Vent Sesh: Everything You Can Imagine

Sometimes the world can move so fast that you have to take a step back and look around to marvel at our blessings and achievements. It’s my single biggest tip I give to friends getting married. Stop, breathe, look around and soak in the love that surrounds you.

It’s really phenomenal if you think about it.

It’s something we should do more often. Stop. Look around and appreciate. Not only in the biggest moments but perhaps everything from the mundane to milestones.

This year in general has been a big one for me. This month (August) marks another major milestone. Five years ago with no job and no next steps, I started two businesses: my PR company (new site in the works!) & The Average Girl’s Guide. I started both in a home we no longer live in, with a six month old, and with challenged health, as well a desire to be working, and to connect with women. That’s it. It’s that simple.

Some days I can have “woe is me” moments.  We can often be our own worst enemy. But we have the power to be our biggest advocate. We are capable of the incredible, of the beyond-our-comprehension big things. We can do anything. We have to believe it, and then start making a plan to make it happen.

Despite my every so often frustration of not having big-time blogger success like some others who started when I did or later, this little blog has changed my life in such amazing ways, and hopefully, improved at least a few of yours as well. Whether it was from a Vent Sesh or a new item in your closet that makes you feel beautiful, I started this site because I am passionate about helping other women live their best lives, to connect with other women and to create honest, meaningful dialogues. I feel so proud about the impact this little place on the Internet has had.

Plus, selfishly guys, an exciting offshoot of TAGG is my sense of style (my 2004 American Eagle fanatic self who only wore blue and stripes would be hysterical over my leopard, pink, and scalloped love affair!). I mean the fact that people sometimes ask me for style advice… #pinchme.

I know a lot of us can find ourselves in situations where you don’t know what to do next. And, even just a few weeks ago I wrote about how I was struggling in  a million little ways. But, if you push yourself to do what you were destined for, the world is possible. We need to work through obstacles, for sure, but it’s possible.

I’m proud of this space, for the work we accomplish daily at my PR company, and for what I give back to the community.

Yes, some of us might get a great break along the way, have an awesome connection or who knows what, but ultimately it’s our abilities that keep the spotlight shining.

What if five years ago I milked it? What if I let my husband work while I continued with my physical therapy, writing every few weeks on a blog when I felt like it, and just let time pass? It’s so easy to do. Time flies!  It’s so easy to run to Target, to grocery shopping, help kids with homework, order necessities on Amazon and fill our days with the tasks that have to get done. It can feel like you have time for nothing else. Seriously, I’m there every week still. Yet, you have time.

Make time for what’s important. Shift, focus, prioritize advocate for you.

Swear to god I never envisioned ANY of this for myself. I’m the first one to say it. I’m not tech savvy and I never planned on being an entrepreneur. My health was shit and I look back and have no freaking clue how this happened. But then I do. I’m driven as hell. I don’t do half.

Some days I’m exhausted and need a break (hence my August blog slowdown) but I vividly remember making ultra lame business cards at Kinko’s for my first business meeting, writing daily on a blog and just putting my heart out there for two businesses I believed in. Looking back, it didn’t feel like work. It felt exciting and exhilarating.

If you’re not feeling that today where you want to be, you don’t need to make a crazy change. I was thrust into it but it’s not always realistic. Think now what small bite can you take, what step can you make, to put yourself in the direction that five years from now you’ll marvel at the person you’re becoming and the impact you’re making?