I’m celebrating my birthday today and want to thank all of you who sent the fantastic cards, emails and presents. Your generous thoughts, prayers and messages mean so much to me. (Whoever sent the 2005 Chateau Petrus Pomeral… you really shouldn’t have.) Also, I would love to share what Tom has planned for this evening, but this blog is rated G. Suffice it to say, “What happens in Texas, stays in Texas.”
Each day I strive to wake up a new and different person and on my birthday I like to think I’ve become a lot more than just a year older.
Whoever says you can’t defy gravity as you get older has merely lost sight of who they are and stopped dreaming. I’m not one to be content riding the surface of life. I like to go all in – which my Italian heritage certainly trained me for.
Every year at the NACLNC® Annual Conference I walk down the aisle and up to the stage to sing our CLNC® national anthem with a ballroom full of excited and exciting CLNC® consultants. To some (especially the introverts in the audience), I probably look foolish. And that’s one of my favorite strategies for NOT aging – daring to look foolish, but not too foolish (no karaoke for me).
In 1982 I started my legal nurse consulting business and pioneered the profession because I didn’t want to be shackled by someone else’s boundaries; especially those defined by hospital administrators and doctors. I didn’t want to stay the line. To succeed, I had to be willing to appear foolish along the way and sometimes do things that appeared foolish to other, shall we say “less imaginative,” types. As Sri Sri Ravi Shankar so eloquently wrote: “A fool is somebody who does something very unique, which is not accepted by others. What is wrong with being a fool? What is wrong with standing alone, apart from the crowd? Let the crowd act however it wants. I stand apart from that. I act my way.”
If you are never foolish in your life at least some of the time, you miss your life and the joy in it.
When your birthday comes around I wish for you the gift of defying gravity. Refuse to accept the limits that others define for you – both in your personal life and your legal nurse consulting business.
You CAN have all you’ve ever wanted, if only you dare to occasionally appear foolish to those who steadfastly stay the line. Give yourself the gift of acting and maybe looking foolish. After all, it’s your birthday – they make those silly hats for a reason – to foolishly have loads of fun.
Wherever you are on your birthday, I hope you hear my “Happy Birthday” greeting and this, my birthday message to you.
Happy Birthday whatever day yours is!
Success Is Inside!
Tags: Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, CLNC, Legal Nurse Consulting, NACLNC Conference, sri sri ravi, Vickie Milazzo
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February 24, 2009 at 11:31 pm
Claire Hull
Happy Birthday Vickie!
If being foolish is what helps defy the gravity of aging, then I should be two feet from the ground. Perhaps they’ll never get me in the grave.
You are already set apart from the rest. Unique and fun. I hope that never changes! And I would wish you years of foolish behavior and the gravity defying act that goes with it!
February 24, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Marianne Dean
Happy Birthday Vickie!
Hope it was all you wanted it to be!
February 24, 2009 at 7:59 am
Sandie
Happy Birthday Vickie, belated though it may be. I have certainly learned not to take life too seriously from you.
February 23, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Jessica Miller
Happy Birthday to Vickie from rainy Northern California! I loved what you said about taking time to be foolish and not accepting the limits that others define for us. I will miss the NACLNC® Conference this year (I will be participating in my first trial). This will be the first conference that I have missed and I am already bummed out about it. I wanted to wish you a happy birthday and tell you that every day, when I get up and look at my day’s schedule (and no 2 days are the same) I always catch myself saying “I just LOVE what I do”, and I, like thousands of others, have you to thank – so thanks again (and I hope you had a great day – belatedly!!)
February 23, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Jennifer Gallaway
Happy Birthday! Thank you for helping me with my “foolish” dream of being something more than just a staff nurse. As it turns out, this dream has not been as foolish as some people had thought.
February 23, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Tammie Clark-Heller, RN, BSN, CLNC & Family
Vickie,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES from cold Pennsylvania to warm Texas… you can’t tell I am so excited to come to San Antonio this time of year. I hope you defy gravity this evening as your celebration continues!!! LOL!
Vickie, thanks so much for guiding us all to be individuals who defy gravity every day. I don’t think you know how you have affected not only my life, but my family’s life. We have inspirations of Vickie all over our home in the words you say, the books you wrote that are proudly displayed on our shelves in which we read together, to the awesome quotes you provide like the one from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. What a awesome message. Our daughters even say, “That must be a Vickie quote, Mom”, to which I laugh and say “YES, isn’t it great!” You have inspired many CLNC® consultants around the globe but am not sure you know how much you inspire our daughters in this home to “dare to be different” for all the right reasons. I have no doubt that they will be strong leaders in society for generations to come. They each have the 5 promises card to look at it everyday like I do. You make them smile as big as your smile on that card and they feel as if they know you (they are trying to sneak along to Texas).
Many more birthday wishes for the woman known all over our home as “Amazing Vickie.” See you in a few weeks my friend and tonight we toast to your name and your legacy.
February 23, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Paule Toon
Happy Birthday Vickie!!
February 23, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Lisa Amick, RN, CLNC
Vickie,
Happy Birthday and thank you for everything you have opened my eyes too! I am having a blast and can’t wait until the day I can do this full time. I know that day is coming….Then I can be foolish more often… as I love being foolish as well.
Enjoy the rest of your evening and later when I sit down to relax a little, I will have glass of wine in honor of your birthday and everything you have done for me.
February 23, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Rebecca Burbes
Dear Vickie,
Happy birthday!!! I am with you all the way. I recently turned 50, and I spend no time “dreaming of retirement!” Not that I don’t enjoy and need rest, but I am living with intentionality, and like you, am striving to continually grow and achieve bigger dreams. The people history remembers are not the ones who “play it safe” all of their lives, but were, indeed, willing to appear foolish to the masses. One of my favorite sayings is, “Birds fly in flocks, but eagles fly alone.” Here’s to stepping out of our comfort zones, and having the courage to risk appearing foolish.
See you at the 2009 NACLNC® Conference in San Antonio!
February 23, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Debbie M. Wuerl, RN
Happy Birthday, Vickie! Have a wonderful day AND the best part tonight at wherever! 15 days and counting before we leave home for the NACLNC® Conference! See you there!
February 23, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Diana Schmitt, RN, BSN, CLNC
Vickie, Happy Birthday!
I will be celebrating my birthday at the San Antonio conference and the anticipation is building!
This idea of acting foolish reminds me of my grandchildren. Besides legal nurse consulting, my other passion is grandparenting. My three young grandchildren and I were in the Wal-Mart toy section (one of our favorite places) one day and I saw hula hoops. The grandkids didn’t know what they were. So, it was my job to show them.
We had a great time playing with those hula hoops in the store isle. It had been years since I had played with a hula hoop and I am sure it was not a pretty picture. The grandkids didn’t care and we laughed and laughed and I really didn’t notice the spectators or their reactions until a coworker from the facility that I work for walked by and noticed the commotion and asked, “What are you doing?” For a split second I thought I must look incredibly foolish. I could tell that she would never let anyone see her play with a hula hoop. And then I thought, no way am going to let that mentality take away from what is not really foolish at all.
This same mentality has infringed on my efforts toward building my legal nurse consulting business. There have been times when well-meaning people remind me how foolish I might be because from their perspective the obstacles are too big. At times, for a split second I feel how I think they must be perceiving my actions. However, no way am I going to let that mentality take away from my successes which have been more than monetary.
Now I am making money from my foolish actions that are helping attorneys help their clients by objectively representing the nursing profession.
Honestly, I would never have ventured out on my own like Vickie did to do legal nurse consulting because regarding entrepreneurship, I would not let anyone see me play with a hula hoop. Vickie is the expert hula hooper in the store isle showing nurses how to do this. We all look foolish at first and may feel foolish at times but Vickie and Vickie Milazzo Institute help us tackle every big obstacle that we face.
I bought one hula hoop for each grandkid and we continued our foolish display in the cul de sac at their home. Pretty soon other parents and kids wanted to play hula hoops with us.
February 23, 2009 at 11:41 am
Karen Cargill, RN, CDE, CLNC
Happy birthday Vickie!!
It’s my son’s birthday today too! He is one year old. He was our “surprise” baby after 19 years together. I am more motivated than ever to get my CLNC® practice off the ground to create a life for our family that is truly unique and fun! My husband and I practice being foolish just about every day, which is easy when you’re pandering to a one-year old.
Have a great day!
February 23, 2009 at 10:35 am
Bobbie Warner
Vickie,
If you are considered the Foolish One, then what would we call those who stand on the sidelines and watch you rise to the top? The Awed Ones? Wishful Thinkers? The Regretful Carefuls? I, for one, would rather APPEAR foolish than BE foolish. Thanks for leading the way and Happy, Happy Birthday.
February 23, 2009 at 10:11 am
Karin
Dear Foolish One,
Thanks for all the years of foolishness that paved the way for some of us lesser fools – HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Vickie!
February 23, 2009 at 10:30 am
Judie Threatt from Connecticut
Thanks for all that you do. Happy Birthday!
Judie