All is fair in love and dating.

“You can’t know who might cross your path or who will take your breath away. You can’t know what friends might actually become sisters because they stayed by your side. You can’t know when there’ll be an unexpected detour that’ll take you to the place where you were always meant to be.”

I am thoroughly convinced that there are some people in this world who we are just meant to be friends with. Something magical happens in the moment that you meet and it strikes a chord across time and space that I think makes the universe smile. And it doesn’t matter if you met the person two weeks or two months or two years ago…or if you’re in the same city or miles apart…because somewhere along the way, when no one was looking, you became not just friends, but family. The kind of family that when the chips are down, reminds you what’s REALLY important. The kind of family that makes you laugh until you cry…and allows you to cry until you laugh. If you are one of the lucky ones like me to have found your “people”…your “wolfpack”…your “crew”…allow me to remind you that friendship is ALWAYS worth the time, the risk, the sleepless nights, the hour long conversations when you are exhausted but loyalty won’t allow you to say goodbye til your CONVINCED the friend with the broken wing has remembered how to fly.

Realize that some moments are WORTH staying up late and missing out on sleep for. Some messes are WORTH overlooking. Some roadtrips DO need to be taken, right then and there, without hesitation. Some dances DO need to be danced…. Some memories are worth sacrificing sensibility for. In ten years, you’re not going to remember that time you got in trouble with your boss for calling in sick for three days in a row…but you WILL remember that spontaneous road trip to the  Bahamas when you just got up and went with your best friend by your side.

Because that’s what friendship is all about, you know? The pulling and pushing and challenging and healing and feeling and loving and crying and laughing and dancing.

And you know what? I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A friend of mine told me recently that I made healthy living seem “attainable.”

That’s cause it is. It just takes some work. I’m not perfect. I’d rather stay in bed than get up at 530a to workout. I’d rather enjoy a glass of wine from my couch than go work out after work but here’s the thing, if I want to reach my goals, I’ve gotta MOVE.

Motivation. Dedication. You know, all that mumbo jumbo. It’s a lifestyle.

What’s kicked my arse into gear this time as opposed to the million of other times?

I A. don’t want to seem like a slacker. B. healthy feels much better than unhealthy. C. I plan to be kickin’ it for a long time. D. Swimsuit season is coming up ASAP!!!!

But really, for me, I’m doing it for myself. But motivation doesn’t get your butt on the treadmill now does it?

No sirree.

But summertime and swim suit season certainly does!!  I’m dreading it already a little . Somehow this has never been one of the happiest moments in my life. Why don’t I ever remember to buy bathing suits toward the end of the summer or fall, when I look best, with a nice tan and without the excess weight I gained over the winter, all healthy after eating lots of raw food, fresh veggies and fruit? But no, I go when I actually need a bathing suit, in the spring, looking pale and overworked—how silly is that?

So I end up trying on bathing suit after bathing suit, and none of them really look good and that so honest friend that is shopping with you … thank God for her simply says…

“We can do better than that.”

And that ladies and gents is my motto … for motivation  “we can do better than that” Andddd that has since been my motto for many things in life. It is a very wise sentence, if you come to think about it, so true in many situations. Don’t just buy something, just to buy something. Don’t just say something, just to say something. Don’t just do something, just to do something. If you think you can do better, then do better.

“My story is one of following your heart…even at the risk of having it all wrong & failing…fail forward.”

The really interesting thing about this beautiful, magical journey I am on is that sometimes our greatest hits come on the flip side of our most monumental failures. The start of this year I have had some major flops that have taken place, not only in the relationship department but as well in the small business I have taken on. But you know that’s okay. So what, that guy didn’t see my potential and turned me into a crazy person, so what if that one client said no to me in what I was selling there will be another. It’s all in how you look at it. These failures have made me look on to the big hits that have been created. The guy that broke my heart has taught me more than I would have ever known sitting on the sidelines, and his rejection brought me closer to many people in my writing and relating with my story. The rejection in my business is making me stronger and pushing me harder. The best thing about failure is that it proves we are human, and evolving, and works in progress. I feel none of us have truly “arrived.” And the moment we start to really think we have, life usually hands us a reality check – and lets us keep the CHANGE (whether we want to or not).

Anyone can play it safe so as not to face their harshest critics. But I am going to try to be willing to put myself out there and be quirky, and silly, and spontaneous, and even completely foolish at times, without fear – those are the ones that earn an award much greater. I might not get it right every time – but I know I bravely get it wrong with the knowledge that you can’t WIN big unless you’re willing to FAIL big.