Vida Guide to Successful Living

  "The core of authenticity is the courage to be imperfect, vulnerable and to set boundaries" Brene Brown Of course Brene Brown's quote is spot on and at mid-life and after many, many years of working on my own personal development and self-growth which started at around age 24, I can honestly say, I have lived authentically most of the time...At 50, I'm probably and finally at about 90% shooting for that last 10% in the next few years, what can I say it's hard in this culture with the expectation, particularly for women, to sacrifice so much of ourselves for others.  It has not been an easy journey, especially as a first generation Mexican-American female and daughter of immigrant parents. It has definitely been a process and fortunately certain life experiences early on, helped set the course for me, such as a love for the outdoors/adventure and sports at a young age, interest and knack for academics/learning (came easily) and a strong and courageous mother as a

 “When life throws you a rainy day, play in the puddles” Pooh Bear I am a couple months away from playing in the puddles of yet another rainy year (2021) figuratively speaking. Fortunately, my last rainy year, more like storm was in 2018, so it has been a minute since I’d seen the rain. In early 2023, I will officially become a traveling therapist, a few months behind schedule but being I have a very flexible schedule these days it’s not a big deal at all, it was just my antsy pants that wanted it to be sooner. I will be working on my existing business (psychotherapy) by doing a deep deep dive into trainings and certifications that will allow me to be of utmost service to the clients I serve. I will also be contributing to the nonprofit I run by researching alternative treatments/modalities across the US and possibly the world. I will be working on building my new business which entails a certain level of social advocacy for young men and I will be traveling and having fun along the wa

“We all have to deal with something. I know that to be true. They say God never gives us more than we can handle, but I say sometimes He assumes we’re stronger than we are. Life is a challenge.” Susan Mallery "God does not give us more than we can handle" Every time I see this written or said by anyone, anywhere, I cringe and silently say "Yeah right". My adopted son, two months shy of his 18 birthday took his life in May of 2018. His pain and inner turmoil was more than he could bear. Life had dealt him and his older siblings a bad hand. That is the honest truth and there is no sugar coating the cards he was dealt, he and his siblings spent 5 years in foster care never being truly loved and hugged by caring parents or adults. My son, Andrew was just 6 months old when he was removed from his birth parents. That was just the start. And like my son, there are countless others who attempt to end their pain through suicide, alcohol, drugs and all sorts of addictions as

  " Your new life is going to cost you your old one" Author Unknown I am one month short of officially entering the "empty nest" stage of life but I don't think I will be suffering from any of its' symptoms. Quite the contrary, I feel the opposite as my youngest son (18) soon flies the coop. I feel free, fulfilled, with a sense or purpose and direction. My son travels to Spain for a second year in one month and two months later, I will be traveling across the USA and abroad. My son will then either stay in Spain for college and soccer or come back to USA for college and soccer. Either way, my parental duties have taken a mostly financial role and it is a liberating feeling. I am looking forward to entering my New Life which will be full of work (remote), travel, purpose, service, adventure and entrepreneurial creativity. I want to be empathic to parents/moms who really do suffer from empty nest syndrome which refers to the feelings of sadness, anxiety and l

  "Happiness comes from progress, unhappiness comes from decline ” Arthur Brooks As I approach a significant milestone year in my life, I am experiencing a sense of peace and acceptance around the fact that I have yet to achieve my life's biggest goals and dreams. I think that's the most ironic statement I have ever written! Peace around not yet achieving my Life goals? It's true and it's a liberating feeling considering that just 7 years ago, the reality of not having reached these goals caused me angst and at times a sense of hopelessness and despair. Because of my lifelong interest and commitment to personal growth, I never stayed in these negative states for long but underneath, there remained a restlessness about it. I can’t say I had anything near peace or acceptance at being seemingly nowhere near my biggest dreams.  So what gives?  Have I given up? Not at all. In fact, I am more confident than ever that I will achieve my goals and dreams, unless of course

"The myth of normal in an insane culture" inspired by  Dr. Gabor Mate A couple years ago I was listening to one of Dr Gabor Mate's interview on Youtube and he was sharing about the book he was working on, finishing up. If I remember correctly, he said the book would be titled "The myth of normal in an insane culture" or something like that.  When he  explained the reasons for the title, I thought, "Man he really gets it and society (US) really is sick-insane in so many ways". Today that interview came back to mind as I thought about what to write about for this blog post given the shootings and deaths that have occurred in the USA in the past two weeks alone . Not to mention, the many shootings and resulting deaths and injuries that don't get any news coverage at all. I googled to see if Dr. Mate's book was out and it is. Maybe I misheard his title or maybe his publishers said you don't want to piss or offend people with that title, alludin