One of life's many wake-up and rise up calls. Roger that!

Last week I experienced one of those 'is this really happening to me?' moments of life. Now, believe me I've had lots of 'did that just happen moments?!' in my short 36 years of life. I was getting my first ever mammogram for both my breasts. My doctor had found some lumps just the week before and ordered me to get a mammogram ASAP. As, I stood there topless having my breasts compressed by this impressive machine, scenes from my life scrolled through my mind. Me in just a diaper as a two year-old being hugged by older sister. Playing house, tag, cards, and swimming with my baby sister. My grandmother making me homemade tortillas and tucking me in at night. My parents laughing together. Getting scratched by my fat, fluffy childhood cat. My parents and I hugging and posing for a picture after receiving my bachelors degrees. Falling in love for the first time. Crying and having a miscarriage. Standing heartbroken and defeated outside the courthouse after my divorce. Falling in love again. Laughing out loud with my fiancé, Peter. Smiling, singing to and holding the hand of my fiancé in the last hours of his life. My fiancé's funeral. Family and friends taking great care of me. Traveling to San Diego to attend my life coach training program. Graduating from the life coach training program. Beautiful, loving friends and family. Leaving my 9 to 5 j-o-b. Nervously introducing myself to my husband, George, for the first time. Coaching my first paying client. Falling in love for the last time. Boldly traveling thru Europe with my love. My wedding day. My husband kissing me on the forehead that morning. The sound of my husband and my mom telling me they loved me right before they took me in for my mammograms. I was so moved by all this life-my life. I was so calm (my mother worried for me and prayed under her breath), yet inside my skin I was freakin' scared. Like really scared. I had seen first hand what cancer does to the human body and what treatment is like. Did I have cancer? As I pondered the possibilities, I couldn't help but smile. I was so at peace. I was so loved. I am loved. I told myself whatever the outcome-you my lady have lived and are living an amazing life. After some more testing, I was told everything is good and nothing to worry about. No cancer. And just like that I was free to move about my life again.

This is what I am taking away from this life rattling moment:

1. Love radically. Love yourself. Love others that you know and don't know. Give love unconditionally. Receive love, free of expectations. Forgive tirelessly. Love powerfully.

2. Take care of yourself. Like for real. No joking here. Sleep. Get a massage. Rest. Eat healthy. Meditate. Express your anger. Stop smoking. Exercise. Express your sadness. Journal. Drink the darn 8-10 glasses of water and eat your veggies already! Ask for help. Get support from family, friends, and professionals. Get the healing you need. Your well-being is everything.

3. Be unabashedly joyful! Give yourself permission to not take life so seriously. Have F-U-N! Sing out loud. Dance your heart out. Laugh and smile in the midst of a breakdown. It can literally save your life. Allow yourself to have full self-expression. Stop watering down your awesomeness!

4. Give yourself the gift of fully pursuing your life dreams and making them reality. Go back to school. Become your own boss. Learn Italian. Paint. Travel to far off locations. Love. Surf. Become a mother. Write that book already. Buy a home. Become a millionaire. Create that youth center. Move to another country. End hunger. You are worth so much more than all your fears multiplied by 100! Free yourself. Go do it. All of it. The world needs you to fulfill all your dreams and desires. Especially those that will bring more love, joy, and peace.

5. Get how magnificent you are. We are all miracles. Just the simple act of breathing and being alive is sacred. You matter regardless of the amount of money you have, the job you do, or what you have or have not yet accomplished in your life.

6. You gotta have faith. Have and practice faith. Believe in miracles. Believe in yourself. Trust yourself. Believe in others. Faith is one of those human superpowers just like love. With it the impossible becomes possible.

I believe anything and everything is possible. It's the primary reason that pulls me to my life of service as a life coach. We all get one life, so live it. Live it like you wish to. Be who you want to be. Don't waste anymore time or your precious gifts. Life is now.