Tags: Bahamas, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, vacation madness

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I went skiing with the family this weekend and was talking to one of the instructors who was working with my oldest son. We were discussing how the eleven-year-old talked me into going down my first blue trail. *head thunk* I’ve only skied 3x’s so far so this was stretching my comfort zone quite a bit. I mentioned how I was a little bit nervous scared out of my gourd, going down that steep, slippery slope. The eleven-year-old talked about how freaking great it was, but also admitted to taking a tumble at the end. Although he did go down a bit after and with a touch more finesse than I, I was proud to announce that I HAD NOT FALLEN AT ALL!!!  Much to my  chagrin, the instructor looked at me and then congratulated the eleven-year-old for taking a tumble.

“If you’re not falling–then you’re not trying hard enough.” He said.

Damn–I hate it when my kids and their ski instructors are right.

Too often I operate in protection mode–afraid of getting hurt. I’m aware that this is not always a bad thing. There are occasions when jumping head-long, unprepared into an adventure is a recipe for disaster. But sometimes it’s just a quiet way of being scared. Let’s face it–there are some moments when it’s exhilarating to race forward. If you never try, you never have the wind in your hair. (This is metaphorical because yes, I had my helmet on–safety girl.)  But this is not just a lesson for the slopes. It’s how I should view my writing life (picture moments with paralyzing fear-of-failure while working on book #2) and even who I choose to be on a daily basis.

I’m never going to ski the black diamond slopes the first time out of the gate or the equivalent of that. This is not a failure of internal fortitude, it’s common sense and it will keep me alive. And I like it that way. But… I have those moments where I’m coasting along, happy and comfortable. Yet there’s a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that says–you should be, could be doing more–a hint that there are bigger and better things waiting for me if I take a chance. My instinct has always been to say–but I might fall! I CONSTANTLY have to remind myself that nothing good can ever happen if I live my life watching from the sidelines or taking only small risks while sheathed in bubble wrap. Writing a novel was a risk. I fell A LOT but guess what–I got up. Falling didn’t make me a failure–it also didn’t make me an author. But moving forward did and the thing to keep in mind is that you can’t follow your dreams if you’re sitting on your ass watching the world go by.

Just remember that when you’re chasing your dreams…if you’re not falling–then you’re not trying hard enough.

What’s the biggest fear that holds you back from chasing your dreams. What helps you get back up when you take a spill? Any good mantras that I need in my repertoire?

Tags: Chasing your dreams, Falling down, Kim Sabatini, Kimberly Sabatini, skiing, Touching the Surface

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It’s official, for the time being, Simon Pulse is stuck with me!!!!  I’ve signed my contract.  Wanna see?

Tags: Contract, Dawn Sela Photography, Kimberly Sabatini, Kimmiepoppins, Simon Pulse

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How can I write a blog post after this???

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I love vacation.  I love it so much I don’t know why I always dig in my heels, reluctant to venture out into a world of things I adore doing.  I think it’s the insane amount of preparation that goes into the venture and the fact that I’m a creature of habit, a slug, and sort of missing the gene that causes a person to be adventurous.   To sum it up eloquently, organizing myself, three boys, the cats, the house, all other miscellaneous stuff AND being daring makes my head hurt. And I usually try to avoid making my head hurt.

But there’s more to life than worrying about laundry and the pitfalls of change.  Saturday, after being on the road for 8+ hours, we started to drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel and I could feel the wonder and awe tugging on my steering wheel–pulling my forward.  I remember the part of me that wanted to be a marine biologist and learn to scuba dive.  The part of me that is fascinated by the ocean.  The pull of the tides, the magic of the waves.  The piece of me that has a sliver of longing for adventure. Looking out over the water, I could feel all of that bubbling over as I listened to my boys, rife with their own excitement.

There is beauty on the other side of a bridge, but also in the act of moving forward.

It’s good to journey to new places–real places and the kind you only find internally.  Everyone should drive over a bridge from time to time.  There’s so much to do on the other side and you needn’t worry.  It isn’t a one way street–the bridge travels both ways.  You can come back and still have plenty of time to marvel, at the wonderful new person you’ve become, while you’re doing all that laundry.

If you could pick up right now…where would you go?

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