Let me tell you a story.

Nearly 30 years ago, I was a single mom, raising two wonderful kids, and was going back to college to complete my degree in clinical psychology, in hopes of someday becoming a licensed psychologist who would help people with whatever mental struggles they might be having, at least that’s what I thought I was doing. (Spoiler alert, it turned out that even after graduating with my degree in clinical psychology, life happened, and I ended up taking a different path that would lead me to recognizing my true dream of being a life coach.)

Well, anyways, one day I was running late and still had to drop my kids off at pre-school day care before I went to class. I was going as fast as I could and when I arrived at the pre-school daycare, I parked the car right in front in a NO parking zone, because I was so late and in such a hurry.

I rushed over to the curbside door to let Sammy (age 3) out of the car and tried to hurry her along. I then walked quickly toward the other door and noticed Travis (age 5) was already running ahead of me while Sammy was lagging behind me.

I looked back and noticed Sammy was stopped right outside of the car door, and seemed to be standing over a puddle, one leg on each side, looking down at the water. I called out to her, “Sammy, please hurry. Mama is late, honey”. I was trying to be nice, and also was feeling so anxious about the time knowing that it was getting later and later.

“Sammy", I yelled, "Come on now!”. I said it one more time, but she didn't budge. She seemed to be stuck, just staring at the puddle. I then walked up to her to take her hand to help get her moving. As I approached, she looked up and said, “Mama, look at this beautiful rainbow in the puddle”. 

At first I didn't know what the heck she was seeing; what I saw was some oil in the puddle, but certainly not a rainbow. Then, all the sudden, I saw the beautiful swirling colors of the rainbow that the oil created in the puddle; this was the rainbow she was referring to.

This moment was profound to me. I told Sammy I was so proud of her for noticing that rainbow because sometimes people just walk right by beautiful things and never see them.

I never forgot this moment, because it reminded me of how in the moment children are and how important it is for adults to also be present and in the moment. 

That very day, I wrote the phrase, “rainbow in the puddle” down, because in my gut, I knew I wanted to do something meaningful with it, someday.

The way I saw it, that rainbow in the puddle represented a meaningful metaphor for life. To me, it meant that there is power in learning to stop and notice what is right in front of you, and to take time to see the beauty in your now; to see the rainbow in every puddle.

I have now lived my life remembering that rainbow in the puddle and the lesson it taught me; to embrace my journey, with all the ups and downs that are part of life, and to embrace life, and enjoy the little things, like children do.

It's nearly 30 years later and my business has a name, Rainbow in the Puddle.