Guest Posts

Introducing guest blogger—and lovely client—Jen Antila. She is full of life and a poster child for following your joy! Joy isn’t something she even seems to “choose,” though; she simply embodies it and lives it. During our coaching relationship, Jen courageously made the leap from her corporate job (which didn’t bring her joy) into the world as an entrepreneur (where she knew joy would abound!). Watch Jen’s bold adventure unfold as she captures it all in her blog.

 
“To inhale Paris preserves the soul”—Victor Hugo

I went to Paris with five dreams in mind…
To reconnect, to fall in love, to unwind
To figure out my future career dreams
To begin new plans and create new schemes.

After two days, I had a choice to make
Pick three of the five – or fun forsake.
I chose to defer making future career plans
I chose my husband and fun – as Paris demands!

I engaged with Michelle upon my return
I was the student, ready to learn. Read more »

Editor’s Note: Introducing Following Your Joy’s first guest blogger! The honor goes to my favorite guy in the whole world—my husband, my cheerleader, my best friend, my soulmate, my live-in comedian, my fellow joy-follower, Bill Stimpson.

A new lesson for me is that gratitude and joy go hand-in-hand. Where there is joy, gratitude is always present. And when I come from a place of gratitude, joy will certainly follow. After seeing this idea in writing now, I feel a bit silly making such a simple announcement!

But until this past week, though, I never really understood it.

I don’t know that it’s possible to live a life that is joyful in all moments, but that doesn’t stop me from trying. Just like everyone else, I have those rough days, or sometimes rough stretches of days, when joy seems like a foreign concept. I recently had a particularly challenging week, culminating in a Friday that I thought would never end. However, it all changed in an instant, with a simple expression of gratitude.

An office getaway

That day, I needed to get away from the office for lunch. So along with a few of my co-workers, we Read more »