This is forty.
An honest letter to myself.
Unapologetically celebrating myself and learning self acceptance.
Forty also means twenty years in Sweden and twenty years in America. I never thought I’d be here as it was a running joke when I first moved but alas, here I am, thriving.
Two countries. Six states. Nine cities. Ocean and mountains.
My last twenty years have been a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences. Adventures and life lessons. Friends won. Friends lost. Laugher and sadness. Love found and love lost.
I wouldn’t be the man I am today without these years under my belt. I wouldn’t know how to love as strong as I can without the heartbreaks that I lived through. Looking back at a life lived and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Professional hockey, college hockey, coaching hockey. That’s how the journey started. Without hockey I wouldn’t be me or in America. Without 90210 & Baywatch I wouldn’t have gone to college in San Diego. Hockey helped me gain a focus and will to win that led me to a career in advertising. Same will that turned no into yes many times over by out working not only others but also myself. I am grateful for the life lessons hockey taught me. From a simple thing as being on time to never accept failure. Early is on time, on time is late, don’t ever forget that.
It’s with tremendous gratitude I salute these past twenty years and I know that they prepared me well for the man I am today. For the friend I have become. For being a lover ready to love. For being the designer I am. Accepting myself as enough and never stop working on bettering the same self.
Today I celebrate my day of birth and my accomplishments up until today. I hope to spend the next twenty years doing the things I enjoy with the people I love.
I invite you to join me, we’ll have fun. I can promise you this much. Let us fika.
-cb