Happy Luau

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Wellness Wednesday Valentine's Day

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh olivia, good for you for following your heart - i can hear the emotion in your voice which tells me what an authentic decision you've made. thanks for inspiring me this valentine's day...

Anonymous said...

oh, sorry that was me, ruby. :)

Olivia said...

Thank you so much, Ruby. It means a lot to me that I inspired you today, too. Good to have you back after your busy time, xxoo, O

Anonymous said...

Wow Olivia. Good for you. Decisions like that are so hard. I usually get caught up in all the expectations (or perceived expectations) of others and end up not being true to myself. Way to go! Is it too early to pre-order a copy of your book? :-)

Olivia said...

Gee, thanks, Sylvain; you are too sweet :) I was caught up in the expectations of others (including LoveHubbie) and MYSELF, but thank goodness I paid attention to my feelings of grief and depression. Still it was hard, because I had already started to "walk down the aisle" so to speak as I was highly invested in this job and with my colleague. But I SO KNEW that this was the right way to go.

I also believe, BTW, that taking the job as I did was right, too. I learned so much, my confidence in what I can do increased, my husband got a great computer, and I got a nice suit. Even more importantly, it taught me to pay more attention and value my heart over my head; I'm used to doing the opposite.

Thanks for all of your help today :)

oxox, O

Kate Robertson said...

Fantastic Olivia, following your heart is so important. This is such a good idea for you. The other path did not seem like it flowed with joy like this does. I can't wait to be able to read your novel.

Kate

patti said...

Yay! I am so glad that you came to this decision. Lots of love to you! Happy writing!

Olivia said...

Yes, Kate, "flowed with joy" is the difference. I thought "What would I do if I had only a year to live, or 3 years, or 5 years, or 25?" and the answer was very clear. Blessings and thanks, O

Olivia said...

Hi, Patti, Yes, yay yay! Me, too. Thank you, Patti, Love, O

Anonymous said...

Olivia, this video makes me want to jump for joy! YOu are so right and it's inspiring to hear you talk about knowing yourself and doing what's right for you with confidence. What a wonderful Valentine's Day gift to yourself and to us.

mrsnesbitt said...

I have listened to this twice now, the first time I had tears in my eyes as I so much identified with the things you were saying. I too made a very important decision in 1999 when I chose to concentrate on my role as wife instead of reaching the top of the career ladder as Head Teacher. Life means so much more.

Great to meet you, I found you via one of my best friends Kai.

Denise
Yorkshire, UK.

Olivia said...

Thank you, Lori-Lyn! It did end up feeling like the best Valentine's ever and I still feel like celebrating because I'm free to write...xxoo, O

Olivia said...

Denise,

I am so touched that YOU were touched by my vlog. So you can identify with making such a big, expensive, and important decision that is counter-cultural and hard...but at the same time, the easiest thing in the world once you know it is the only thing you will be happy with!

It is great to meet you as well. I met Kai on NaNoWriMo this past November because she was in Kate's (from Meanderings) online group. It is so cool how people find each other, isn't it?

Well, WELCOME...and thank you for visiting....don't be a stranger :)

Peace,

Olivia

Stephanie ODea said...

Olivia, I feel the love and happiness in your voice--that's all that matters.

congratulations!
congratulations for choosing you.
xoxox
steph

Olivia said...

Thank you, Steph, and thanks for visiting too!

Everybody, visit Steph's wonderful blog "A Year of Crockpotting" for fun and easy crockpot recipes. I'm not one for recipes at all---finding them boring when I want to be creative---but Steph's recipes ARE creative, and you never know what she's going to put in the crockpot next!

Hugs and kisses right back at you,

O

Rick Hamrick said...

You know, O, the key for me, the point at which I knew how perfectly you had worked this out, was not in the vlog, but in your response to Sylvain.

You pointed out how perfectly everything lined up for you, even to emphasize that taking the job prompted some purchases which now have been made use of in other ways (just as if they were the exact purchases for these secondary uses), and it feels to me as if it all is coming together wonderfully well. Heck, Olivia, you know in your very center how perfectly this has played out! Bless you that you sense this so early in the game, my friend.

Too often, people presented with the same opportunity spend all their energy grieving what might have been instead of living what *is*!

You, my friend, are the queen of "okay...so how do we make this into exactly what we will find glorious?"

I'm so lucky to be here to see what rabbit you find in the fold of your skirt next!

Unknown said...

I this SO great! I am very inspired. I know the feelings of grief personally. In fact, last week I felt this sense of dread over a job interview I was to go to. I made the decision to go with my gut and not go even though feeling the pressure to please others made me feel pressured to ignore my own feelings. I was glad I went with my intuition and I'm glad you did too. In fact, your post confirmed to me that it is indeed good to pay attention to our intuition and to go after what we REALLY want.
Happy belated Valentine's Day!

Unknown said...

P.S. I forgot to mention - this whole process of getting the interview and then feeling the dread and responding authentically also opened the door for me to really evaluate what I wanted versus what I did not want or what I may have settled for in the past. Sounds like you had a similar experience. The day I cancelled the interview I sat down and asked myself what I really wanted in a job and made a detailed list. I realized that it wasn't just about hoping someone would hire me but finding the place that was right for me as well.

Angela said...

Oh Olivia,

I can't believe it took me until Saturday to read this post. I am so happy for you! And I am very happy myself today as well. As a matter of fact, I'm so happy for us I had to cry a little! :) I'm so glad you made this empowering decision for yourself and that you have Lovehubbie's suppport. BRAVO!

Olivia said...

Dear Rick,

You are so right...all is working out and syncing up so well, and I've learned many important lessons. Thank you for sharing your perspective on this, Rick, and for being such a support to me on my journey---I take great encouragement from you! Love, O

Olivia said...

Kristine,
Yes, yes, that "grief" and "dread"...I know it well...and I'd try to quell it and ride on the tide of my initial enthusiasm and the shoulds of conventional wisdom.

Intuition IS always right, and even when it seems "wrong" it's right because of what we learn. Thank you for this confirmation, Kristine.

I am glad for you, too, that you made this decision about your job. I'm excited to see where you will end up working and know that it will be absolutely perfect! Congratulations to you, too, for going with your intuition.

Peace and Love, O

Olivia said...

Yay, Angela, I'm so glad that we can rejoice together...whoo hoo! Have a happy Sacred Sunday, Love, O

Leah said...

hello olivia! it was so heart-warming to hear of your decision and the effect it has had on you already. congratulations and happy creating to you! xoxox

Olivia said...

Thanks, Leah! Feel better and thanks for leading the way, Hugs, O

thailandchani said...

You are awesome. :) And take that as truth. I wanted to tell you badly enough that I even put up with the word verification. Typically, I don't comment to blogs that have it... but be assured.. I will be reading you regularly! :)

Olivia said...

Thank you, thailandchani. I needed that today :)

You absolutely won't believe this, but I hate word verification too. Just hate it. So many times I've typed a whole comment out, then closed out the window before typing in the word and then I've lost the comment. ARGHH! So...I didn't know I had it :)

I had to roam around Blogger and finally found where it was and got rid of it. So no more word verification---YIPPPEE!

Thanks X2, Hugs, O