nothing exciting as Brian hides all the good stuff).

I’m pretty sure I know what shifted, and it had to do with the part of my ego that hides in corners, biting her nails, thinking I need to stay small, shut up, and know my place.

When I was little, I burnt a black hole in my carpet (hanging a lamp too close while drawing on the floor). We moved the bed over it, and I spent the next several years terrified that a monster lived under there.

I was also afraid of the basement, the dark, dying, being alone, laughed at, found out, looking stupid, Mrs. Finley, making a mistake, people hating me, and most of all, that I was fundamentally unlovable. 

Do you get Hallmark-Channel holidays, where relatives genuinely enjoy, feel safe, are heard, seen, and entertained by one another, and also cook well?  

Let's face it, some people got different blessings in this life, but holidays are hijacked by drunk Uncle Wilbur making an ass of himself.

Perhaps relatives laugh uncomfortably or glue their eyes to the potatoes while a select few scowls from the kitchen. How the day will end out is anybody's guess, but next year, everyone holds their breath and pretends the year before never happened.

I'm just back from dragging my body and mind kicking and screaming on a walking meditation.

I say “dragged” because every cell of me wanted to a) complain, b) go back to bed in defeat, or c) do my endless dance of forcing, efforting, and pushing on my business. 

Here are a few decisions I've made with my mind:

1. Bought a house I couldn't afford.

2. Got a puppy I couldn't take care of.

3. Joined a real estate program to fix and flip houses.

My husband busted me. We were on vacation with friends, and the night before, I'd poked fun at him (or maybe I outright insulted him…?).

I didn't know what he was referring to when he asked why I'd said what I said (If you know me, you know any number of statements could have spread their wings at the foot of my mouth that evening).

I lifted weights at the gym for the first time in ten years, and an hour later, I had a brand-new body… said no one ever.

Everyone knows it takes time and effort to become physically fit. However, if you change your diet and work out, you'll soon notice improved strength, weight loss, and muscle definition.

The other day, I went into an establishment I frequent, and the lovely woman who works there was making idle conversation, telling me about another patron.

“She’s good people,” she said. “She’s like us.”

I heard myself respond, “All people are good people.”

I did a cool thing the other day (which brought up my low parenting score for last week).

When I was in Denver this summer, I met with a new friend, Ted Barrett, who created a communication technique for tense conversations.

He was married for 45 years before his wife passed (she sounded like an unbelievable woman), and together, they developed and used this method in the final five years of their time together (which transformed what sounded like a pretty great marriage to begin with).

I spent the last ten days in silence

Are you intelligent, witty, dependable, loyal, self-sufficient, and confident?

And are you also exhausted, guilt-ridden, anxious, sleepless, self-doubting,

irritated, resentful, and/or burnt out?

Today’s “empowered” woman can cycle through these emotions faster

I spent the last ten days in silence

 (unimaginable, I know).  

There was no communication – no “Imma losing my mind” eye rolls, no feeble attempts at a smile, no victory fist bumps, nada.