Danne Reed - Fashionably Late: A Sexy Little Twist to Revitalize You and ReDesign Your Life!

Danne Reed

2016 Danne Reed.

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The big 4-0 was like drinking a top-shelf martini from a paper cup. As I passed that milestone, I searched my life and saw some awe-inspiring things. My family was healthy and thriving; the business I was building with my husband was growing each year; and my net worth, while not enough to spring for a New York penthouse, was certainly sporting more black ink than it did in my twenties.

As I took stock, however, I also noticed a few gaping holes. Hey! Where was my passionate enjoyment of my work? Where was my dream home? Where was that best-selling book I had dreamed of publishing my entire life? And why the hell hadnt that vacation to Tuscany materialized yet? Someone had made a serious error, and I wanted to speak to their supervisor!

This was my reality at the time. To borrow a phrase from Stanley Ross and ABC, I knew the thrill of victory in some areas and the agony of defeat in others at the same time.

I had two options at this point. Truthfully, Im sure there were more options, but I was at a low point, creatively speaking.

Option #1A full-blown midlife crisis, complete with a bitter attitude, maxed-out credit cards, a string bikini made for a twenty-two-year-old (yikes!), and maybe even a scandalous affair with a younger man (I couldve caught one if it was dark enough or if he was on crutches). After all, Id already missed the party, right? I was forty years old, and life hadnt handed me everything I wanted. Somehow, while I was busy doing the laundry and earning a living, my fabulous party of a life had fizzled out.

Or

Option #2I could just show up Fashionably Late! Rather than sitting around pouting over missing the party, sulking over what hadnt magically appeared thus far in my life, I could dust myself off and make a grand entrance. I could get back in touch with myself, rediscover what I did want, plan the most amazing party of a life, and make it happen. It was better than not showing up at all, and, possibly, maybe even better than showing up too early?

I know the suspense is killing you (and maybe my husband), so Ill tell you. I decided to show up for my life Fashionably Late! I introduced a Sexy Little Twist to my story plot and infused my life with a renewed sense of passion. So this is my life now I showed up Fashionably Late, but the party is even better!

Incidentally, has your entire life ever changed in a sudden flash of clarity and understanding? Have you ever been completely transformed by a particularly insightful book or a charismatic speaker? Have you ever had a sudden epiphany that boosted you beyond your past and opened up your entire future?

Yeah, me neither.

I didnt have an aha moment. There was no epiphany or life-changing book or mind-altering speaker. It wasnt sudden or dramatic or marked by a spectacular event that I would later recognize as the line between my life before and my life after.

For me, it was more like a slow awakening. A process of coming to life after a long period of comfortable existence. A dawning of awareness and innerknowing.

As I look back now on this period of awakening, I can see that there are some life-changing and dramatic events that contributed to it.

There were joyful eventsthe awe-inspiring moments of watching my sons grow up, bringing my daughter home from China (and learning that she didnt have spina bifida after all), and growing a successful business with my husband.

There were challenging eventsmost significantly, the sudden and unexpected death of my mom. A rollover car accident that easily could have killed my son and me (Mom said a bad word and then we went upside down!). The surgical removal of pre-cancerous tissue and the breast cancer label of high risk (yes, Im now a human pin cushion; and if that makes no sense to you, then consider yourself one lucky broad).

The point is that things didnt change overnight. The dramatic improvements in my life took place over the course of several years and, to a great extent and to my constant amazement, still are evolving (I didnt know how much I didnt know!).

I began searching for answers as to why, with so much to be grateful for in my life (healthy family, great marriagethough that was no accident, comfortable finances), I still felt that something was missing. I researched and studied and took courses and talked to people. I learned new techniques and tried new things and failed and tried more new things, and then read some more books. Eventually, I pieced together for myself the roadmap that you now hold in your hands.

Nothing can replace the knowledge gained from a journey of discovery, but we certainly can accelerate things by dropping you off nearer your destination. That is what this book will do for you.

And this, based on personal experience, is what you have to look forward to: