Embracing the Power of Being Wanted: A Journey from Neglect to Celebration

It feels amazing to be wanted. In life or in business.

When I was married, my husband did not want to be with me. We slept in separate bedrooms. I felt like I had to beg him for attention.

During one of my birthdays, we got into an argument. I was saddened and left the house with my daughter to take her to Whole Foods in Austin, Texas for lunch.

I spotted a couple of children walking through the aisles, holding "Happy birthday!" balloons and thought this was a quiet nod from the Universe for me.

We got our lunch, sat outside on the picnic tables, those kids with the balloons a couple of tables away.

There was a man, by himself working on a tablet, at the table between ours and theirs.

My daughter noticed he was writing with a pen on a digital device and, curious at the age of three, asked, "What are you doing?"

He jovially answered.

"What are you doing?" he responded.

"It's my mom's birthday!" my daughter said, happily.

He looked up at me.

"Happy birthday," he said.

He finished his lunch, said goodbye, and I sat beside my daughter thinking, 'This is not how I thought my life was going to go.'

We finished our food and as we got up to throw our containers away, this man walked back up to us. I thought he had left, but instead, he had gone back inside the store.

He handed me a pastry box with a small individual-sized cake inside.

"Happy birthday," he said.

I quietly took the box from him, then looked into his eyes. He smiled. I felt tears welling from a space in my heart.

"Have a great day with your mom," he told my daughter, then walked to his car.

I stood there, staring down at my hands, then gazed back up in his direction. He looked back once, smiled again, then got into his car.

I will always remember that act of kindness, and how a random stranger treated me with more care and attention than my own husband did that day — on my birthday.

Now, I'm in a relationship with someone who is excited to be with me.

Who created a shared calendar given our differing custody schedules, so that we could make plans with one another more easily.

He beams when he sees me and says, "Every time I see you, I am reminded of how much I love you."

If you haven't been well-loved and well-celebrated in awhile, know that there are people in your life who will actively CHOOSE to be with you.

They could be friends.

They could clients or colleagues.

They could be lovers.

You will have to make hard choices to allow yourself to create the life you want to live. Despite what society or culture believes is "right."

You have to be willing to call it. To abandon the comfort of the familiar for the brave, bold, and wild hearted you.

You can do it. It's scary as hell, but it's way more amazing over here on this side of the hurdle.

If you need help, I have limited life strategy sessions now available.