No matter what is happening in life, human beings will always experience the spectrum of emotions. It is a myth that we can find happiness 100 percent of the time.  Life tends to be 50/50.  Often we believe that once we achieve X (weight loss, a certain income level, finding the right partner, having kids, getting through the present rough patch, etc.), we will be happy.  Happiness does often ensue, but with it comes a new set of concerns and negative emotions.  That is why it is so important to learn how to accept and live in the spectrum of emotions, because in my experience, the 50/50 ratio never goes away.

2019 was an epic year.  In my books, it was the best year yet, and as I reflect back on it, I see that it also had its equal share of horrible.  So in honor of the 50/50 rule of life, I present to you my top 10 moments and my bottom 10 moments of 2019.

NADINE’S TOP 10 OF 2019 (in no particular order):

1. Holidaying in Cancun with my husband and three kids. So many memories made there.
2. Listening to my teenage son play in his R & B band.
3. Our summer holiday on Mount Washington with our kids and their friends.
4. Discovering Nymph Falls in Courtenay. What a magical place!
5. Building my private practice to full capacity and having a waitlist of clients.
6. Getting our pug puppy, Peppa.
7. Working with my life coach, Ley-Ann. A life-changing experience.
8. Losing 25 pounds and finding freedom from food obsession.
9. Purchasing my first electric vehicle and having a blast driving it.
10. Spending a very stormy three nights at an off-grid resort with my husband and our pups. Such a cozy time!

NADINE’S BOTTOM 10 OF 2019 (in no particular order):

1. My daughter being bullied.
2. My other daughter being sick for days on end and ending up in the ER.
3. My husband being far away for work more than we’d like towards the end of the year.
4. Sleepless nights with the new puppy.
5. Being addicted to my phone and my email inbox – a life-draining compulsion.
6. Struggling with self-doubt and perfectionism in my business and personal life -- rooted in beliefs learned as a child that I never let go of all these years.
7. Freezing our butts off during the 30-hour power outage in February.
8. Our heat pump quitting on us during the coldest spell of the year.
9. Struggling with finding restful sleep.
10. Driving up Mount Washington in my electric car with three kids and watching in despair as the battery drained astonishingly fast, not knowing if we’d make it to our destination. An anxiety-provoking experience.

There you have it.  50/50.  An amazing year and a bummer year all wrapped up in the extraordinary beauty of this thing called “life”.

Here’s to a fulfilling and amazing and painful and uncomfortable and all-the-things-in-between 2020!

Until next time,