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A Staycation Full of Stillness

My husband and I were supposed to go to Mexico to ring in the new year with our best friends. But, you know, 2020 and covid, and thus, change of plans.

In order to keep our spirits somewhat lifted (and look at something other than our four walls), we headed into the city, about thirty minutes from our home, for a much-needed (quarantined) staycation which involved a lot of walking and eating and that’s about it.

But once we arrived, I immediately got the urge that I needed to be doing something more. Like the expectation was that we were on vacation, and therefore I should be this fun, youthful Stephanie, or perhaps that we as a couple would be swinging from the chandeliers (this was self-imposed pressure, by the way).

So the first night, I ordered a dirty martini at dinner. I tried to force the conversation to flow. I mapped out …

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Dare to Dream

We were walking down the street when we spotted this sign:

“Write down your goals and dreams for 2021”

The first two didn’t take me long: forward progress for my kids and health for my husband.

I was going to end it there, but something felt incomplete. I had forgotten myself. It had asked for my goals and dreams, not just theirs.

This is quintessential motherhood: you’re always last in line.

This generation of mothers has gotten the memo that in order to be “good moms” we have to be selfless. And while selflessness is a wonderfully endearing quality, it’s also a slippery slope to be “less of your self.”

And when I narrow my focus, that’s not what I want my children to see and then one day feel compelled to emulate. I don’t want them to view motherhood as martyrdom, I want to model what a full and complete life looks like for a …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Female Social Entrepreneurs Guest Blogs Inspiration Inspirational Women Inspirational Words Love Loving Yourself Priorities Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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A New Kind of Resolution

Last year I made a resolution that for the first time ever I actually kept: I quit resolutions.

Yep, that’s right. No New Year rule I was bound to break weeks later and wrestle with guilt about. Nada. Done. Finito.

But here’s what I did do instead: I picked a word. One word that would encompass the next three-hundred-and-sixty-five days of my life. I simply closed my eyes, and let whatever word wanted to be with me come into my consciousness. And you know what landed?

Connection.

How funny (and yet not, if you know the way the world works).

Connection.

There’s arguably been a large amount of disconnect this year. Flights have been canceled; friends have gone unseen. I once spent my career speaking on stages and now I’m banished behind a screen. I desperately miss hugging people and high-fiving. I miss looking at someone’s full face as they pass by in the store and …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Girl's Night Out Guest Blogs HeartBeats Inspiration Inspirational Words Love Love In Action Loving Others Loving Yourself Purpose Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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What if We Believed

Every year my little girl sits on the lap of a stranger with an overgrown beard and an overfed belly and smiles.

She smiles a pure, nonjudgmental, unsolicited, straight-from-the-soul smile. She’s done it since birth.

And this isn’t about the bragging rights of tears versus cheers when it comes to the Big Guy. It’s about the fact that before my daughter could even comprehend there was something to be gained—that this man would give her a candy cane just to cop a squat on his knee—she believed. She trusted. There was an unfiltered acceptance there. A knowing that if her mother handed her over to someone unknown, all shall be okay.

Now, this has become a real area of concern in regard to stranger danger with her, but what a blessing it must be to see the world as my daughter does. Because that’s certainly not my first instinct.

My cup isn’t running over …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Community Guest Blogs HeartBeats Inspiration Inspirational Words Love Love In Action Love in Family Loving Others Motherhood Priorities The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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If the Fates Allow

There’s been one Christmas song, or rather one line from a Christmas song, that’s really resonated with me this year:

“Through the years we all will be together. If the fates allow.”

If the fates allow.

The fates haven’t been favorable to many of us this year. Christmas, once filled with hustle and bustle and family time, may feel incredibly flat. Your merry and bright might be a little dulled.

But even though we can’t control our circumstances, we can take ownership of our perspective. So that’s the gift I’m giving myself this year. If what we focus on we feel, I’m going to grant my attention toward optimism. I’m going to remember that every year unlocks its own tragedies and triumphs, but that’s just part of the unsigned contract of humanity: sometimes we get to skim through life, and sometimes we suffer.

It’s a little too ambitious for me to say, “From now on …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Guest Blogs HeartBeats Inspiration Inspirational Words Love Love In Action Love in Family Loving Others Priorities Purpose Roadblocks in Life The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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Children Need Presence, Not Presents

Just get on the floor with them.

That’s my answer when people ask me what my children want for Christmas. Just get on the floor with them. Come, quite literally, down to their level.

My best friend hadn’t seen my daughter for almost a year, but on her recent visit, she did just that. She sat in the company of my child and found a way to connect.

Knowing that Campbell loves arts and crafts (and her mother can’t Pinterest a project to save her life), they went to the store and gathered supplies to paint the most majestic of pumpkins. When her visit was over, she gave Campbell a stuffed unicorn that she’s slept with every night since. She rubs it to her nose and asks it to help her dream about her Aunt Jenn.

She met my daughter where she was and what resulted was magic.

It’s hard to do this as a …

by Stephanie Hanrahan Guest Blogs HeartBeats Inspiration Inspirational Women Inspirational Words Love Love in Family Love in Friendship Loving Others Motherhood Priorities Purpose The Journey Through Life Leave a comment chat
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