"Don't let ambition get in the way of LOVE!"

By M. Kipp

As I reflect back on the last ten or so years of my life, I feel a lot of guilt for not coming home so much. I came to L.A. when I was 19-years-old and spent a lot of that time taking action on my ambition. And that lead to a lot of crashing, burning and eventually overcoming.

But something that I did not value as much was family. And now, being 30 and looking back, I am trying to reconcile the almost decade I missed out on with those I love most. And the way that I am reconciling is by making one of my core intentions for the rest of my life to spend more time with my family. There was a period of a few YEARS where we didn't see each other (mostly my doing). I felt that if I left L.A. and came home to Kansas, I would miss out on something important.

And the reality is that I didn't miss out on anything by staying in L.A. during the holidays. Oh wait, yes I did - I missed out on those I loved.

I am so present to how important family is these days. As my heart opens more and more, I see that Love and family are the most important things. And also, I am seeing more and more how fragile life is. I am blessed that both my parents are still alive. And for some time, I think I was in total denial of my own humanity and theirs. But I am present to how fragile and temporary this life is.

So, with that said, my intention moving forward is to soak the marrow out of life by spending more time with them. This means coming back to Kansas more and also, they will be coming out to L.A. more.

In my dream, they end up moving to Cali so I can see them all the time. Who knows if that dream will come true, but I am holding the vision within me that it will.

My work right now is to let go of the guilt I feel for seemingly wasting almost a decade on ambition. I know deep down it was not "wasted" and that everything happens in perfect time... and at the same time, I still feel guilt. And I know that I cannot change the past and my actions. But I can change the future and the actions I take. And perhaps over time that guilt will lessen. Right now, I am in acceptance of it and that is a great first step.

I am also grateful that I am having this awakening while both my parents are still alive. I love them so much and can't believe that I get to design more time to spend with them!! :o)

I can remember growing up and I couldn't WAIT to get to the big city of L.A. And now that I'm there and settled, I see the beauty, the joy, the precious gift that is the love of family from a small town. It's almost like I had to go on this crazy silly adventure to be able to return home and see that what I already had was not only more than enough, but precious, amazing and so rare that it cannot be found anywhere else.

No longer do I take my family for granted or allow my ambition to get in the way of my Love for them. Those days are over.

Is there anything you are taking for granted that you could flip around and see how amazing it is?

As always, the action happens over on the BLOG; head on over there and leave a comment on my blog "Don't let ambition get in the way of LOVE!" and join in the conversation! The TDL Community thrives in the comments and it's a GREAT place to get support!

Love,
Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!