Close your eyes and picture this...

A tropical beach in the Caribbean, on the island of Bonaire. It’s Valentine’s Day. The man of your dreams is standing next to you. He is looking into your eyes and promising his heart and body belong to you and only you until he breathes his last breath.

Sounds like a great first chapter to a romance novel or a fairytale – doesn’t it?

Well, the story didn’t exactly turn out like most fairy tales do. I know, because it’s my story. This was my life approximately seven years ago. The marriage that started on that day lasted for six years. It collapsed into chaos in less than one month –22 days to be exact. The 528 hours of conflict ended with an e-mail. An e-mail that ended my marriage with the man of my dreams.

After some time passed, my coach gave me a writing assignment. The assignment was an essay about the experience. I had been putting it off until now. Now I am ready to own my story and share it with the world. As I look back at the communication, which passed between my ex-husband and I as a form of therapy and research, I realize I was consistent and I shared my feelings with a loving heart. I owned my feelings and for that I am proud.

If you have been listening to this podcast, you know from previous episodes that my guests own and share their stories. Stories that include secrets, sex, hormones and depression. By sharing their stories with us, they feel free to move on to their next life journey. Hearing their stories reminds us we are not alone and we’re not crazy either.

You don’t know what you don’t know

My favorite attorney friend always says “You don’t know what you don’t know”, and it is so true. It could be something you didn’t know about a situation, about another person or most importantly something you didn’t know about yourself. There is a right time for us to learn our lessons.

Habit #1 of the 7 “I Am” habits is clarity. It is clear to me I wouldn’t be here without the experience of my marriage dissolving and it is also clear to me that important things don’t disappear after only 22 days.

If you would like to share a moment of clarity you’ve experienced, leave me a voicemail, send me an email (ann@annpeck.com) or send it through twitter (@iamannpeck). If you would like to get the complete “I Am” habits, simply send IAMHABITS in a text to 44222. If you like this podcast please leave me a review and subscribe to Straight Talk for a Curvy World in iTunes.