It’s after dinner, 7:08pm PST and it is a cool and welcome Tuesday evening in the Pacific Northwest. The clouds are hanging lower and the rain has stopped, the sky is beginning to turn into a cotton candy color sort of state. It’s been a good day. I’m making dinner and something hit me: SO MANY wishes in my life have came true and I am so damn grateful. This is due in part to a few things: my business, cash flow and choices (and my willingness to persevere).
I’m standing at the island in my kitchen chopping mushrooms. After opening the refrigerator and assessing the situation (what to make with what I have) I think to myself: mushroom cream sauce, chicken and potatoes (it feels like fall weather outside).
Side note: this is the first month in 4 years I’ve eaten poultry (free range organic) and it tasted REALLY good. I’m a cream & salt girl. Okay, and creme brulee too 😉 . On the health front I’ve been everything from vegetarian (18 months), ketogenic, paleo, counted macros, done Weight Watchers Points (circa 2002), ate right for my blood-type and the list goes on. I’ve always been health conscious, sustainability focused and attuned with ethical consumption. Back to our dish du jour in action.
I’m standing there chopping the mushrooms, yellow onion and crushing garlic, pulling the roasted chicken and sauteeing a mish-mash of delicious soon-to-be dinner. I’m feeling incredibly grateful to have the time to prepare a meal as such and afford to do so, and I also FEEL like my mom (what a privilege). This brought me back to my childhood and the things I wished for. It also brought my back to a serious place of gratitude and sense of achievement. I never dreamed I would have the type of freedom and opportunities I have today despite always being a hard worker.
The things I wished for: two kitchen sinks and a kitchen faucet that swiveled and sprayed (you know, a head that you can detach and rinse the sink out with?). That was the wishlist. I also wished that I could afford whatever I wanted for groceries and also afford to feed anyone who was gracious enough to grace my home and kitchen. No one would ever leave hungry and they would always leave satisfied knowing their place at the table is secured upon return. I wanted to learn how to make money to the degree that I never had to worry about spending it because I knew how to make it in excess of what I needed.
I also wished for my mom to never have to work past dinner which, often she did working one of her three jobs, each of which she excelled at and took great pride in. I knew that this sacrifice (her and my time together) was the driving force behind be able to control my schedule. To share time in the evenings with the ones I love and/or just do what I want equals pretty much everything and then some.
The punchline and point: life is all about choices and taking action to ensure you have the ability to make those choices. In your life you will start in one place and end up in another, and you will likely do this in your personal world and business a number of times over. Are you where you envisioned you would be today when you were daydreaming as a child? Things change. My vision isn’t the same either. It’s different and dare I say better.
Money isn’t everything (in fact it’s nothing) but it does allow you to make choices. The only way to change your decision making and earning power is to create a plan and stick to the plan, while being flexible.
Today I have a kitchen with more bells and whistles necessary and I do not take that for granted. That said, I’m game to cook-out over a fire with one skillet, wooden spoon and knife any day (and I have). Cash flow allows both these scenarios.
What is your version of the kitchen sink? Think about it. Have you worked for it, wished for it, been consciously actionable in achieving whatever “it” is? If you’re not quite there yet, ask yourself what it is that is standing in your way and on a scale of 1-10 how prepared are you to do whatever it takes to remove it?
On gratitude, it’s all about knowing the difference and making choices about what you want. Then, it’s about stepping into those choices and really FEELING them out.
Ask yourself if you are able today, to make the choices you want to be able to make. Is there a gap you need to close your goal? How close are you to exceeding your needs to start knocking those FEELINGS off your wish list and being ultra generous outside of your direct sphere? I say feelings, as it’s not about the tangible past the first 10 minutes of consumption. The high leaves you and it’s the feeling that’s left, with one exception: a cozy-ass bed! Yeah, I’m ultra freaking grateful for THAT tangible “thing” and investment.
Back to generosity: it’s is all about the overflow (although you really don’t need a lot to give). I even practise giving with clients who have debt. This works for them.
Now let me ask you this: what are you doing to make your version of the kitchen sink (and your wishlist) transact? Now that wish list might include family or travel not a double sink, but you get my drift and trust me, my actual list of FEELS is people-centric and is a lot more pulsated, heart-centered and longer.
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