Some years ago, a dear friend of mine asked me how things were going.

“Everything’s great! Why do you ask?”

He then said he had noticed that I didn’t seem very happy. I was going through the motions, but without my usual joy and enthusiasm. He then got more personal, and asked how things were with my then relationship. I got quiet. I wasn’t happy in my relationship and my friend knew it. I had been struggling with my unhappiness for many years. From the outside, it appeared that I had no reason to complain about my life. I had all the things most people could ever want! I had a successful partner, a nice house, a fun career…but I was miserable. Being an emotional person, I felt something was wrong but I couldn’t express what it was.

Today’s blog is for myself. I’m in the midst of some major life changes. While I’m confident everything will be okay in the end, these next few months are going to be critical for myself and my partner. We’re both being pushed beyond our limits in many ways, and it’s important we stay focused on our end goals so we don’t get overwhelmed by the numerous little speed bumps and potholes that just pop out in front of us when we least expect it.

As a comedian for nearly 19 years, I’ve navigated some pretty tough waters in comedy. Comedy is based upon “free speech” and “freedom of expression,” yet my entire comedy career I’ve been told what I can and can not say on stage.

I hate saying “No.” I hate the feeling of disappointing someone I care about. I hate the feeling that I might be letting others down because I can’t jump right in and help out. I hate being put on the spot and the feeling of being pressured to do something I just don’t have time to do. But you know what I hate worse? Weaseling out of something I shouldn’t have accepted in the first place, because I knew damn well that I didn’t care enough about it and/or didn’t have the time to do it!

Working as a hypnotist pretty much means I'll never have a dull day of work ever again. My clients spill their guts to me about injustices in their past, and often times those guts include someone who has wronged my client. Whatever that person did, it affected their life significantly and they're having a lot of trouble forgiving that person what they did, or forgiving themselves for allowing that person to do that to them. Finding peace in forgiving that person is a huge step towards healing yourself.

As a writer and a hypnotist, I end up sitting a lot through out the day. Sometimes, I have to set a timer to make sure I get up and move around! It’s really important to remain active. Our bodies were designed to move, so moving is a great way to honor your body. Diet and exercise are important partners in achieving/maintaining a healthy weight as well. But how much exercise, and how intense?

Years ago, I was wide awake at 3am and watched these two ladies dance and pitch their new workout program, Yoga Booty Ballet. Funky yoga and ballet? Sign me up! I bought the programs and began a new way of thinking about exercise and my body with Beachbody programs. One of the concepts that came out of my Yoga Booty Ballet series, was the idea of working a little each day on becoming the next best version of yourself. Little changes every day lead to big goals down the road.

COVID changed our lives for ever, and as a result I had to make changes in how I do business. I had to rethink what I wanted out of life and reshape a few goals I had set for myself. Some of them I wasn’t sure about. They seemed stupid, silly, or just plain impossible. I decided that even though my new goals were lofty, I had to try. If I just broken them down into small enough steps, I could achieve them. But then I had my doubts. Could I do it? I’d never done anything like this before. What if I failed?

Lately, I’ve experienced mental fog - big time! I’m juggling a lot of different projects right now, and my mind always seems to be racing from one thought to the next…and then poof! Whatever I was just thinking about is abracadabra…gone! We’ve all experienced mental fog. As a hypnotist, I help my clients deal with this all the time, but sometimes I need a reminder on how to alleviate the symptoms so I can work at my maximum effectiveness!

Doug and I celebrated the 3rd anniversary of meeting each other this past Friday. We met through OKCupid.com, which is not all that different from how millions of others meet potential boyfriends and girlfriends. What was different about us, was HOW we went about it.

Yesterday, was an amazing day. Doug and I began our day having an amazing breakfast buffet with our “chosen family” at Paradise Lakes Clothing Optional Resort. We then we headed to the pool area to relax. At 1pm, the owners of the resort and several guests poured several bottles of Mr. Bubble into the conversation pool.