At this point we were living in Los Angeles. My husband of now 28 years, Leo, was consumed by his work as a director, our eldest daughter Francesca was  getting ready to move to college after the summer while our youngest, Sol, was already looking at schools all over the country, with one foot out the door. "But what about me?" I was silently screaming. What would my future look like when the girls left? 

And let me tell you, feeling anxious for years leading up to this didn't prepare me for what happened next. In fact, during Francesca's first week of school at UCLA, located only 20 minutes away from home, I had my first anxiety attack.

We'd had an argument the night before and I hadn't heard from her by the time I went out on my daily run. All of a sudden, I found myself laying on the grass,  gasping for air, my heart pounding like it wanted to come out of my chest. Am I a bad mom? Is this the part where I lose the beautiful relationship with my daughter? - I asked myself.

Later that day, my therapist gave me one of the best pieces of advice: there is no reason to be anxious, you raised a wonderful daughter and she is safe at school. Just accept you are sad, cry all you need and when you are done, start living your new life!

How ready I was to have more time for myself and the amount of years it would take me to figure out how to find balance in my life again.  When Sol also left for college a couple of years later a new adventure began.

Fortunately, my husband and I found new things to pursue together. I switched running for cycling, so that we could do it together.  I quit working as a therapist at the schools, so we had time and freedom to travel around the world.

Soon enough I got myself very busy again, I opened up a flower business, created several community projects and started coaching at a prestigious Personal Growth program in Los Angeles. But no matter how busy my life got, I still felt empty inside.

As much as I loved the freedom of my new life, I would drop whatever I was doing the minute my girls needed me. Being there for them felt natural and comfortable and I totally loved it. 

But then there was also disappointment! Have you ever experienced getting all excited preparing to spend the weekend with your children, even saying no to an invitation to try something new with a friend only for them to forget about it or cancel last minute? 

It took me a while to realize the girls and I had to reframe our relationship if I wanted to avoid growing resentful. We needed to communicate at a whole new level and relate as adults. The process wasn't as smooth as I would have wanted, but I never gave up because I knew by now, that I wouldn't be able to create the new life of my dreams without having a healthy and solid relationship with my girls. 

These "developing" young ladies were still my daughters, they just needed a different type of guidance. And it was then  that I decided to live this new chapter of my life on my own terms. I would not compromise. I would continue to be a loving and involved mom while living the life of my dreams. After all, I had earned it!

Having a clear and exciting vision on  how I truly wanted my life to feel and look like was a huge step in the right direction.  I identified Self Care, Love, Family, and Inspiring others as the pillars on which my dream life would be built. I knew that compromising one of those pillars would throw me out of balance. And just like that, I began writing the vibrant and exciting new chapter I'm currently in!

I believe that our life story, like a good book, gets written chapter by chapter.  By identifying where you truly are right now and creating a vision for your future  I can help you bridge the gap and become the hero of your own story. Are you ready to write the most inspiring chapter yet? 

My Daughters