Feel Good 5 Friday … Page One

I had my doubts, but the universe kept pushing me in that same direction and now in retrospect I guess it was a good idea.

Instead of staring at it and feeling like a failure for not getting there, not being even close to reaching it, or not meeting certain goals, it just sat there as a friendly reminder … ‘hey you memmmmmber?’

Not attacking me. Not judging me. Just a ‘hey I’m still here.’

Just a small nudge in the right direction. Something to look forward to, something that might happen someday, or something that might happen on a random Wednesday.

Vision boards, Words of the Year, Feel Good Songs of the Year. All of this helped me push through 2020.

Boost. That was my 2020 word. That’s what I relied on … Boost and Mary J. Blige.

The universe working it’s magic to help pull me closer inch by inch. Maybe it was just me. Maybe I was more conscious of it, or maybe it served its purpose. But I found these two prospects of positivity pushing me through when I was down on the ground after a rough fall looking for a band-aid in an empty box. Or they kept me going, through my creative recovery, my arms raised during the little fist bumps of celebration.

Intentions, Goals. Resolutions. Steps. Whatever you want to call them, I looked back at the last 12 months, I looked back at Page 1 to see what I had done. I realized that even through the pandemic and all the personal drama of a Telenovela existence, I ended up blessed. That little reminder that your photos app sends you as the month is coming to a close, the little photo album it puts together for you, reminding you of your highlight reel, I flipped through it already. I looked over all the photos on the phone and remembered why they were worth taking. I made picture-worthy moments, some I didn’t even catch on camera, but knew they were in the memory bank.

Vision board kept me focused and dreaming. Boost, my word, kept the drive going, that little extra umph I needed sometimes, that Jamba Juice boost they give you at the smoothie place, that Vitameatavegamin to remind you of the reserve left in the tank. And Mary J … she woke me up! She kept the vibe going through music, giving me the feels when I needed strength to keep moving, the beats to help me get my groove back, my strut! I got to where I needed to be, and I finally reached a stepping stone and that was a good thing. Anything that keeps me going forward in a year where things felt so stagnant was a bonus. I took a look back and felt grateful for the direction …

Felt grateful for the mini-vacation that came along with a hockey tournament before the pandemic, grateful for the parade float presentations with the kids, for the Outdoor Staycations, for stories on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, for Ben & Jerry’s and Parker Brother board games to help with the cabin fever, for the blessings of health and my noisy kids, for quiet morning runs, and epic playlists, for accomplishing creative deadlines and getting up when I got knocked down, for World Series Championships and water balloon baseball with the kids, for bike riding, baking, and badminton, for sunsets painted with Crayola crayons and palm trees, for the peace that Bob Ross spreads, for the sunshine and waves of the beach and hidden lagoons away from the city and for the Saturday Morning Cartoon feels on any day of the week. This is what Boost and Mary J helped give me.

So … I go again.

And my love for movies and great characters helped pick out this year’s word, although with the surprise pandemic that hit 2020 it could have been last year’s word, and that would have fit so well. But I felt that I would continue my forward movement and this would definitely help especially when we’re so close to turning the corner …

I know Stan Lee had a special relationship with the word and I like him, onward and upward. But I got my significance from Pat Solitano …

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“… I’m gonna take all this negativity and use it as fuel and I’m gonna find the silver lining. That’s what I’m gonna do. And that’s no bullshit. That’s no bullshit. That takes work and that’s the truth.”

I didn’t like that saying … the silver lining. Ever since college I’d exhale and roll my eyes, it would burn me out. But looking at it from a different angle, from Pat’s angle, it’s a good spin. And it’s hard work. In the end it will help find the blessings in life and realize what you’re grateful for so that you can keep moving forward. And forward I learned is a direction that’s good, even when it feels like slow motion.

Excelsior and Forward.

That’s what Page 1 of 2021 is looking like … accompanied by an awesome playlist of course — the kind that reminds you to strut your stuff because you’re walking on sunshine and deserve to be.

Buen Camino my friends …

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Katrina and The Waves — Walking on Sunshine

Sir Roosevelt — Sunday’s Finest (the original video is amazing if you can find it, but for some reason I couldn’t)

Pete Townshend — Let My Love Open The Door

The Rolling Stones — You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Los Tucanes de Tijuana — La Chona

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Buen Camino my friends!

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Word of the Year …

Someone recently mentioned that an entire decade had gone by and I hadn’t even made the connection.

I mean I celebrated the New Year, but the heaviness of the decade escaped me. Then I smiled because the last decade I really celebrated was in 1999 when Prince was rocking everyone’s world.

Considering that 2009 wasn’t a pivotal moment for me, my mind raced back to Prince and the dance marathon that followed the night the 90’s came to an end.

Celebrated with non-stop laughter, friends, and dancing. I hadn’t thought about that moment in a long time, but it came to me as I remembered the hope in which I looked forward to the possibilities of 2000. It was a young hope of enthusiasm.

Fast forward 20 years and plenty of Ben-Gay and gray hair later, the perspective has changed. This year I looked to hope again. Instead of it acting as a springboard it functions as an anchor.

And I found signs in various places.

The most recent being Mary J.

This song helped me push through as I had lost it in between the Halloween candy and tryptophan from the turkey. Mary J gave it back to me. I found the pep that put the strut back in my walk again. And with that I just took it one step at a time and I continue. Step by step.

So with this turnaround hitting just in time for the new decade I found my word of the year. I mean I always have these bucket list items or adventures, and personal fulfillment goals that are grounded in my theme for the year. But this year with the help from my buddy Susie WildRider I was looking for a word of the year, and I think I found it.

BOOST.

I need a boost in my life and feel the need to push through the barriers and blockades that make it difficult to maintain a sense of self. But I need to remember that boost comes from all directions and in many forms, but the strongest one coming from me. I can find avenues that light a spark, but I’m the main source of energy. I just have to remember to be ready to catch the wave and ride it in.

You go to a go to a smoothie place and they offer … immunity boost, protein boost, vitamin boost, soy boost, 3G energy boost, they got them all.

It’s that extra umph that gets you through and I’m gonna be trying to boost my life in all kinds of directions …

You see I found myself being the guy on the bottom of this cartoon and all I needed was a boost for one more swing. A Mary J Hope Power boost. I can’t give up if my next swing could be the one.

So with perspective in tact, my year is hopeful. The vision board is going up and with a new decade comes a deeper reserve, one where I’ll find the power boosts that lead to a healthier promising year, with less trips to the CVS special aisle. The boosts in muscle mass and fitness so that I can maintain healthy levels and be around for a long time, an energy boost in my storytelling career to keep determined along that path, and a boost in my parenting skills so that I become a better life coach for the kids. A boost in hope that that keeps my strength up during this comeback. A Mary J boost of confidence that keeps my strut in tact as I walk down the yellow brick road.

Boost.

That’s what’s happening this year.

Buen Camino my friends!