I was given these words to make up a story:  Happy, smiles, my girls, hubby, family, vacation,explore, goals, travel, Love.  This is what I came up with.

Living a California life comes with connotations.  I am sure you can come up with your own version of this story but that doesn’t mean it’s correct.  It especially doesn’t mean it’s mine.  Rolling down the freeway with the top down and the music up, however, that stereotype I’ll let you have.  For now.  But watch it with how far you run off with this narrative until I’ve told you you can go. 

In this season of resolution people are always rambling on about goals.  What are my goals?  Do you have goals?  Of course I do.  We all do.  What sets us each apart is our dedication to accomplishing those goals and our path to seeing them through.  Living, laughing, loving, smiling.  These are not goals though.  These are mindsets.  I am of the mindset to love my life, laugh off the bullshit and smile though it all.  That is the California way.   

So what do you do to breakout?  That’s a question every Californian gets.  Where do you go when you live in the place everyone comes to escape?  How does one vacation from paradise?  This also depends on perspective.  For some people a vacation means just stepping out of their little bubble and escaping the humdrum for a day.  For others it means blowing all the money they’ve worked hard to save for who knows how long.  Vacations for me are opportunities. 

The world is vast and time is short so every chance I get to step away is a chance to explore.  An opportunity to find new places and new experiences, to see life and to grab it with both hands.  Being a mother, and not only that, but being a mother of two beautiful girls is a responsibility.  I have a responsibility as a guide and a teacher to show them all that this world has to offer.  I want to hike through the forests with them and climb mountains.  Show them how to climb trees and what if feels like when you fall out.  Falling is natural, it’s the getting back up we all have to learn. 

I want to travel the globe with my girls and learn as I teach, teach as I learn.  Being a parent doesn’t always mean being the one who knows the answers.  Sometimes you have to humble yourself and learn from the young the many things you have forgotten as you grow up.  There is nothing like having daughters to remind you how to smile at the simple things. 

My hubby can come along as well.  Someone has to open the doors.  Joking aside, there is no doubt that my husband will be there.  That is what love is about; being there to experience life together.  It’s not about me anymore.  It’s not about him.  It’s about us.  You go, we go.  And so it goes.      

A happy life is not defined not by any one thing but by the measure of all things tangible and intangible.  The things you hold and the things that hold you.  What holds me?  Love holds me and I hold it back.  Love of my family.  Love of my girls.  Love of my husband.  When you live a life full of love you are doing it right. 

So what are this California girl’s goals?  To explore this wide world with my hubby and my girls, to love and laugh and smile every moment, and to know every second of every day that this is what it means to be happy.