My mom used to always say I had moxie. She was a wordsmith, that one. For those of you lacking similar confidence in the English language, moxie can mean any of the following: energy, pep, courage, determination, know-how. I like to think of it as energetic determination. In most cases this quality has served me well in life – I see something I want and I don’t just go after it, I take it. In fact if it’s something I can’t have right this second then I probably don’t want it in the first place. This makes me really good at my transactional sales job and at planning last-minute trips to Bali. It also means I’m pretty fearless in most situations (exceptions: life-threatening and/or financial investment situations) because, quite frankly, I just don’t give a f**k. I suppose there was a time in my youth when I actually cared what other people thought about me and my choices, but those days are long gone. Ever seen When Harry Met Sally? Like Sally, it may just take me an hour and a half to order a sandwich. Don’t care. Someone disagrees with my self-preservation approach to parenting? Don’t care. Despite having a closet full of appropriate outfits, I will think nothing of strolling through the lobby of a Ritz-Carlton in a tank top, yoga pants and snow boots. Don’t care. I was probably two-thirds of the way through my daily checklist (or on the way to the bar) and didn’t see the point in stopping to think about impressing anyone. Fabulous way to live, right?

Except when it’s not. Except when I find it nearly impossible to meet anyone whose energy for making things happen and getting shit done can match my own. When you’re the person who is always making the moves and executing the plan (you know, the one you put together in 5 minutes flat), you quickly realize that most people are all talk. Most people live in a self-created world of fantasy and disillusion because they are busy with thinking and not busy with acting. When you act and create your way through life, you leave little room for long-term disappointments because there’s no time for dwelling. There is nothing more frustrating to someone like me than listening to someone else’s “It would be nice…” and “What if…” stories when they’ve got no plans to actually do anything about those ideas. As people close to me know, I’m not the one you call and vent to if that’s all you need is to vent. I’m the one you call when you need to get shit done and maybe I can help you put together the plan to deal with said shit. Part of me misses being in my home sales office in Chicago, surrounded by other Type-A’s, but even there only a fraction of the people have energetic determination. Only a few live one day to the next on momentum. Not surprisingly, most of them are women, masters of multi-tasking that we are. But seriously…where are all the go-getters of the world? Where are all the non-talkers of the world, the do-ers, the non-f**k-giving, you-get-one-lifers??

I know it’s been a while…did you miss me?? I’m not checking my moxie at the door as you can see.