No matter how important our loved ones are to us, we must not fall into the trap of living our lives for them. All too often we sacrifice ourselves for our children, our parents, our partners, our friends, our co-workers, etc. that we end up not living the life we want. Don't wake up one day realizing that you spent your entire life living for other people. My daughter is the most special human on this earth to me. And she certainly does not agree with all of my decisions. However, I continue to design my life the way that I want to. I have raised her to be her own person and encourage her to live her life the way she wants to, because she does get to choose how to live her own life, not me. I am merely her guide to help navigate the waters of life and share my experiences and be the best example for her to see how to live life to the fullest. The best gift we can give to others is to allow them the freedom to be themselves, make their own decisions, and support them through the process. Carpe diem...

Earth is your playground. Go have fun. You are meant to enjoy this life and spend every moment creating it. You do realize that you create your life, don't you? Every day, you and only you make decisions for your life. When you let other people make your decisions for you, you are no longer in control of your life. You are giving away your power. You are a gift to this planet and have a purpose for being here. You and only you can fulfill that mission, but you must do the work. You must find yourself so you can help others. And once you've found your light, you realize what a beautiful chaotic world we live in and how we get to make our dreams come true every day with the rest of humanity. And guess what, you are allowed to change your mind. Just because you made a decision about something, doesn't mean that you can't decide later that it is not the right thing for you. Just make sure that you are the one in control of it, not someone else. Your destiny, your fate, your choice. This is your life. You only live once. 

If you feel like you do not have a choice in your life, I can help. 

https://calendly.com/kendramichelleleonard/enlightenment-session

When my husband died of cancer in 2009, it caused me to see life in a whole new way. I quit Banana Republic after 11 years and opened my own clothing store. When the store of 10 years was destroyed in the riots last year, I made another decision to move to Italy. Something I had been saying for over twenty years that I wanted to do. Now, I'm an International Life Coach, Author, Dreamer, Entrepreneur, and Motivational Speaker. I want to travel to talk to people to chase their dreams. But I've also decided I want The Art of Style to live on, so I'm working on franchising. Who knows what the future will hold, but right now, in this present moment I am happy, healthy, and full of gratitude. Follow me on this journey called life... find yourself.

My first memoir, ranked and available on Amazon.