A very wise person once said, “Showing up is 90% of success!” As I look back (or get more mindful on a daily basis), I realize that my success in life has been due to my belief that “showing up” was not optional. That belief has led to a successful career as a management consultant and executive coach, a knock-your-socks-off teenage marriage that “made it,” wonderful kids, and a better me. Less you think that came smoothly, I want to share pieces of my story, hoping my bumps along the way and the lessons I’ve learned may smooth your path and give you more to consider as you create the life that you deserve.
My name is Pat White, and this is my first post to my blog. Juicy Life Lessons is all about the courage to show up and hold a vision that your life will work out. So here’s a little bit about me and how this blog and its title came to be.
I met my honey when I was fifteen and we got married a few years later. Crazy, right? The freedom from parents was intoxicating and the idea of going to college while my man started his career seemed like having an ice cream soda every day (we liked them). Then two months later, reality set-in – I was pregnant. College quickly dropped by the wayside and in a nano-second, I was a Mom of two worrying about stretching our bi-monthly checks to feed us all. We had cast-off furniture, other necessary household goods donated by parents or found on the street, and I was convinced that my dream of extending the honeymoon period and being a college educated woman was ruined! I was scared to death as I had not benefited from a Mom teaching me household and childcare skills.
I only look calm and serene – I was really drowning!
Enter the good man I married. Seeing his wife coping, but unhappy, he encouraged me to get out for fun once in a while and to start taking at least one course at night. He knew I was drowning.
Fast forward many years: When I first thought of sharing my wisdom – garnered from years of being a corporate executive – I was sure it had to be a book on leadership. At the same time, that idea scared the socks off me as I was bright enough to know that a new book on leadership came to the market every 15 seconds (or so it appeared since I bought most of them). Most of the authors were brilliant people, who danced with research as easily as I danced with my favorite partner – my husband. I would ponder this decision as I sat on our deck and looked at what we called our “dancing tree.”
My Dancing Tree
This huge tree – with its two enormous limbs that stretched out and lifted up like someone throwing themselves into the music without inhibition – seemed to always draw my attention. Mostly, I just gazed on it without taking any action – not typical for someone whose email address contains the word “results.” Then, driving home from a Barnes & Nobles visit and chastising myself for not stepping up to the challenge I had laid on myself, I had a sudden inspiration. I DID have wisdom I wanted to share, but it wasn’t only about leadership – it was about thriving in business, life and yes, even in the bedroom. It had everything to do with showing up and needed to be about the Juicy Life Lessons I had learned through a successful career (both in and out of an organization), while being married and raising a family. So the idea for “the book” was finally born, but the baby had ideas of her own. Instead of a book, she wanted to be interactive, hence this blog.
I hope you’ll join me and will have a sense of anticipation whenever you see this blog. I know you will get some ideas from it that will make you smarter at work, better at relationships and hopefully make you smile as you read it!