Helping Create Success
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
When you have a career like Lubos it’s hard to know from where to start, but like always we will start from his early beginnings.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
We could see it in his eyes. The end was near and the spark of life, that our dog possessed all his life simply was not there anymore. Those days, when Maximus would be jumping around just to greet us by the door or energetically chasing his toys to get our attention, were long gone.
It is funny how we become accustomed to simple things, take them for granted over the time and at the end we realize its great value when we lose it, or when we are about to lose it.
I think something like this happened to our family when our Maxi got diagnosed with a genetical heart condition this spring. It came as a very unpleasant surprise, if I say it mildly, that our healthy-looking Coton could depart from our lives very soon.
Maxi recovered quickly after being treated in Barcelona emergency for pets and sent home along with prescription for heavy medication. A reality check for all of us followed: our dear four-legged family member would spend rest of his days getting drugs. We knew that his time here with us was approaching to its end, we just did not know how long it would be.
Max would not even skip a beat and kept being the same dog as always. His playful demeanor kept us in good spirits and he never made us feel that there is something wrong with his heart. Medically speaking of course.
It is an irony that someone with such a big heart would die because of it.
Maximus was there when both of our children were born, he greeted them and, in many ways, he felt like he was supposed to protect them. He always showed affection toward them, and in this last stage of his life, he would cuddle against them more often.
I suppose that he felt a need to show his love more often, and I am sure that he got it from us in return as well.
Trip to the emergency for the third time within past 12 months was not a good sign. We were preparing ourselves for the possibility that it could be the last one. Once we got there, and received the hard news about his bad condition, we had to make the toughest decision that I pet owner must make: to let your friend go, to stop his suffering, to put him to sleep. We all knew that it was the right decision but somehow it did not feel any less painful.
We were blessed with a great doctor who dealt with the situation with an exceptionally good manner. She was practical but at the same time, she understood that we stood in front a very delicate decision, a sad one too. When we left the room, and hugged our Maxi for the last time, we waited for five minutes for the final ordeal to take place.
When she came out, our eyes were all wet and puffy. And then she told us something so warm, that we really did not expect:
“I have seen many dogs in my career, and I can tell when a dog has had a good life or did not. I am certain that Maximus gave you a lot of great memories and that he lived a good life. He is in peace now.”
We left the clinic in tears. Her warms last words were nice but obviously not enough. We spent our ten-minute drive home in silence. Deep in thoughts, reminiscing, remembering and mostly just feeling sad.
And then there was still one more thing that we had to do. We had to explain to our kids that Maximus was ill and that he died in the hospital. With foresight, we prepared them for that possibility on many prior occasions.
We all deal with death differently, and one must be careful when you explain it to the young children.
Their idea of death can be sometimes downplayed or exaggerated.
So, we tried to explain in minimal detail the whole ordeal and kept repeating all the positive things that have happened, and what was good for Maxi.
By doing that, we started to remember all the great stories. Suddenly, we talked about life more than about death, we smiled more than we cried.
I think that Maxi would be incredibly happy to see us there together, wiggling his tail every time his name would be mentioned in our conversation. He would feel our love and how much we are going to miss him.
Embracing the Change From the Inside Out!!!!
Throughout my life I have had change come at me when I least expected it.
I am pretty good at making decisions, when something feels right for me. I am also not scared of change, when I can see the road ahead or when I believe that it will be good change.
However, like so many other people, when we don’t know what will happen, we tend to wait to create change until we have to or we hit a “pothole” on life’s journey and we have to stop and reflect on where we are going. Even when we know it is time for change, even when it hurts to stay where we are, when we long to grow emotionally, mentally, personally and professionally, even then we tend to wait.
But what are we waiting for?
Even when we long to feel better and get healthy, we tend to wait to clean up our habits, until something happens where we simply have to.
WHY TO WAIT?
Why are we so scared of challenging ourselves?
We tend to wait until the pain of staying stuck is bigger than the pain of change. Yes change is effort and it feels like pain.
For the past 18 years of my life and changing cities, meet new culture, new people, I realizade that, people are create in kind of custuming and culture and they are fraid of changing.
What if we could look forward and wonder what we would do with change, rather than what change would do to us?
It is possible to create a life we love, but it starts with seeing change as a journey. It starts with having the courage to look inside and discover you own special, silly, beautiful, funny, clumsy, awkward, lovely self. And then there is also the dark side of ourselves, the parts we want to hide and the parts we don’t love because they are not so fluffy, or sweet, or pretty.
The thing is, nothing about being human is ever perfect.
“Life is not about perfection, it is about discovery….” In my experience it has been a “trip to me”— an open door to “me” discovering my whole self.
A dialogue begins as you listen to your body and discover your personal relationship with food and what that means.
You learn that self-nourishment extends beyond eating healthy. It’s a beginning that extends to the whole self, emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Changing from the inside out.
You feel the love and power that comes with the understanding that you can own your “emotional” real estate—the whole self.
When we approach big change in our lives from the inside out, it means we unearth, understand and then begin to address the thought patterns and limiting beliefs about ourselves and our world that got us here.
That’s really how and when we begin to change the behaviors that we adopted as a result of that thinking that are no longer working for us.
That’s when we begin to unlock our power and address the underlying problem and not just the outer symptoms. And that’s when we are truly able to create long-term change.
Embracing the Change From the Inside Out!!!! “SO I INVITE YOU TO JOIN ME FOR SOME CHANGE”, be the change you want to see in the world!!
By Keilley Lee Marques
Navigating through the pandemic
I feel an urge to express myself through these next paragraphs about the current situation we are in right now. As a mother of two and a wife to a basketball guy (my husband Lubos is ex professional player and has been coaching last 4 years), I had been dealing with many issues and situations.
In my opinion, there has been many things that people are afraid of, but I think the worst one by far is the uncertainty we are facing every day. Suddenly, we are not able to plan ahead, look forward to anything, really, and I think it is very hard for anyone do deal with.
This season, my husband and I tried to go overseas and be a coach in the US.
He even went twice over there to meet people and stayed with Baylor basketball team for the whole semester.
Just in eve of landing a job or possibilities, the virus broke out, season ended, and everything else just stopped.
Luckily, he was able to return to Barcelona to be with us, but our chances to make a transition to the other side of Atlantic has been postponed and there is a thick fog in front of us, as far as the upcoming season.
Our situation is a specific one and I am certain that there are many others, who have been caught in a delicate situation. We have to be strong and support each other, because that is what strong teams do – in tough times, they pull together. I have been very supportive of him going away for 4 months, and I am still supportive now, when it seems like there is nothing clear in the forseeable future.
At the same time, Lubos is trying his best to be positive and makes me feel appreciated. He knows that this situation is not easy for me either and we constantly communicate.
We are trying to use this time to spend meaningul time with each other, we are doing homeschooling and did many little projects with kids at home. I can see that Lubos is closer to our kids more than ever, has the time to spend with them, and that is always good. So let’s focus on the positive and let’s do positive thinking towards the future as well.
We just celebrate this last weekend our 9th wedding anniversary, staying at home, all of us together, healthy and with positive attitude towards future. Because there is not much else you can do right now, We will pop a bottle of champagne, maybe see a movie all of us together, and just be greatful for us to be healthy and able to spend time. Not everyone is so fortunate these days.
So please, stay strong, stay positive and stay safe!
With love from Barcelona, Spain
Keilley
Mother Earth, you have our attention!
One way or another, our lives have changed dramatically over the past weeks. Covid-19 and its rapid spread, halt our daily busy life into a stop, made us shelter, and distance from each other.
It’s the first time in recent history, that this happen globally, affecting every country on every continent. Just like billions of people everywhere, I have been confined at home, with my kids, leaving my Barcelona apartment only for the necessities.
I try to play my role, helping to stop the spread of this virus, and educating my kids to do so as well. (Something that I come back to later on). I also have lots of time to think about the present situation, as I am sure, many people do. I follow the news, the developments and try to stay away from panic and fear. Those two things are worse than the virus itself.
SO LET’S STAY POSITIVE! I have been following and focusing on the bright side of this current situation. Obviously, my biggest sympathy goes to the people that are suffering and are in poor health, or already lost their lives, or their loved ones. Just like in every situation, there is always something good in something bad.
In Japan, they call in Yin Yang.
I want to point out, that just in 3 weeks of slowing down industries, travel and every day “routine”, our Earth already took a note.
A positive one. Water has been clearer, air has been fresher and amazingly, the ozone layer has recovered noticeably in such a short period of time.
I hope that everyone noticed and that maybe it will change laws and the way we treat our planet.
People also have opportunity to practice many things, that we are not accustomed to do. It’s the best time to stay home, clean your house, organize and practice discipline. Staying fit and trying not to eat too much is very challenging while staying at home ALL THE TIME. That’s where discipline takes place, and everyone should improvise and try to do the best they can. There are only few rules to follow during this time, and yet, some people have very hard time to do so.
People should also practice solidarity, togetherness (while staying apart) and being considerate.
There is no room for selfishness during this time.
Parents should spend some quality time with their kids, oversee their schoolwork, and maybe try to be their teacher for once.
Families should pull together during this tough period, help one another, since there are many people losing their jobs over this short period of time.
This health and economic situation are uncovering some uncomfortable truths about our society, our character and our laws.
Let’s get out of this situation as better people, better society, and with more values. I hope that politicians, lawmakers and industries learn from this period and we will improve. (Like improve our view on doctors, nurses, fireman and pretty much everyone, who has been on the front line, dealing with this virus and helping the sick.
They are the true heroes of 2020 so far!) We still take too many things for granted, and I think that our planet – Mother Earth – is telling us something. Are we smart enough to learn? Or is it going to be just a scare, little hiccup in our way to destroy our planet completely.
I certainly hope that we are going to change our ways.
Red Dress
When you venture to live the life to the fullest, enjoying the best moments that God gives you and you overcome every obstacle along the way, it is when you really value your friendships. My dearest friend Tania Askenazí is much more for me, it is a true friendship.
It has been 14 years since we started to live through great moments, shared parties, went on the trips and unique adventures but also we have gone through some difficult moments.
The way we met was very curious. It was for that red dress! lol. I remember we were at a party in Barcelona, and Tania approached me intrigued by a nice red dress that I wore that night. She came over and said “Oh, what a cute dress! Where did you buy it?” And I sincerely confessed: “Well, in a Chinese shop, and and it was very cheap… hahaha.” Tania quickly understood that as I valued top clothing brands, I also appreciated the original and beautiful simple designs, even if they are not created by a large well known firm. Like is life to appreciated the little moments and little things.
Just at that moment a beautiful friendship was born, since beyond that beautiful cheap red dress that caught her attention. We both noticed that we had many things in common, we had much to talk about and many adventures to live.
Tania is a girl that is full of energy, always has a smile on her face that makes your day. It’s that person you always want to have by your side, to enjoy a good coffee, watching a sunset. Or to enjoy a night full of dances, drinks and lots of fun with friends.Today is her birthday, and I wanted to share with you a little of me, because this girl is worth gold.
We always travel together, we have had wonderful adventures in different destinations such as Cuba, Brazil and all around Europe. Tania has always been the friend who doesn’t do something to please you 24 hours a day.
For example, sometimes when she went to sleep I was going to dance (hahaha) and if I felt tired, she was going to ride a horse on the beach. Afterwards, we would meet to enjoy talking about our experiences. It’s like we always understood our differences and made room for one another.
It has really been a very sincere friendship. She really has been a great pillar of friendship, of courage, has always given me valuable advice with the right words (even though sometimes maybe things that I didn’t want to hear, and that’s what real friends do for each other) , and she is someone who understands me very well.
Friendship is to have fun, not to take advantage of the other, true friendship does not imply a plan for exchanging favors, but the fact of always being there during the happiest and also the most difficult moments. That is the true friendship that we have and it’s definitely worth of writing about.
A friendship that not even distance can break, sometimes when I had to go to live outside of Spain for my husband’s work and after months that we did not travel, or because each one with a busy schedule of work and travel. And there are always those moments when I would love to be with her, and I confess, whenever we are separated I count the days and hours to enjoy my “black panther” as we call her with love.
So, Today, on your birthday, I wish you the best in the world, that every day to come be loaded with new learning, new goals met, a lot of joy and enthusiasm that characterize you and that the true friendship that unites us will last forever.
I love you my dear friend…
A Life with basketball, Over a decade, my life has been around #BASKETBALL!!!
When you have a career like Lubos it’s hard to know from where to start, but like always we will start from his early beginnings.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. If you are making mistakes…you’re Doing Something. “
A Life with basketball (player–coach)
Over a decade, my life has been around basketball. Constant travelling, moving, packing, getting to know many places, many people, many cultures and languages.
I am not going to lie. It can be very hard sometimes, but we should always look at the bright side.
I firmly believe that things happen for a reason and we should take full advantage of them, when they present themselves.
My husband switched careers, going from being a player to become a coach, but the basketball lifestyle hasn’t really changed. On the contrary. It seems like there is more basketball around, and let’s face it, it’s not really a safe occupation, where you can get fired within few lost games in a row.
My take, and my duty, is to be supportive and, many times, to be independent and having time to myself.
Let’s just say, that I have no problem of doing what I like the most, and that is to travel and explore (as you can see on my Instagram profile).
I have met many amazing other basketball wives, being in the same position as myself. And with some of them we create beautiful memories and good friendship, to support each other. I have seen the struggle some of them were having, mainly due to culture differences, and of course, language barriers.
My recommendation is to try to learn at least little bit of language the locals speak, because that’s the best way to come closer to your surroundings. In that case, you are able to communicate better with people, and trust me, most people all around the world appreciate the effort, a foreigner makes to speak their native tongue, especially the ones that are very hard to learn and speak.
My husband taught me Czech over a decade ago, just the basic stuff, really, and made sure that my pronunciation is very good. Guys, you wouldn’t believe how much difference it makes to be able to understand and communicate with other Czech people around me. My time in Prague has been great, mainly since I understand them, and they understand me (well, most of the time…wink).
And then it’s the part of being adventurous. I have always been this type of a person, that gets easily bored doing the same stuff and I can’t stay put too long in one place.
Therefore, exploring is the best way to use my time, and I absolutely love it. I understand that we are all different, and not everyone is the way I am. But you can always get to know or be aware of someone close by, who will be the catalyst and get you out of your routine, which can be boring sometimes.
That’s why it is important that the basketball wives should be more in contact, share their experiences and help each other out. We all live a life that it’s not easy but at the same time, if used properly, offers many things that many wives just can’t have.
So, let’s embrace the fact that we get to live this type of life, many times, it’s a matter of only few years. Well, in my case, I have been living this life for 13 years now, and it looks like a new adventure is a waiting to happen. Stay tuned!
#baskteball #FCB #baloncesto #basketballwives #travel #lifestyle
Let’s both remember and let’s be young again!
Hello My Love:
The reason behind this letter to you is nothing more that to tell you that I love you. But also how much I crave for you.
I know that we are not going through our best period right now, I know that passion between the two can disappear over the time.
So they say, and that’s what it is going on between us. But I won’t stand and watch that our daily routine robs us from our feelings that we share and love so much…
Why won’t we recover our passion again?
Maybe you remember the times when we met each other and the way we looked at each other. Those looks we shared and gave each other, sparks in the eyes that were already searching for more… And those looks that even in the crowd, they were telling the other that we could just “do it”, anywhere, anytime. Maybe if you could remember those times and those looks again.
Let’s both remember and let’s be young again!
Do you remember when we met, there wasn’t a “safe place” for us and from us. We were like a gun powder, searching for a gun to explode.
Our bodies talked to each other and when we were in arms, I wanted to share the same skin.
It was impossible for us to just hold hands, we needed half of our bodies to be touching.
Your hands were holding my hips, and mine were holding your chest. Let’s our bodies to speak again.
We were playing, talking, touching, kissing each other, and always had your hand there…
It was a relationship of craziness, jealousy and fights, that were often solved in bed, we let our bodies do the talking.
The time has passed, we grew together, all the little gestures accumulate and create a solid relationship that we share now.
Relationship that is solid, positive and the one that I am very proud of. I found a man that let me stay myself and that always communicated and talked to me.
But my love, let me do the talking now. I miss you and I miss “us” being young…making no plans and live our days like there was no tomorrow.
I still have fantasies to fulfill with you…so what now? Take me back to that place…Let’s fall in crazy love again….Push me hard….
Let’s do that what we once did in Diagonal avenue…Let’s spend a little time in the back seat of a parked car… We will tell the police we were too love drunk to drive….We take our fantasies and make them reality because the time flies…Let’s send each other pictures and videos that get us going…We talk loud and dirty…Let’s play 2, 3, 4….The time flies without stopping and no one is warning us…
I don’t know If I can contain this hurricane I have inside but I want to reserve it just for you, my love.
I want to be your sexy lady…I want to explode together again, going back and forth until our muscles give in, with uncontrollable passion.
No one make me feel this way, let’s keep our passion alive!
To my only real love, Lubos barton!!
Always your Keilley
#couple #love #passion #baskteball #lubosbarton #hot #loveletter #loveyou #sexy
This is my first blog post!!
Me Talking!!
Hello there, let me introduce myself to you today!
I am a curious person, I really am.
I love living my life and enjoying every moment and every challange that brings. I appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that I possibly can for I may never be able to experience again.
It’s been a while that i have written a text, and actuaclly, it was one of my stronger points when I was in school. I had written blog before, but now I just feel that I have more experience and have learned to express myself better.
I hope that you enjoy the new format of my website. Its new look really makes me happy and excited, and I can’t wait to keep going. Finally, I have created something that really allows me to express myself.
If it’s your first time on my page, please, let me tell you a little more about me.
My name is Keilley.
For a long time I was thinking about doing some kind of social media activity (blogger, instagram, even as a youtuber)
But I was always stopped by fear to be criticised, because now I am mother of two, or simply by not having that time i need to do it. But I am back with my thoughts and experiences about writing and I want to share all this with you guys, my travels around or simply my everyday encounters (another day and topic to talk about).
When I turned 29, I suffered a small crisis realizing that I will soon reach 30!! That builds quite a presssure on someone who is always thinking about doing something but always putting it on hold.
Yeah, I have a beautiful family, 2 children, a small dog, and a husband that I love and he also loves me (I hope so :D) There are no big problems with money, well, we are not rich, but we live well. It sounds perfect, right?
But it is not like that, we are not perfect, and I am not here to give advice, i would be first one that needs it too :p
Before the GREAT 30th conclusion, I realized that I have so many things yet to discover, that I have many places to go, that I stiLl have so much to learn, and yes the most important thing is;
_Age is not exactly the number of your years that you lived, it’s the feeling and state of mind that tells you your real age. And how you feel? Well, let’s just say that I feel a lot younger than what my birth certificate tells me.
I have returned to my social media activity life with more power than ever.
Learned from everyone and everything around me!
Making a real list, and step by step, little by little, I can do it. I believe it will make me grow as well, putting my thoughts and feelings into words.
When that time comes and you make yourself that question … How older am i?, what do I really think?, how feeling I about my age?
Sometimes we do not realize that we stop dancing and signing, we stop making stupid photos, we stop to talk to strangers, and many times we stop to believe…. Its not about the number, its about how we feel how we open or close to our surroundings and how you see the world around us.
So hard to do and easy to say or to write about, but it simply means you are going through an incubation period and transformation.
I think the key is not to get stuck in your current lost state ( or routine, saturation) and to tap into your creative power to create a life you love.
I’m try to do my best, to live my life, because i want to teach my kids from my happines…
We must shake down our fears, and never think twice about doing something new that will put you in a new situation. Regreat can be one of the worst things in life.
“We only live once, but once is enough if we do it right. Live your life with class, dignity, and style so that an exclamation, rather than a question mark signifies it!”
Me Talking
By Keilley Lee Marques
#travel #mom #lifestyle #wife #basketball #30th #Big30th #blog