...the BEST is yet to come!

So another Christmas has come and gone. I think a lot of people feel a little bummed after all the planning and the hype, and excitement. Then bam, it's done and you feel sad. Nothing left but the clean up. But this year, for me, I don't feel that. It's different for me for some reason.


This time last year my life was VERY very different. I had a job that I thought was secure. I had a relationship, was in the process of falling in love and I thought that was secure too. My parents were both working and living on the farm. My bills were paid , my life was orderly and i was happy.


Then January came and most of that changed. I lost my job. Laid off thanks to the economy. Apparently when the money is bad the marketing department is the first to get laid off. My relationship changed... and for the most part ended. Tho i would allow it to drag on for another 4 months, I think i knew in my heart he was lying to me and instead of going forward with his divorce and some sort of thing with me, he was starting to think about getting back together with his wife. Which is exactly what happened when I finally pulled the plug in April.


My dad scheduled his knee surgery and was told he would be forced to retire in September of 2010 so my parents rented an apartment around the corner from me in the same building. With no money coming in other then unemployment, i was struggling to even put food on the table. it was a bad month, to say the least.


Then i started working with a life coach who began to point me in the right directions. I started writing my book, which will be published and available for sale before or on my birthday in October of 2011. I developed new friendships, reconnected with old ones and started dating again. Found some fun and some great sex and even better guys then the one I was leaving behind and that helped me move forward and get over him...for the most part.


I love having my parents live so close and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them. Dad seems to be enjoying retirement but seems to be ready to get something part time soon. I've started studying to be a life/business coach myself and look forward to finishing that up and moving forward with that new challenge.


And so as this January roles around, and I put Christmas behind me again, I find an excitement for what's to come. Not a sadness at a another year gone by, but pride at what I have been able to accomplish. I've learned that change is good and freeing and healthy! I have an undeniable sense that the best is yet to come and it's just waiting for me to find it. And find it I will.


So bring on 2011... it's gonna be fantastic!

A little change is good... a lot of change is Fan-friggin-tastic!

“The key to change... is to let go of fear.”~Rosanne Cash


Soooo I changed the blog background etc. You likey? Time to try on something new. It doesn't make my butt look big does it? My old set up was messing up the videos and had a lot of empty space so I wanted to widen things up.


Also, on Wednesday... you ready for this? I am buying my domain name for the book website! WOOHOO!!! I spent some time doing research this weekend and found the webhost AND my domain name is available. I will be going DOT COM baby!!! Very exciting!


This of course means that I have to stick with the name of the book I have chosen which is so friggin final but okay too. I haven't thought about calling it anything else in the past 9 months so I guess the name will stick.


Now I have to decide if I should move everything over to the dot-com site or keep it totally separate for the book. That's a whole other decision I am not prepared to make right now LOL. God forbid I over tax myself.


I am also going to buy staceygatescharter.com as well. Not sure what I am doing with that one yet. And in case you were wondering, umm no, I did not win the lottery. My webhost (as most web hosts are) is extremely affordable. Like, $3.50 a month affordable. which is what...$42.00 bucks a year. Or $84.00 a year for both sites. It will be my Christmas present to myself! I am going with one of the top 10 web hosts available and am very excited! I will tell more about the host and the domain name once the deal is done... Promise!


Hey what can I say I'm Irish and don't want to jinx anything. We are a superstitious group.


That means I will have 2 websites, this blog (if i don't convert it over), my personal Facebook page and my Spread the Positivity Now Facebook page. WHEW!!  It also means this weekend coming up will be full of website design and writing. Which is a great thing since I will be heading to the beach from Friday thru Monday. Then with a little luck I will also be at the beach for the weekend after Thanksgiving as well.


So the times, they are a changin' and it's a wonderful thing!!


“Change is the essence of life.Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.” ~Unknown


...and that quote just about says it all, doesn't it?

THIS IS ME DAMN IT!!!

"There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout:
This is me damn it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel
the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package. Take
me... or leave me. Accept me - or walk away! Do not try to make me feel
like less of a person, just because I don't fit your idea of who I
should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold.

If I need to change, I alone will make that decision.
When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad - you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.”

It's hard to believe i wrote this quote over 10 years ago. For some reason, over the past 2 weeks this one's been popping up on the inter-web (as my dad and friend Kent like to call it) a lot and i am hearing from some folks who really feel the words. So this one ...ahh the memories. It kind of speaks for itself but I will give a brief history on it. I was seeing a guy at the time who was a bit domineering. One of those types of men who like you in the beginning but want you to change as the relationship progresses.A common relationship mistake that many of us make. Not just men, but women too. Probably woman more then men if you were to look at the statistics. Needless to say, around the time i wrote this quote i was also realizing things weren't working out with this particular guy. NEXT...

To me there's nothing wrong with growing and changing together. But why expect someone to change who they are at their core , when the reason you got involved with them in the first place was because of who they were and are.

Whether a person is single, married or somewhere in between the bottom line is this... If you can't and don't love yourself, no one else will be able too. Part of loving yourself is the self realization that yep, here i am... good, bad and ME! If changes are needed within ourselves we are the ones that have to make that call. Don't tell me to change and realize, if change is needed, I am a strong enough person to handle making that decision for myself.

Embrace who you are, how you look,what you feel! No one is perfect and really, that's what makes us who we are. All our little idiosyncrasies and differences make us individuals. Love that about yourself and don't except anything less from the people you have in your life. ~Stacey