In September of 2019, my son brought home his first book from the school library for the year. It was about the Seven Summits.

As we read the book before bed, something triggered in my mind when we got to the section about Mount Kilimanjaro. What was it? Where had I recently seen something about Kilimanjaro? I pushed it to the side, finished up the book, and got my little ones off to sleep.

As soon as they were down, I went to my computer and searched my history and there it was. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) had a program available through Team in Training (TNT) called “Climb 2 Cure”. One of the trips was to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. I knew I had seen something somewhere! With no further research, and realizing after the fact that I really didn’t know exactly where this mountain was, I sent an E-Mail off to LLS to inquire about the Climb 2 Cure program and to let them know that I would be joining them in the Fall of 2020 to summit Kilimanjaro.

And that is how my journey began.

No knowledge. No facts. Just a feeling. A gut feeling to say HELL YES! I am doing THIS! I decided to…simply put…DIVE IN!

Have you ever had a time in your life where your intuition spoke so loudly to you you had no choice but to answer with a HELL YES?!?! Have you ever felt yourself “diving in” head first based on that gut feeling? As I thought about my decision to climb Kilimanjaro, I realized that this “listening to my gut” has been a pattern in my life. Sometimes that inner voice starts off as a whisper and grows so loud I can’t ignore it any longer and sometimes it screams so loudly at me right away that I just immediately know it’s go time…time to dive in.

At my 5th birthday party, I quite literally drove my new bike into the deep end of my family’s pool. Everyone around me was hemming and hawing that I needed my floaties or a life jacket on to ride my brand spankin’ new bike around the pool at my own party…so while they discussed it, my five year old overly excited self decided to start riding. Off I went…and as I turned the corner I rode my bike right into the deep end. Down went the bike. Down went my little sunburnt, freckled, five year old body. I was never scared. I never experienced panic. I just remember feeling so calm as I sank, eyes wide open, looking up through the blue water to the blue sky to the sunshine above and I remember thinking “just go up”…and so I did. That is my first memory of taking this approach to “dive in”. Granted, this was not a conscious decision, but looking back it taught me that I could remain calm in the midst of chaos and to “trust the process”. If you’re curious to read the whole story, check out my blog post here.

In 2005, I was asked by a friend at work if I’d like to join him and three other buddies to spend five days in the back woods of Yosemite National Park backpacking, camping, and exploring. I have never met an outdoor adventure that I haven’t loved so this was an immediate HELL YES decision for me! I had never been backpacking in the mountains. I didn’t own a tent at the time. And now that I think back, I didn’t even have actual hiking boots. I just knew in my gut that this was an adventure I was not going to miss. I will NEVER forget that trip as long as I live. It was one of my greatest, most fun adventures yet! I strapped on a 50 lb pack, laced up my new hiking boots, and off we went into the back woods to explore. I wound up with blisters the size of the freakin mountains on my heels, but I didn’t care. I pressed on day in and day out surrounded by the most magnificent scenery, natural beauty all around me, sunshine beating down. It was amazing. We crossed what seemed to be a small river on our way out one day and by the time we headed back across to get to camp, it was flooded. We wound up knee deep in raging water trudging across doing our best to hold our footing with every step. We laid in a giant field one night and looked up at the endless sea of stars feeling embraced by the Universe in the best way possible. And before we left, we climbed Half Dome, pulling the weight of our bodies up the sheer rock face holding on to giant cables, hands covered in gloves we had found. I had never felt so on top of the world.

In 2008, I decided on a whim I wanted to complete my first sprint triathlon. Naturally, I enrolled myself in a triathlon swim class at the local YMCA because, well, all I knew how to do was doggy paddle. TRUE STORY. I mean, that’s normal right?!?! I had no clue how to get a swim cap on or how to freestyle. Christ, I didn’t event like putting my face in the water…BUT I knew I wanted to complete a triathlon. So I dove in, worked hard, pushed fear and ego to the side, and at the age of 26, I learned to freestyle and I completed my first sprint triathlon. More on that adventure here!

After 13 years of working in financial services, I made a major career pivot and obtained a second Bachelors degree in Nursing. Even though I was making great money and had a great team around me, I knew I had to make this move. You see, when I started my career in finance, year one I told my friend Dan that I wanted to be in healthcare. That I wanted to go back to school. That inner voice started as a whisper year one and by year ten, when I started Nursing school while working full time, it was SCREAMING at me. So I finally listened. I earned my degree and transitioned into my Nursing career. Thank God I listened. That huge leap of faith has given me the opportunity to care for countless individuals. It has allowed me to speak to hundreds of students to provide guidance around healthcare career pathing. It has enabled me to place exceptional Nurses in jobs that perfectly aligned for them. It has led me to where I am right here, right now, in this amazing life I get to live.

The funny thing is, every time I have taken this approach to “dive in”, it has worked in my favor. My intuition IS my super power. Every time I have pushed FEAR aside and said HELL YES, it has been life changing. I have experienced so many wild adventures, so much fun, connected with so many amazing individuals, learned so much about myself and others, and grown in ways I never imagined possible.

And so here I am, diving in yet again to what feels so right to me…sharing my stories with the world, with YOU, with a vision of positively impacting as many of you as I possibly can around the globe.

Diving into this one life I get to live has taught me that I don’t always need to know what every step along the way will look like. I just need to be able to envision the final result, my destination, or in the case of my upcoming climb, myself standing on top of the summit. I have learned that I simply need to trust my gut and trust the process that unfolds. I have learned that I need to believe in myself and my vision and when I do THAT, things have a way of working out.

The Universe has a wonderful way of giving us exactly what we need exactly when we need it.

Always remember that whether you are climbing high, dreaming big, or diving in, YOU have everything YOU need to reach your “summit”.

Trust the process. Let life unfold. Say hey fear, fuck you…and experience this one amazing life that we get to live!