I am a firm believer of being in the right place at the right time….AND…being where you’re supposed to be… that was definitely the case for meeting Jenni Pulos up close in person at her book signing for “Grin and Bear It” sponsored by UPPABaby. I was there with my co-founding partner Ali Landry from Favored.by (my mobile app, yay!) and not only met the wonderful Jenni Pulos…but also had almost a cosmic connection with her.
Some how our wonderful conversation congratulating her and about me wanting to write a book some day transitioned into a deep discussion about patience…it was almost like someone whispered it into her ear to give me the message. That message was very well received, and I do believe it was a message from God (and my mom). I left in sentimental tears, and gratefulness… I was in the right place in the right time. I immediately dove into her book (that she so graciously signed) and learned 6 things from Jenni Pulos that completely resonated with me.
1) Bloom where you are planted – how many times in your life do you hold back on certain areas of your life, or don’t value yourself like you value other people? That stands true for many people; in general most women are like that. Jenni taught me to always “Integrate what you believe in every single area of your life. Take your heart to work and ask the most and best of everybody else too – Meryl Streep”.
2) Engaging in a heated exchange with someone who’s clearly being irrational will not help anyone – sometimes silence or patience can be the best things in a situation where someone could simply be having a horrible day. That doesn’t give that person the right to treat you like sh*t…but it also doesn’t give you the right to treat them back that way either. Sometimes swallowing your words and being silent could be the best thing to disengage the situation.
3) You can tell a true person’s character by what they do when no one is watching (or when they think no one is watching) – Jenni Pulos learned the hard way that her ex-husband was a putts, and didn’t ever want to heed what everyone else was saying (even though they were right). AND even defended her ex’s actions, until on camera, she could not defend him any longer. Sometimes it takes stepping back and looking at the entire situation to really SEE what’s going on.
4) Over and Beginning are the SAME WORD – lots of times we are so scared to say good-bye to that person who’s holding you back, that job that keeps you comfortable, that friend you’ve known forever who are simply not right in your life for fear that you’re never going to have anything or anyone better. That’s never the case. How can you pick something up when your hands are full of sh*t? Remember to discard the bad stuff so that you have room for all the good stuff! AND we all like good stuff, right?
5) Navigating around negativity – this one is SO hard to do because in a perfect world, everyone would show love an affection to everyone the way that it feels good to them…in reality, that’s hardly ever the case. Realizing that people in your life (particularly family) may never treat you the way you’d expect them to (even though we all deserve to be treated like queens 😉 )…but that doesn’t mean they don’t love you. Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t give them the go-ahead to treat you like crap… but sometimes, especially when it comes to parents, they can’t quite express the feelings that they feel in a proper way. Especially when they’ve grown up in a different culture.
6) Man Up! – Never be afraid to be you. Never be afraid to ask for what you want. And NEVER compromise who you are to appease everyone around you.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you Jenni!