one is(n't) the loneliest number.

I used to hate doing things by myself. I’m really good at it. BUT...I hated it. For us only children, figuring out how to have fun being alone is a requirement for survival. A wild imagination was one of my most used tools... But, I always wanted a sibling. A twin to be exact. Someone I shared a deep unbreakable bond with. Someone who I could communicate with without speaking, someone who would know what I was thinking and feeling before I did. I did not want to be going on all my adventures alone. And, I still don’t. I’m most happy when I’m surrounded by the family I’ve created for myself. I’ve always been extremely close with my parents, and I’ve chosen my own “siblings” and friends and soul sisters and mates. I LOVE human connection. Especially good human connection. But, the most important person you can connect with is you. If you don’t connect with you first, you won’t have the strings to connect you with others. So, take yourself to the movies, take yourself to dinner, get your nails did...and listen to what’s happening inside your heart. You deserve it. And you may just find out that spending time with yourself isn’t as bad as you thought...

eat better, move around more!

Let’s all make a New Year’s resolution, you guys. I’ve always felt like New Year’s resolutions maybe shouldn’t be reserved only for January 1st, but that’s another story. Let’s all eat better and move around more. 💪🏼🥦🎉

It doesn’t take much...replace one non-vegetable a day with a vegetable. Replace one non-fruit with a fruit! Don’t eat when you’re not actually hungry! If you think you’re hungry, drink a class of water and wait a minute. Drink one extra glass of water... Or completely revolutionize everything and try eating as well as an organic Olympic athlete and see how you feel. Think about it, write about it...see what happens! What do you love? What do you hate? What can you live without and what are some new things you realized you don’t want to live without anymore?

Find something you love that doesn’t feel like working out. Go take a salsa class, (with my salsa company!) go take that skating lesson you’ve always wanted to take (with me!), start running again, go for a bike ride, go for a walk, do that online workout in your living room you’ve been meaning to do for months, anything! Even if it’s just for 15 minutes. 15 minutes is a lot more than 0 minutes, you guys.

Trust me.

Working. Out. Will. Give. You. More. Energy.

A greater ability to take on your day with strength and a clear mind. I SWEAR. I often forget this myself, until I go back to the gym after a hiatus thinking *maybe* it might help offer a little more clarity and make me a little more grounded. It always does. ALWAYS. So does eating well, getting sleep, and drinking water, too. Oh, and taking Vitamin D. Or getting out and getting some bonafide sunshine. Miraculously less tired and readier than ever to take on the world. 💪🏼🎉👍🏼

DON'T be the boy who cried wolf.

I was sitting in a coffee shop the other day, reading Michelle Obama’s book (which is completely amazing- you must read it) and killing time before salsa practice when I happened to tune in to the conversation happening next to me:

Coffee girl: “So, I hear you’re going to school in fall!”

Coffee guy: “Oh. No. If I told you that, it was a lie. I told a couple people that, but it was a straight up lie.”

Coffee girl: “Wait, it was a lie?”

Coffee guy: “Yeah.”

Coffee girl: “Straight up lie?”

Coffee guy: “Yup.”

Coffee girl: “Wow, well what else have you lied about? Hahaha just kidding.”

Except she wasn’t. They moved on and started talking about whatever else their conversation wandered to, but you could feel the energy drain out of their connection for a second. And some of it won’t come back again. Every time you lie, you’ll be believed that much less by those who are close to you. It changes the threads of trust and respect that hold your relationship together.

You guys. Speak your truth. Whatever it is. I can’t stress this enough. It would have been so much better if coffee guy had told coffee girl, “I don’t know, I’m really scared and I want to enroll in school, but it’s just so much money and I’ve gotten by just fine so far without it, but I keep getting rejected because I don’t have a degree...”

or

“Sh*t, man. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life. I literally have nothing coming up. No prospects. And I’m scared.”

If you’re truly happy and unafraid, you really have no reason to lie. But, even if you’re not truly happy and you ARE afraid, Don’t. Lie. It’s especially important for you to speak your truth when you’re afraid. For yourself and for those around you. Our stories are so, so powerful. You never know what your story, your true story, will spark in someone else. Maybe your words will pull them off a bridge, maybe your words will inspire them to get off their ass and do that thing they’ve always wanted to do, and maybe speaking your truth will make YOU get off your ass and do that thing you’ve always wanted to do. Maybe speaking the truth about your fears will make you see just how small they are and how much you actually should enroll in school. Or not. But, don’t push people away by lying. Stretch your soul out and embrace the world with your words of truth.