Trust30, day 8: Five Years

There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

What would you say to the person you were five years ago? What will you say to the person you’ll be in five years?

Hey, Rich '06! Like, happy 50th BD man! Congrats on making it to the half century mark. I know you were delighted by the truly surprising surprise party that Jeri threw for you and the trip to stay in NYC, topped off by the tour of Food Network studios and kitchens, was a blast.

You've got a lot going for you now with working for Verizon on the new FiOS gig, continuing to do occasional appearances on QVC as an electronics expert, continuing to write (hopefully you'll get going on seeing if the book can catch someones attention.) The main point is, the only thing right now that can stop you is YOU.

Stay focused by remembering that if you don't take care of you, nobody will. It isn't their job; theirs is to take care of themselves. You have to follow your gut, heed your inner guidance and remember that if it brings lightness and joy to your heart, the odds are fantastic that it will do the same for others as well.

It was fun seeing Rachael Ray doing her gig at Food Network, wasn't it? And what went through your mind? "I could be doing that in some form or another." And you know what?

You are correct.

Smile and make it happen by letting it happen. Stay conscious, stay aware.

See you on the flip side in five years...

Five years from now in a universe as far away as tomorrow...

Hey there, sir! Weren't we just talking about you turning the big "five-oh" just a short time ago? It really IS all relative, isn't it? And now we see ourselves in 2016 at sixty. Isn't it amazing?

You know what the cool part is? Back when we were contemplating this past decade when it was the future, we saw all the possibilities. What we weren't acknowledging were the "demons" that we had lurking in our closet just behind. The sad part is that we knew, 100% for certain, that we had to deal with them.

And the choice we made was to let them explode out of the closet and run rampant, making a chaotic mess of all our thoughts, ideas, goals, dreams and schemes.

The best news that I can share with you is that once we allowed that to happen, we made the best of it. I will not lie and tell you that it was easy nor will I tell you that it wasn't often downright depressing. It was all that and more.

I chose to walk through based on the choices I made and see finances, career, friendships, romance and attitude all recover and grow stronger by degrees. And I acknowledged myself and gave myself some appreciation for staying true.

Could it have been easier? Sure. Would it then have been this current version of my life? No... but then again, what is? I am getting that life is as we choose, as we create it to be and that is literally a moment-by-moment thing. The real power comes in knowing this, accepting it as the process it is and seeing it as good and powerful.

And that, my dear friend/self, is why you are where you are today. Quite happy, enjoying Cape May by the summer and Maui in the winter, continuing to write, create, speak and share with all those who like to hear what you are putting out there.

The most wonderful thing is that YOU are enjoying what you put out there and that is why your life is good, period. Everyone else is just getting their own fun or ideas from it, riding their own groove which you happen to be part of.

Bravo, Rich! See you back in five more so we can catch up on things. Keep (making) it real.