January 2015
Hi Wonderful, Fabulous, Beautiful Friend,
It’s hard to believe that 2014 is over! What a year it was! In some sense it seems like it just started, and in another it’s been one of the longest and hardest of my life! I’m just BEING REAL with you! I can’t sugar coat 2014 and what it was.
If you weren’t on my list last year at this time or haven’t perused my blog lately, you can read the post I wrote last December. It was about my mom’s accident and the start of the grueling journey ahead of her. When she left rehab, she came to live with me and my family for 6 months as she continued the long recovery process. It was beautiful, difficult, fun, painful, wonderful and exhausting all at the same time. Just BEING REAL with you! I wouldn’t have had it any other way, but it took its toll on all of us – obviously and decidedly the biggest on my amazing and STRONG mom!
So in the spirit of BEING REAL, as we blessedly and happily jump into 2015 (and wave a warm GOOD BYE to 2014), I’m going to share something special I created to help you start your year out strong! I’m a firm believer in looking back, and forward, with EYES WIDE OPEN and BEING REAL about where we’ve been and what we’ve done. It’s all good. In fact, I believe it’s ALL PERFECT and when we can honor ALL of it, even more blessings flow.
I’m excited about all the great content, useful tips & practical strategies that I have lined out to share as we head into 2015! It’s going to be a phenomenal year!! It started off right as I’ve spent the past weeks with family. My mom was with us for over 2 weeks and all my kids made it home from across the map – New Orleans, Texas and Minneapolis, so my home was filled with great love and gratitude (and good food and laughter, too!) My most sincere and deepest wish is that your 2015 starts off with many blessings as well.
Big love,
P.S. A big, warm welcome to all you new readers!! I appreciate you signing up and I’m so glad you’re here!!
BE REAL About YOUR YEAR!
The most consistent feedback I get regarding my presentations is that I’m ‘real.’ I know there are some speakers that have one persona on stage and another off. Not me. What you see is what you get. The Kim that talks about work/life balance or communication from the platform is the same Kim that coaches executives one-on-one or counsels her kids on how to handle dating difficulties or teachers that don’t listen! You either like my style and are comfortable with ‘hearing it like it is’ or you’d rather have it sugar coated and tied up with a pretty bow. I’m assuming if you’re reading my newsletter, you’re like me and you’d just as soon have it raw and real.
This year has been a toughie for me personally. My mother’s accident is at the very TOP of the list. The huge amount of work that was involved with the sale of 2 houses within 6 weeks of each other (a vacation home we’ve had for more than 15 years and our large 5 bedroom home we downsized from into a house half that size) is close behind. Others that came in succession right after: The death of my beloved mother-in-law and the grief that’s ensued for all of us. And then less emotional but frustrating experiences like significant boat issues (if you know me at all you know my love of the lake and my boat was out of the water for over 3 weeks!!) and a major car accident in which my car was totaled, but thank Goodness and thank God, I wasn’t.
This year has also been full of blessings for me. My mother’s continuing recovery and her daily inspiration. The engagement of one of my daughters to a wonderful man. Safety from an accident that could have been devastating. More speaking engagements than in any previous year. A weekend in a yurt on a mountaintop with my fabulous honey! More bike rides than I can count. A new house we love. The list goes on…
The main thing is that we can’t BE REAL unless we’re looking at all of it – the good, the bad, the ugly…and the beautiful. So this year I created something to help you BE REAL about 2014. I hope they’re tools you’ll use to really focus on what wasn’t so great – and you’re ready to let go of! And what was FABULOUS and you really want to acknowledge and celebrate.
So click here to download two worksheets – one for things you’re ready to LET GO OF from 2014 and one for things you’re ready TO CELEBRATE for 2014. I’ve done something similar to this for the past many, many years and kept them in a file and it’s so fun to go back and look over them. I also find it interesting how so often the things I’m ready to let go of, are also somehow tied into the things I choose to celebrate. (Like the devastation of my mom’s accident and then the inspiration I get from her on a daily basis. And how stressful selling two houses within 6 weeks and downsizing to a space half the size was – and then how happy I am to be in a smaller space that’s absolutely perfect for our family the size it is now!) It’s no joke when they say the ‘sword cuts both ways’ and so often some of the most difficult situations are the ones where we learn the most!
So download these worksheets and take a few minutes to really distinguish what you’re ready to LET GO OF and what you CHOOSE TO CELEBRATE for 2014 as it comes to a close! Then you’ll have a fresh pallet to work from as you head into 2015. And what I’ve got planned for you in 2015 will kick the year off right with creating a vision, a dream and some goals to make the coming year everything you want it to be!
A personal humidifier. I discovered these as I journeyed to find something that I could use when I traveled. I don’t know what it is about hotels – it’s like they suck the moisture right out out of you!! I would wake up with chapped lips, a red face and itchy skin! So I found this little sweety on amazon – and now everyone in my family has one in their room. They’re so much easier to manage than those big bulky humidifiers with a ten gallon tub (well maybe only 1 gallon, but it feels like 10!) If you’re waking up with itchy eyes and a scratchy throat, see if a humidifier might help!
The SLAY YOUR GIANTS Bracelet
The touchstone for Kim’s message! Full of sentiment and love, this bracelet was designed by Kim to share her affirmations of hope and change.
Beautiful smooth white gemstones with a silver swirl charm to represent ‘the endless possibilities for change’. 7.5 – 8 inches in length on stretch cord. This very special bracelet arrives in a white organza bag with a special reminder card enclosed. Perfect for that special occasion gift or to wear yourself as a powerful reminder of all the possibilities that life offers. CLICK HERE to order yours now!
Copyright ©2015 Kim Hodous Speaks, LLC, All rights reserved.