Humble Beginnings

Like many people in the world, I come from very humble means. We never had any "extra" of anything growing up and I look back angrily on all those times I asked my parents for something I knew deep down we couldn't afford. I was a kid after all, caught up in futile child-like yearnings. With four daughters all very close in age, it was difficult and far too expensive to go on any grandiose vacations. But the ones we did have are some of my most cherished memories. I even plan on recreating them with my own family because of the closeness it brought. Another outcome of my humble beginnings is the very deep desire to give my parents an easier life. And while I'm constantly trying to minimize the importance of money in my life, it'll take a pretty large amount of it to make that happen.

I'm currently sitting in my room at the Four Seasons Hotel. The above pictures were taken from my iPhone, showing the sun-drenched view from my window, a snapshot of the colorful business attire I packed, and the elegantly elaborate faucet in the tub that I will enjoy a bubble bath in momentarily.

I've just returned from a cocktail reception, kicking off the start of a two day banking forum. I've never told you guys this but I started working for a large consulting firm at the beginning of the year. I went from trying to climb my way up the ladder, to standing on a very comfortable plateau with the most beautiful view of what lays our before me, basically overnight. My parents could never afford to put us up in the Four Seasons, and here I sit - eyes and soul remembering and being thankful for my past, but always looking straight ahead to the new and opportune. I hope my past will always color my present with the never-ending amount of appreciation I feel right at this very moment.

So today, I am thankful for my upbringing and my trials. All negative memories, hardships and painful experiences culminated in who I am today. And I guess it's less who I am and more how I feel. I feel hopeful, and blessed; enlivened and bursting with passion for life. It sort of puts everything into perspective.

No matter where you come from, never stop reaching for that which seems so impossibly out of your reach. Never settle for less than you know you deserve. You can never anticipate or plan for the joyous journeys the universe with put before you. All you/we can do is slow down just for a second, take a deep breath, and look around at all that we do have. Appreciate the here and the now as much as our tiny hearts will allow.

I hope you all have blissful weeks! Hopefully I'll get to read all about them.

'Til Next Time,
The Fashist