Throughout the year, I travel one night a week and then I am home to spin my life around. I work, cook, clean and do laundry. I make life 90% perfect for everyone at home and then I go again. I have a balanced life and I try to live in the present moment but the travel tends to put me in a state of "NEXT!”

I had an incredible speaking season and stayed at some incredible places, but it has not been with its shortage of 10% days. I have dealt with hotel power outages, fire alarms, cancelled flights, storm delays, missed hotel and car rental bookings and I even experienced my first ever (and very frightening) shooter scare in an airport.

Every week I meet dozens - sometimes hundreds - of people. The energy exchange when I speak is extremely important to me but what happens afterwards means the most. Once I am finished speaking, I have handfuls of people come and tell me their stories, and this is what stays with me. I sit on dark airplanes and I close my eyes thinking of, and praying for, them. I get to impact others and they in turn impact me; it is the greatest trade-off.

At home I deal with making time for myself, my marriage, my friends and all that goes with raising teenagers. In addition to these meaningful relationships, I am nursing a very sick cat.

Summer is the time that I purposefully move from "NEXT!" to... Now. Summer is when I unplug and let this busy brain decompress.

I catch up on much needed sleep (well, as much as I can with teenagers coming and going). I unplug as much as possible. I eat beautiful food and commit to something physical every day.  I wake up before everyone else to spend quiet, reflective, meditative time alone and I’ll do all I can to stay on that deck all day.

Summer is the time for us to move away from "NEXT!" and move to... now.