The Charmed Life

Many people tell me that I am living the charmed life. Okay, so I have to say that I agree with them. :)

I am in a bit of disbelief as to how I arrived at where I am in my life right now. It is still seems a little surreal. I wake up every morning to beautiful mountains and sunshine, spend my time on a picturesque vineyard tasting chocolate and wine. Doesn’t sound half bad does it? And even more importantly, how does one end up living a life such as this?

The dictionary definition of a charmed life is: “a life marked by good fortune or privilege.” And in many ways it feels like that. Since arriving in Argentina I have felt as if all the people places and things that I needed fell into my lap without much effort on my part. But I can’t say that this is all based on just “good fortune and privilege”. If I hadn’t take a leap of faith in coming to this other end of the world I really don’t believe that my life would be what it is now. This life didn’t just show up without any action on my part. And that is what this blog is about, having the courage to defy the opinions of everyone else and go with your gut instinct; having the courage to be yourself no matter how “outside of the box” that may be; taking that leap over fear and following your bliss; it is about living your full potential, living your life to the fullest. This, to me, is what the real charmed life is about and when you really see the magic begin. :)

As enchanted as I am with my life, it is definitely not something that I have dreamed of since childhood. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be living at the base of the Andes amongst vineyards, tasting wine, meeting people from all over the world everyday and creating delicious chocolate “maravillas”. I mean really, it sounds like something straight out of Hollywood not something that is actually real. I grew up with the dreams that probably most young girls have, the one of getting married, having the house with the white picket fence, the 2 cars, the dog and the children running through the yard. This is what was expected of me, by both family and society, and was instilled in my little self at a very young age. There was no other option. In my family a good, solid education was added to this because that is how you would be able to afford all of the above. Education was about earning money, not about the study of what you are passionate about. And so I moved, rather robotically, through life with these candy coated dreams based on the expectations of others rather than what I really wanted to do. I don’t really remember any other goals aside from those, except one. And that was to write. All I ever wanted to do since I could remember was to write. However that only authentic dream was snatched away as that was not considered acceptable in “real life”. I lost it, not because outside influences were so much greater than me, but because I allowed it to be taken from me.

So like a good daughter and citizen of society, I obtained a “solid” degree in Commerce, married my University sweetheart, bought the house and the car and started the normal life that everyone else in the world already had. Anyone looking from the outside in would have said that at that point I had the perfect life because I had everything that anyone possibly could want. Yet there was something still very wrong. I always had the sensation of being a caged animal, chomping at the bit to run free and do something different. And then one day, that cage door snapped and broke and the wild animal was set free.

I had finally gained the courage to go back to that little girl and ask her what it was she really wanted to do with her life, back to the beginning before there were any outside influences affecting her decisions. And the result surprised even me. I gave up the near perfect and secure life I had worked so hard to maintain and ventured off on my own with a blank slate. I was starting over again from scratch and with next to nothing. This time it was all about me. And I was nothing short of exhilarated and liberated. My self discovery journey lead me to live a much more intuitive and independent life. So, a few years later, after yet another deep soul search, a vivid vision and a serendipitous encounter with a little rock, I made the decision to leave everything that was familiar and “secure” and move to the opposite end of the globe, to Argentina. I was beginning a new dream.

I was now living my life on my own terms, living my own dreams, and exploring new and creative ways of living. Sometimes these dreams and plans change, but regardless, they are still always my own and don’t belong to anyone else. Since finding and manifesting this courage and strength in my life, the “charmed life” all of a sudden appeared in my lap. But it wasn’t until taking that leap of faith that it appeared.

So is it left to privilege and good fortune? I don’t think so, at least not in the traditional sense. It is something that comes when we move with the flow of who we are and make decisions based on what is in harmony with us. It is sort of like the example of someone who is charming, typically a person who exudes confidence in themselves and has a grace about them. This concept can be applied to how you move through your life, with grace and confidence and then the charm follows suit.

Everyone is capable of living this type of life. I believe that fear is one of the most useless and crippling emotions on the planet. It serves no one and does nothing but create an energy of stagnation and frustration. Once we are able to move past this and move forward in life with confidence, grace and faith, a new world begins to magically appear. And that world is your own charmed life that has been waiting patiently for you to awaken to the potential in yourself…

So in keeping with my previous blog tradition, here is a toast, (everyone please grab a glass of wine…) to living your dreams and creating the charmed life you have been waiting for because you know you that deep down you can… Salud!