🍃 🐛 A N Y O N E 🍃🐛 feeling like this beautiful girl today ? I was outside with my pups this afternoon and she caught my eye.  I feel like she’s literally grabbing on to what she thinks is the last limb of hope.. do you see that ? Those little hand thingys HOLDING on!  If I were a caterpillar whisperer this is what I would tell her .. cuz yep in my mind she’s a she 💗

Listen up sweet caterpillar.. I see you thinking this is the end , the darkness in that little shell or cocoon .. that your days of beauty are behind you.  I see you trying to remain hopeful and not quitting!!  I want to tell you that you are about to shed your old self, what you may have even thought was your best self .. and you’re about to renew your life .. restore your beauty and turn into a beautiful power house of a creature that flies and spreads her wings to share abundant joy to all who see you💗 I know that’s hard to believe right now but trust me if you can, keep keeping your strength up by eating that leaf 🍃 and holding on until the renewal is complete .. and one day maybe you’ll fly up next to me and sit a while as a thank you 😊 and I’ll simply say.. ahh, there you are .. and I told you so! 

​My whole life, I always wanted to fit in... to be someone.. to matter.. to shine.. to standout.  
My biggest regret is believing my role as a mamma wasn’t enough.  I took those two daughters of mine for granted a time or two assuming I had years before they grew up.  I was a good mamma to them and like to think I still am, however,  I had shortcomings for sure and it’s a pain I carry but I’ve learned to not let that pain dominate my soul. 

Even now, at a year shy of 50, I think to myself, what’s my purpose?  Am I enough? 

As I grow wiser, I am learning that all I truly care about is how I treat my children, my husband, my family, my friends, my dogs, my body, myself, my clients and my customers.   I don’t need to BE something spectacular or unique.  I don’t need to be the best or the “most special.” 

Two very significant times in the last few months alone, my daughters (20 and 22) both truly needed me during some individual rough patches on their own journey.  I was there for each of them sharing, what I hope was, guidance and knowledge and faith and I felt a surge of pride when I would see something special on their face or in there eyes as a thank you.  

I wish I could revisit some moments in life when I was asked what I do for a living. “I’m a mom to two amazing daughters and a step mom to three charismatic boys and I try to be a caring and loving wife” and I would walk away with my head up and I might even do a mic drop knowing that’s more than “enough.”

I love coaching .. absolutely love it. I love selling wine! I love helping at church and supporting local shops around me.. but my greatest role, the one that brings me the most light on any given day, will always be the one I was assigned to have the moment my first and then second daughter laid in my arms, followed by the opportunity to raise three boys.  I will always be enough just because of that and anything else I ever achieve or strive to become is simply a bonus. So to you, Kennedy and Ellie..William, Lucas and Owen, thank you. Mamma 

Almost a year ago, we moved into our new home in the Hill Country. Day one, the neighbor to my left greeted me in the driveway with a bottle of wine and a loaf of banana bread and our friendship has grown into daily conversations ever since (obviously)! The neighbor to my right is a different story.

Our homes out here in our neighborhood are on about 3 acres each. We can see one another's homes from our own but they are spaced about 50 yards or so apart. I have grown used to the lights, the comings and goings, the sounds of the dogs and the over the fence chats with our neighbor on the left. The neighbor on the right was, what I assumed, living in another city or something. I can think of one time where I saw a light on in her home. Her lawn was never kept up with. Sounds of life never drifted over to our home. A thought occurred to me a time or two to walk over and introduce myself but the word on the street was that she must've moved away so I never bothered. I regret that now.

A week ago, I got a knock on my door in the middle of the day. One look out the window seeing the Deputy in uniform terrified me, assuming something had happened to someone in my family. I quickly but hesitantly opened the door to many questions about the neighbor to my right. "Have you seen her lately?" "Have you seen any cars at her home." "Have you seen any lights on in the house?" I answered no to each of the questions but it was the last one that startled me the most: "Have you noticed any peculiar smells when you go outside?" After answering no yet again, I asked the Deputy what was going on. "Unfortunately, we have discovered that your neighbor has been deceased in her home for months." OH. MY. GOODNESS. Y'all... where do you have to be in life to be passed away for months and no one has noticed? After my jaw dropped and my heart ached for this woman, I began to wonder what her life must've been like. A few days of neighbors talking and stories developing led us all to understand that this 50 year old woman battled mental illness and a drinking problem. She was estranged from her adult children and husband and had apparently given up on life, friends, family and faith and just sort of existed alone in her battle until she either took her own life or simply faded away.

Even writing this brings me to tears because had I known someone was actually living there, I would've tried to help. I would've encouraged her to get help, to find a a tribe of women to support her, to remind her that dark times come but that the light also shines again.

Wherever you are right now, please make sure you have at least one person that knows you, that cares, that notices when you don't respond, that notices when you are down and alone. Find your person, your people, your strength in numbers and don't ever sit in the darkness for too long.

Be well. Reach out. xoxo. Coach Kim