Birthday Celebrations
Yes, it's my birthday! But more importantly, it's my grandmother's 85th birthday! I was the first granddaughter and feel very special to have been born on her day. I'm sure I over shadowed it a bit but I don't think my Nana minded :-) So, this past Sunday I went up to Boston and spent it with the Irish side of the family. We have quite a few of us with birthdays around this time. One of my cousins turned 16 and a family friend turned 94! We had such a blast eating good food, laughing and playing the game Left-Center-Right. (If you've never played it, it's fun + simple for all ages and my family plays for money instead of using the chips haha) January was such a full month with my Winter Retreat and Detox and starting with new private clients so it felt nice to leave my laptop at home and phone in my purse and spend time with family, especially since I only see them a few times a year. It's especially nice to see my grandmother and share our special day together. She has been through a lot of tough things in her life, including a very difficult childhood, joining the army at 18 and surviving cancer multiple times. You would never know what she's been through because she doesn't complain and prefers to be in the present moment. I'm grateful to have her in my life as well as my Italian grandmother. These two incredible women have taught me so much about family, love and life. They are very different but have similar values that I have embraced as a part of my life and hope to pass onto my children and grandchildren some day. They are strong and have big hearts, which I hope people will say about me when I'm their age. You know what is interesting?
They accomplished so much without cell phones and computers.
They spent consistent quality time with the ones they loved.
They got up every day and did what they needed to do without complaining.
They didn't use excuses such as "I'm too busy" or "I don't have time".
As you may have seen last month, my focus over the next few months is to be more present + purposeful in each area of my life. I am using my grandmothers as inspiration.
Here's to my 29th year and whatever year you are in in 2016! XOXO Shayna
