Starting… Starting Now

I remember when I was a little girl I loved to play Barbies. When you think about it playing Barbies is a way for girls to act out scenes of the life they dream of. One where we always have a 21 inch waist and Ken is hot and doesn’t talk too much. He dances with us, marries us over and over and over again and just enjoys watching us try on our elaborate wardrobe and spend hours in our pink fluffy dream houses. The highlight of the events was always Barbies wedding. I would literally gather flowers from the yard, pick the perfect 45′s to spin and manage to apply pink marker as lipstick to Barbies plastic lips. Then I would carefully arrange the dream house chairs and begin the process of dressing the wedding party. I would even spray “Loves Baby soft” perfume all over the room for atmosphere and prepare for the wedding to begin. The ceremony would usually move along without a hitch… and I would throw the dry rice I took from the kitchen cupboard as I made Barbie and Ken blissfully walk off to Happily ever after… and ultimately the perfect honeymoon in (heart be still…) the Barbie Camper! However, every now and then… against all odds something could go horribly wrong at the Barbie wedding.

The “something” was usually a disruption during the carefully orchestrated ceremony. I remember once darkness fell on the wedding as my Mom walked in and hovered over me to tell me to clean up, dinner was almost ready. I had to stop to let her know if I wanted rice or a potato and she left me with an ominous reminder to “wash my hands and clean my mess up”. Mess… mess… this was possibly the most beautiful Barbie wedding ever. How could I make sense out of the interruption as Ken was about to pledge his undying love, again? She did ask about a side dish… could I excuse this as the caterer, no it wouldn’t make any sense. My perfect Barbie world had its first taste of imperfection; a curve ball… an obstacle that I have come to find out is part of real life. Even dream lives.

I decided not to throw in the ceremony and clean up just yet. In that moment I grew up a little. I looked at Kens unwavering (literally) expression of love on his face and all the work that was already put into it, and I decided to take a deep breath, close my eyes and say ” starting… starting.. now”. Stay calm and carry on. I realized that I could simply take stock of all that was right instead of what was wrong, brush off the set back, clearly visualize the end result and quickly go through the steps it takes to get to my goal of happily ever after. It was then I figured out that ultimately I could start fresh right in the middle of any situation in life.

Just going through those quick steps… and saying Starting, Starting now, gave me power, magical power. I was in control of the out of control. And that has become a skill that has helped me navigate obstacles, challenges, heart breaks and setbacks with the one thing that makes all things possible… Hope.

It reminds me of this enchanting little girl I met named Rio Lea. We were immediately kindred spirits and she pulled me aside one day as I was visiting her family and shared with me her secret. She confidently said “I have magical powers……… according to me”. I liked that attitude. We can all simply decide we have magical powers anytime we need them!

This ability to bounce back and start fresh is a survival skill all women need to master. We need to be able to carefully visualize our goals and our dreams and navigate our lives as the captain of our own ships called Destiny. Just like a ship out in sea we need to have a clear idea of our destination and in the most unpredictable waters keep navigating ourselves to stay on course.

But first we have to be grateful for all that we have in our lives. We have to forgive ourselves for mistakes, poor judgment and bad decisions. They ultimately probably made us stronger wiser or at the very least, more interesting! And we have to decide exactly what we want, set our internal gps system with all the steps we need to take on our route to our dreams and use our magical powers… starting starting now. Starting fresh for a Happy new year, a happy new you anytime we need to.

I learned that the perfect life I was creating playing Barbies was never going to be perfect but filled with perfect moments. It’s my job to find the perfect moments and savor them. Every day we are experiencing what we create, and we have the power to start fresh any time we want a new starring role in our lives. I held out for the man who gazes lovingly in my eyes. I work at the Barbie dream house and put lipstick on my real Barbies lips all the time. I still dream of the Barbie camper… it’s on my list, so there is no question I will be riding off in the sunset in style someday in a flower covered RV!

Magic is all around us… according to me!