You're not going to believe what color I painted my master bath. Well, maybe you are: Granny Smith apple green. Why, you might ask? Because it accents one of the colors on my bathroom wallpaper. Ok, so that's only one reason. Because I like green; I like its connection to life and growth. I mean, have you ever noticed that almost every living plant is green? This time of year green reminds me of my eighth grade English teacher who said she loved the first green of spring because it's bright and hopeful. I always imagined bright green grass pushing its way through the dark blades of last season, revitalizing the patch.



Revitalization, renewal, that's what each spring offers us. It's nature's way of saying that life will go on and begin again. You can count on it. Nature has its own cycle. Economies, societies and personal lives have their own cycles as well. After September 11 and an economic downturn, many have felt a more dormant, retracted way of life as we struggled with what it all meant and tried to figure out how to move forward. No matter that many parts of the country had milder winter temperatures; we've been cool about our conditions. It's a perfect setup for renewal, a rebirth of ourselves and what we're doing with our lives.

If we want to live the Bodacious Way, spring is the perfect time to review our lives and ask what makes sense NOW? Is my job what I want it to be? Is my career headed where I want it to go? What brings me satisfaction these days? Is where I spend my time and money lined up with what's currently most important to me? Do I really want to paint my master bath Granny Smith apple green, or is Caribbean blue or sunrise orange a better choice?

"It's only paint," my interior designer Ellen commented when I wasn't quite sure if green was it. "You can always redo it." Wise words, not only about paint but also about life. Relatively speaking most things in life are an easy "do over" (Obvious exceptions being marriage and children.) Living bodaciously means making the most aware, informed choice and allowing yourself a "do over" if it's not going as you expected or like. Living bodaciously means we courageously renew ourselves. Doing it now might be the bounce we could use in our spring.