March 21, 2022 By Marybeth Leave a Comment

It’s Publication Day!

How you can find Tiny Moments of Joy Every Day!

When I started to write this book it felt like there was just something inside of me that needed to be told, and along the way I found that this is not just my story – you will also find that it touches on your story as well. This is for women (and men too) who are on their journey and who are a bit lost, unsure, who have had sorrows and loss and regrets and want to move on.

Most of us have had some really hard times, loss and sorrow, and are maybe stuck in the past. But now we feel deeply that we want to move forward and be happier but don’t quite know how to get some joy back into their lives.

In this book I share my learnings about when we are stuck we can find that there are gifts we can open every day – tiny moments of joy to see us through the dark which teach us how to make room for the light that is all around.

This book has been a personal delight and somewhat of a struggle as well. I must tell you it was hard to share my personal life but I felt it needed to come out and I was so encouraged by my family, friends and colleagues to keep on going.

So here we are – publication day! Wow-what a joy (also a bit scary) that it has finally happened. My heartfelt thanks to you all who have been my cheerleaders and supporters along the way.

TAKE A LOOK

There is a sample chapter and as a gift to you, there is a special discount until the end of the month with the code: Launch22

Thank you from my heart and I would be so thrilled for you to share this with your friends and family and colleagues. It is especially important right now for us to share Joy in the world around us.

Please share your comments and reactions below.

March 8, 2021 By Marybeth Leave a Comment

Celebrate Who You Are – International Women’s Day March 8, 2022!

Celebrate who You are – an amazing woman who touches the lives of others with your love.
Be grateful for all of the women, and men, in your life who have supported, and guided and given you love. And reach out to other women who may be in need of your kindness and mentoring. One little word or good deed does wonders for someone’s happiness. Be gentle with yourself today. So smile more, breathe more, relax more! We all deserve that!
Celebrate you and all of us who are making this world a better, more loving place.

March 2, 2021 By Marybeth Leave a Comment

2021 Women’s History Month – Learning from Women Who Have Paved the Way

The theme for this year’s Women’s History Month is “Choose to Challenge!” – which I find quite appropriate since this is a year when women are faced with choices that challenge almost every part of our lives. There are new paradigms at work, home, schooling, caring for parents or others (who normally would be in daycare or having outside resources which are no longer available). And then there is house work, cooking, cleaning etc., which add to the already mountains of responsibilities we have. Challenge after challenge. Sometimes we are blessed with a great partner or family member who works beside us. Sometimes not. In either case, it can become easier for us to just settle and not go after what we need because our lives are upended. Some days it feels like there is not a lot left for us to give back to ourselves.

Just Get Through or Thrive?

How can we not only ‘get through’ and stay sane, but also thrive? This article is not to tell you How To do this all. There are tons of articles on the ‘how to’ for you to find. What I want to convey now is that you need to make yourself a priority. Period. Set boundaries. Set time for real self-care. Be committed to you at least once a day. This is about making a promise to yourself because unless you do that, all of the articles out there will be of no help unless you accept that you MUST take care of you. Stop settling for any less.

Finding Inspiration from Women’s Stories

When we look back at just the history of women in the U S, the stories of women who have been challenged by the hardships of daily life, and also who challenged the system around them, are abundant! From the women who took their families and pulled up stakes to go across country in covered wagons, to the courageous women struggling with the terrible slavery of themselves and their families, to women who had the tenacity and perseverance to stand up for the Vote and started the Women’s Suffrage Movement to women going through the Great Depression – there are boundless stories we can learn from which will support us in getting though our challenging times. All of these stories are about women warriors- which I doubt they would have thought of themselves that way.

Resilience in Us All!

I am reading the Four Winds right now by Kristin Hannah. She writes about how the lives for everyone during the Great Depression and the years of the Dust Bowl were almost unbearable. It was daily survival in the truest sense – food, shelter, money, work – all of which were scarce beyond imagination. And the impact on the women – the mothers, grandmothers, daughters – well – the word ‘challenging’ does not even seem to come close to describe how these women were able to survive and still take care of others. And yet they were able to find how to keep going on. What we can learn from them is that we have such a deep capacity for resilience – it is really unlimited.

Smile More. Laugh More. Everyday.

Take a few minutes to read even a small article which will inspire you. Write down what you learned from then and then what it is you need right now. Next write down just one action you will take everyday to use your resilience to make your life a bit happier. Smile more. Laugh more. Hug more (where you can). And mostly love yourself more. I know the women who preceded us probably didn’t think so much about the concept of self-love. But something inside was so driving them to live differently and so they found their resilience to move forward. I do know that by following their instincts for survival and for making things better for themselves and to those important to them, they brought about small and enormous changes that made a difference. Learn from others. Learn from ourselves everyday. There is a ‘warrior’ in each us longing to come out.

Photo credit – I took this photo at the Orvieto National Archaeological Museum in Orvieto, Italy. I discovered that the ancient Etruscan women were a strong and powerful part of their society and we can go back to ancient times and learn from them as well.

March 22, 2019 By Marybeth Leave a Comment

So Tired of Being Good?

A couple of months ago I had the greatest joyful time I’ve had in a long while. I flew west, into the desert and spent 3 days in a hotel with 1.000 women at the International Women’s Summit in Phoenix, Arizona (ok – a city in the desert). I listened with all my heart to be inspired, loved, challenged, stretched, encouraged and energized.

In this eye opening event, I got all of that and more. I didn’t have to be good, or look to make connections for business. I didn’t have to worry about being judged for what I said. I didn’t have to think about the challenges in my life. I just got to open up and absorb and be with energy that flowed from the stage and from each other. These women – Liz Gilbert, Lisa Nichols, Dr Tererai Trent, Cheryl Strayed, Laverne Cox, and others, bared their souls – talked and cried and yelled and danced and laughed and whispered their truths. All this was so that we, as women, would not just keep going, but to move through our lives with the joy we were meant to have.

While I was there, I allowed myself to be open, in each moment, and to connect – to ideas, and stories and beautiful women who have been through hell. I know that everyone carries around their “thing;” their ”story;” their “tragedy,” but it was so powerful to hear these human people talk and bare their souls so that others can learn and keep moving on through their grief and loss and battles of everyday life. We need to hear from strong women who are finding their joy so we can find ours as well. That is what makes leaders — woman or man. To be the leaders of our own lives. On our terms.

To hear Glennon Doyle Milton say “Self love is the opposite of self-control, and to “forget the balance” – what is important is “passion and self love.”

Cheryl Strayed said, “Open your heart. It’s the most important thing you can do with your life!”

It’s not about your job or title or making the bed everyday (which I do find satisfaction in the orderliness of it). It is about being “compelled to find a different version of yourself.”

When I flew back east, I entered my empty house and my challenging work. Instead of feeling sad or lonely, I looked for how to keep the energy going and listened to a podcast with Liz Gilbert (Magic Lessons) and Glennon and this is what was said:

“I am so tired of being good. I just want to be free!”

Whoa! Most of our lives we do what is expected by others. We don’t give ourselves permission to be bad or listen to our inner voice, which is always right. Maybe it is time to be bad. To do what our hearts yearn for. To be kind; be merciful and “be open to Serendipity – to Coincidence and Magic” – now this is what we are here for – to be free to be who we are. Everyday badness and goodness.

Reach deep down and pull out that courage and resilience we all have within. It is our reservoir of life for us to dip into whenever we need. And there are helping hands so we don’t need to do it all ourselves.

Go out and be bad. Then you get to be free to be who you are here to be.

If you are looking for an opportunity to dig deeper and find your own inner voice and joy, take the Love Yourself Scorecard(™). This tool is so you can find out how you are feeling about yourself and what you may need that is different. This is a great first step for discovering how you really want to spend each day – in joy, in discovery, in feeling alive. Click here to take the complimentary Scorecard today.