“I accept the great adventure of being me.”

I’ve never been one for a New Year’s Resolution. I’m not against them, I just never connected with the idea. However, while watching, of all things, a Hallmark styled Christmas movie that incorporated a book store and a champagne business (I know, right?) I stumbled across a quote, that at first I just found fun. Then I paused the movie and thought about it. Really, thought about it.

“I accept the great adventure of being me.” – Simone de Beauvoir

At first glance you may have thought, as I did, about travel, and experiencing life through the lens of the things we “DO”. But the more I let it simmer, and the more time this quote kept showing up in my mind I realized that the adventure of being me is the way I look at myself “BEING” in this life.

So much in this world has us either seeking the next “high”, or telling us we are to have joy in every moment. Curated photos that whisper to you that you are not enough. Messaging that you have to be uber productive, and often on a certain timeline. You must change who you are to be happy with yourself, and happy with life.

And then there is messaging, often hidden, to just go ahead and numb yourself to it all. Disconnect by distraction (hello, endless scrolling). Take this pill, or this shot, and fix everything. There is a whole generation that believes feeling upset or sadness at any point is not “normal”.

The truth is we are meant to feel all the feels. The highs and lows, and everything in between. But we are meant to “flow through it”. Emotion. Motion. Feel it, name it, feel it intensely, process, and then release it.

It hurts sometimes. It downright sucks sometimes. And sometimes it’s bleeping amazing! 

More importantly, you are enough. It’s so important, I’ll repeat it: YOU ARE ENOUGH! You are deserving of health, wealth, happiness and love. You deserve to be YOU. The you you were always intended to be. The best version of you is always just waiting to be chosen.

So my mantra for 2026 is accepting the great adventure of being me. To live authentically as me. To live without filters on Instagram. To make mistakes, but to learn from them. To fall down but to grow from it. To relish the time I do get to spend by the ocean, or wherever I may roam, in a way that says “I may never see this again, but I get to be here, now”. To be present with the highs and lows of my life, because there is no protection against the lows and no expectation of what will actually be a high.

My greatest adventure is to love and connect with my family, my friends, my students, my community, in a way that serves us all, because, in the end, life is too short not to.

Ready for an adventure within an adventure? Join me at Xinalani in October of 2026.