Choose to Make Life an Adventure

In every moment we have the chance to look at life as an epic adventure.

I’m not talking about a YOLO (you only live once) approach to life where you make choices without consideration for the negative consequences or people who could get hurt by your choices.

I’m talking about an approach to life where you recognize that the choices you make can have significant POSITIVE consequences in the form of memories you want to remember over and over. Read more books to learn about new things or how to do things better, say yes to more adventures, and try new things you can look back on and smile proudly about. Memories are the beautiful remnants of our personal history, that live on forever. They are the things that get passed down through generations, shared at gatherings with friends, and even told as inspirational stories to inspire others.

Adventures aren’t just about traveling to far distant lands for weeks or months at a time, adventures can be inward, learning more about yourself, taking full responsibility of your life and where you are currently, deciding to change your circumstances because you supersized the future vision of your life,  so that you can be the best version of you… so that you can be someone you feel proud of for all the growth and transformation you have undergone.

Adventures can also be on the home front, spending time getting reacquainted with your partner, your spouse, your children, and your family. Really seeing them with a heart full of gratitude, listening to them, making more time for fun and play together, and paying attention to the thoughtful things they do and the joy they bring your life.

Choosing to see life in all of these areas above as an adventure can literally shift the meaning AND the OUTCOME of your existence in a very magical way.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Grateful to be on this journey with you! I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Thank you for being here.

Never forget one person can make a difference…. that one person is YOU.

With so much love,

Your friend,

Kim xo

I Didn't Know That About You - Learning New things About Your loved Ones

My eldest daughter is a voracious learner. I have always admired her dedication to understanding herself so she can not only be her BEST but show up in relationships with others as her best as well. She began her journey at 14, digging deep into learning. She has continued her self-growth journey every day since then.

It’s incredibly forward-thinking and selfless to behave this way from such a young age. Not only has it inspired me beyond measure, but I have learned so much from her, about her and others in my life. Knowledge truly is power, and understanding ourselves, true self-awareness, and responsibility for ourselves - is liberation.

One of the important revelations she made was learning that she is an HSP - A Highly Sensitive Person. There are beautiful qualities that come with this, but sometimes, living AS an HSP or WITH an HSP can be confusing and challenging.

You may question yourself and be overly critical of yourself simply because you can’t put words to feelings and emotions that feel as though they take over you.

Understanding WHY you may respond to things with, what often appears to those closest to you, as irrational intensity and emotion allows us to better “KNOW THYSELF,” while also allowing your family to know you. This awareness, creates both peace and harmony, two incredibly important things in our home (although there have been times, a year ago, that peace and harmony was not the predominant energy).

My daughter shared what she was learning with me, as she processed the information which inevitably helped her settle down from judging herself so harshly, loving the qualities of an HSP that she could see as strengths, rather than weaknesses and it shifted the dynamic in our home. I remember thinking, “I didn’t know that about you. I am so grateful to know this and I love you for it.”

My husband, as it turns out, is also an HSP. And when my daughter first suggested this, then sent me a movie about it to watch with my husband, we were both dumbfounded and enlightened all at the same time. How could he have reached the age of 52 without this understanding? A veil was lifted and so many things, including many of our conflicts, suddenly become crystal clear.

Learning this about my daughter and husband has given me a new appreciation for them, a new understanding of them, and an even deeper love for them.

My encouragement to you is to get to really know yourself. Study yourself for a few days, and ask yourself why you think you do what you do. Do you have big goals  & visions for yourself that allude you? Peeling back the layers of self-awareness can literally set that glorious masterpiece that is YOU - FREE!!!

Grateful to be on this journey with you! I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Thank you for being here.

Never forget one person can make a difference…. that one person is YOU.

With so much love,

Your friend,

Kim xo

Raising Inspired Children

Of all the jobs I’ve had over my 53 years, my favourite and the most challenging job, has been parenting our 3 amazing daughters.

We have never treated them like they are our little minions who must obey our every word, but rather, we give them the freedom to be who they are and support them to help them grow into the best versions of themselves.

Our role as a parent in the first few years is to teach our children, as well as to encourage them to develop resilience, to trust themselves and to be okay with making a few mistakes along the way while they also learn the power of decision making. We definitely offer our advice and guidance when asked, we communicate a LOT, and we ultimately leave it to them to come to thier own well informed conclusions. By allowing them to make their own decisions and learn how to live with the consequences of those decisions - good or bad - we set them up to lead a life they take ownership and responsibility in creating.

We cannot protect our children forever, nor is that our job. We want them to be empowered individuals who are confident, we want them to believe in themselves and know how to overcome challenges in order to achieve their destiny.

HA  - sounds easy, doesn’t it?

My husband and I have learned as much from our children as they have learned from us.

Our girls are now 23 and the twins just turned 20. We have been through a lot as a family (what family hasn’t?). Our eldest daughter has a health condition that has layered in an additional complexity that we have all had to learn to navigate in order to best support her on her journey to be her healthiest (which she is thank GOD!). They are ambitious, self motivated, hard working, with a giant vision for the life and work they are creating and they give everything they do their absolute ALL.

We have been asked countless times for tips on parenting as all 3 girls have turned out pretty dang great! We aren’t perfect, we have made mistakes, but we have always learned together and grown together. In response to all the questions and to pay forward ALL that we have learned - we created an online course to help other parents raise inspired children.

In life all wisdom comes through experience….we are parents in the trenches just like you - raising our children while navigating our own challenges. In our UNIQUE course, you will hear from my husband and I, AND our children as we share both our personal successes and challenges, as well as how we overcame those challenges. The purpose of this course is to set you up to succeed based on a solid foundation of practical wisdom rather than theory.

Being a parent is THE MOST IMPORTANT role you will ever have. We are proud of this program and excited to share it with you. Check out the course and please message me with any questions.

Grateful to be on this journey with you! I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Thank you for being here.

Never forget one person can make a difference…. That one person is YOU.

With so much love,

Your friend,

Kim xo

PS: Here is an interview I did on the show “Where Parents Talk”

“Meet a wife and mom of three — including a set of twins — whose resume is a fascinating read! From corporate executive to author to global health and wellness entrepreneur, Kim MacGregor describes her current journey running her own business as, “living by design.”

From healthy aging and living with intention, MacGregor’s mission is to live her best life with purpose and impact, while supporting others to do the same.

Filled with challenges, personal growth and tough choices, MacGregor chronicles the steps she took to be the architect of her own business.

Running a team of well over 100, in various countries and continents is an opportunity she embraces and thrives on.

Watch the video interview with Lianne Castelino of whereparentstalk and Kim MacGregor, global wellness executive.”

What NEW EXPERIENCES can do for you…

Last week my hubby and I drove 2 ½ hours to visit friends for the afternoon and stay for dinner.

They live outside the hustle and bustle of the city on a 34-acre property.

I had no preconceptions of what to expect - I was just looking forward to the visit. What we experienced that afternoon was absolutely magical.

An older small green home was the first thing we saw driving up the long road, this is where his spry 97-year-old mother lives. Beside it was a larger home attached to an old barn. All of it is surrounded by lush flowers and vegetation. This is where D and his wife and their 2 daughters live. On a tour of the homes we went on later, the barn was filled with old race cars of all kinds, at different stages of being refurbished, one of D’s passions.

We were NOT in the city anymore!

We went into the house and to the kitchen which D designed. It looked like something out of an Italian film. High ceilings, a huge stove and sink area, rustic benches (brought by his dad from France) and tables covered in fresh fruits and vegetables.

D immediately sliced open a fresh cantaloupe that he picked that morning from his garden and offered us a snack of cantaloupe and prosciutto. Jeff and I had never had this combination of foods together and it was delicious.

We then put on our long pants, sweaters and hats and D took us for a walk to the far reaches of his property. It stretched on for what felt like forever. He shared the history of the property and how he spent 15-18 years old there as a young boy when his parents first purchased it. Years later, when they announced they were going to sell it - he and his wife S, bought the property.

As we walked through the rolling terrain, dense with trees he shared that his father worked with inmates from the local jail to help rehabilitate them and one of the things he had them do was come out of the property and plant trees. Needless to say, decades on, these trees are big and beautiful holding this compelling history in their roots.

We walked through a wide river bed, dried up in the summer heat, that flows spectacularly during the spring and fall.

We returned to the main house and met up with S who had returned from work. She had started dinner while we were out walking and the kitchen now smelt like a combination of fresh produce and marinating fresh seasonings. She gave us each a small cardboard basket and we headed out to the garden behind the house to pick the veggies for dinner. Fresh potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, fresh cucumbers and fresh basil and cilantro.

The meal S cooked for us was one of the BEST Jeff and I had ever eaten.

We felt like total city slickers for the day. I would have PAID to have the entire experience, my heart was so filled with gratitude! It served as a reminder to Jeff and I of the importance of getting out of your regular routine to experience NEW ways of living & new places to expand and shape your understanding of the world. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy just an openness to NEW experiences.

More memory building coming at the end of this month when we head off to South Carolina for our summer trip. I can’t wait!

Have you had an experience that changed the way you looked at things? Would love to hear about it!

Grateful to be on this journey with you! I BELIEVE IN YOU!

Thank you for being here.

Never forget one person can make a difference…. That one person is YOU.

With so much love,

Your friend,

Kim xo

Why I’m so passionate about healthy aging

I lost my mom when I was 29 and she was 53. My mom was my best friend and the first example of strength, unconditional love and an unstoppable quest for learning.

While she was a fitness and wellness buff, she got breast cancer at 41 and died of colon cancer at 53.

I turned 53 in November 2021 and it has been an emotional and deeply meaningful year for me. I have pivoted a great deal from prioritizing everyone's health around me, to really listening to and paying attention to my body and how I feel - energy, joy, weight, my joints, how healthy are my relationships and mental clarity?

I fully believe that our health is not one single factor but a combination of things done right that creates overall VITALITY… and that is what I am going for - not just feeling OKAY but YOUTHFULNESS AND VITALITY!

These past 6 months I doubled down on my nutrition. While I have been using the most amazing supplements since I was 47, I would often give myself months of pure indulgence (I had a MAJOR sugar addiction that I didn’t truly identify before this time). Cutting out inflammatory foods like gluten, dairy, alcohol and coffee was not difficult for me but cutting out processed sugars was my weakness.

As I assessed how I really truly felt - I realized that having the desserts and sugary treats in my 80/20 months was not benefiting me in the slightest.

I know what you’re thinking… Kim you have to live and enjoy. YES I do agree 100% and trust me I LIVE and I ENJOY - I have simply prioritized how I FEEL as an ongoing focus of mine -so having achy painful joints, bloating and feeling sleepy from sugar was NO LONGER worth it to me! I cut processed sugars out completely in Jan 2022 with the above inflammatory foods and I HAVE NOT MISSED IT one bit!

Here’s the thing I have learned (and I coach this to my clients)… your body doesn’t lie! It is telling you how it feels all the time - you just aren’t listening. It’s no longer enough for me to negotiate with MYSELF why it’s okay to have sugar simply because it’s MY RIGHT and I don’t want to FEEL deprived of what I want! DO you follow where I am going with this? It’s me against ME! I want to feel AMAZING, energetic, clear-minded, ZERO bloating in my gut, fit and healthy and I want my skin to glow! (I know demanding aren’t I! But WHY THE HECK NOT!)

So yes - I don’t eat inflammatory foods ANDDDD because I have helped my gut by incorporating supplements and nutrition - I NO LONGER CRAVE inflammatory foods OR sugar. The way our gut works - Our microbiome - is that it craves the state of the environment. So when we are living in a state of overgrowth of BAD bacteria (from eating inflammatory foods, stress and lack of exercise) we crave SUGAR, ALCOHOL, dairy all the things that clever but nasty bad bacteria FEED OFF OF!

By focusing on healing your gut health you get rid of the cravings that keep you in the loop of poor health, bloated belly, lack of energy, hormones feeling out of whack and brain fog…it all stems back to the gut!

I owe a great deal of my health at 53 - 6 years post menopause to my nutrition plan which is why I am OBSESSED with paying it forward to as many people as possible. People are willing to invest in their health - because it truly does matter what you feed your body. 70-80% of your immune system is in your gut. I am grateful to have coached hundreds of people through the program and of course, to lead from the front showing women what is possible when you prioritize YOUR HEALTH and invest in YOU. It’s the BEST investment you can make.

I know there’s a ton of confusion in the “diet culture” and please be clear, what I am talking about is NOT A FAD DIET  - rather it is about developing a healthy LIFESTYLE - 2 very different things.

Next blog I will be talking about BOUNDARIES and how creating healthy boundaries in all areas of my life has made a massive positive difference.

Send me a DM on IG @kimmacgregor1 or an email at kimmacgregor@rogers.com with “I’M READY TO GET HEALTHY KIM” in the DM or subject line of the email so we can connect and I can coach you on your most precious health journey!

Thank you for being here.

Never forget one person can make a difference…. That one person is YOU.

With so much love,

Your friend,

Kim xo

Missing mom…8 Lessons learned from losing a loved one

Twenty years ago my beautiful mother, Faith Suzanne Bonnell Bourne – Bonnie as everyone knew her, passed away from colon cancer.
She was 53.

I was 29.

I was married only 4 years at the time and we hadn’t yet started to have children.

My beautiful mom just weeks before she passed away

Losing anyone you love is difficult. Losing them so young feels unimaginably overwhelming. Before she passed away, I feared that I would go right after her from pure heartbreak.

She was my best friend. She was my mom for goodness sake, the person who carried me for 9 months and brought me into this world. The person who loved me UNCONDITIONALLY and BELIEVED I could do ANYTHING!

In the past two decades so much has happened in my life, both good and bad. I have struggled through some very dark, sad days when I missed her more than ever, to be able to talk to and hear her sound advice. And I have experienced overwhelming moments of pure joy and gratitude for all that I have in my life today, despite the loss and hardship.  Today, we are raising three of the most amazing young ladies who my mother would have adored, and who would have loved her right back. I ache for my children who never got the chance to meet her, spend time with her and be loved by her.

My mom was crazy, inspiring, childlike, feisty, spirited, loving, lovable and so much more. She was that unforgettable presence that lit up the room when she walked in. The one everyone asked after and told funny stories about.

Having her pass away just days before Christmas put a real wrench into the JOY of this holiday for many many years after her death. Despite the fact that I had children shortly after she died, Christmas was just not fun for me for about 8 years (8   L-O-N-G years I might add). I suppose I needed that time to grieve, but I missed out on a lot of fun with my own girls by allowing myself to be stuck in the “loss” for so long.

Even if you have lost a loved one in any other month than December, Christmas is a time for family being together and it can be a real trigger for sadness when that loved one is so obviously missing from the festivities.

With age, comes growth and wisdom and the understanding of what life is all about. I have learned many things over the years and decided to share some of what I have learned to help ease the journey for anyone mourning the loss of a loved one at this challenging time of year

1. Give yourself permission to cry

I say this to everyone. I held in my tears, the best I could, for so long, to appear strong. In the end I think it weakened me inside. Crying is a beautiful, therapeutic way to release emotion. Let it flow. I have discovered that the recovery time is much faster when I give myself permission to cry, and it is incredibly healing.

2.     Speak about them

When someone passes away, people around us tend to stop talking about our loved one out of fear it will trigger us to “think” about them, which could make us feel upset (or God forbid CRY). The best thing you could do is to speak about them, reminisce about what they did that was funny, tell stories, share pictures or videos of them with friends and loved ones. Doing this eases the pain for the survivors and allows us to celebrate their life – something we do not do enough of. This helps keep their spirit alive and honour their life!

3.    Create NEW traditions

No you don’t have to entirely abandon the traditions you had established when they were still alive, but being open to morphing and changing your traditions, layering in new things, is an important step in healing. Feel the gratitude of all the joy they brought when they were alive AND acknowledge how much they would have loved certain things (NEW or OLD).

4.   Take time to LOOK at what you DO HAVE

We can get so bogged down in the feeling of  sadness and loss that we actually MISS what is right in front of us. Our families, significant others, spouses, children are here with us TODAY, creating NEW memories and looking to us to bring meaning to our celebrations and our time together. Take the time to look into the eyes of the people you LOVE who are standing right next to you and HONOUR their presence and LIFE. There is no greater tribute you can give to those with you now, to yourself and to those you have lost. Life truly does pass by so fast for us all, and time is the one thing we cannot get back, so make the most of the time you have today because one day, this season, this year, will also be a distant memory.

5.   Believe that time WILL heal the pain

I remember people saying the phrase to me, “Time heals all wounds.” I can tell you when my mother’s death was fresh and raw, that was the last thing I wanted to hear. It actually felt dishonourable to think that one day the pain of losing her would fade away as if she didn’t matter. Well, over time, I have discovered that that couldn’t be further from the truth. There will forever and ever be many many spaces in your heart reserved only for your loved one, filled with memories and love, that will, for all eternity be a part of your soul. They have helped shape the very fabric of WHO YOU have become and those can never be taken away.  It is a beautiful thing to LOVE someone so deeply and come to realize that that love NEVER goes away and that by YOU continuing to live your life, shine your light, share your tales and stories of the person you have lost, with your friends and loved ones, for generations, you have created immortality for them. The pain WILL lessen as time passes. You WILL still cry. They WILL live on in you every single day and that is a pretty magical, underrated quality of living and loving.

6.    Know that it IS better to have LOVED and lost than never to have loved at all

Another phrase that used to scare me. The fear of “losing” someone I love and surviving with any quality of life seemed pretty remote. I believe that the very BEST part of being HUMAN is our capacity to LOVE, in a myriad of different ways. We are at our BEST when we are loved, and when we LOVE in return. Although I miss my mother like crazy every single day, I would not be who I am without HER, without my love for her and her love for me and in the end that is all we have and all that we keep with us.

7.    Find GRATITUDE in TODAY

Gratitude is a feeling of “appreciation and thanks” for all that we DO HAVE! Gratitude is the single best way to shift our energy from sadness to feeling better. We can find gratitude in so many different things – big and small. We can find gratitude for the fact that we are HERE today with the chance to make life better for ourselves and those around us, gratitude for the life we are living, gratitude for all that we have learned not only through the loss of our loved one, but also through their life and their impact in our own life, gratitude for the opportunity to love more and share more and give more, gratitude for the ability to live amazing MOMENTS today that will last a lifetime in the hearts and souls of those around us long after we are gone. You will not be grateful for their “death” it is sad and heartbreaking, but we can be grateful for their LIFE and how much richer in spirit we are for having had them in our life for the time that we did. Gratitude for today is healing.

8.    A commitment to LIVE your BEST life

Death is a reminder that life is precious. It is a reminder of WHY it is important to TRULY LIVE with passion, courage, truth, abundance, forgiveness, openness to new challenges and always leading with LOVE!! As I celebrate my mother’s life, I have also over the years taken time to reflect on the things she shared with me that she wished she had done, the regrets she had. I am reminded that life is fleeting and it is our duty to LIVE our very BEST life imaginable, to leave the world better than we found it, to forgive and to LOVE with passion so that there are no regrets. So that we can leave behind a legacy of love that will forever remain tucked away in the little corners of peoples’ hearts whose lives WE have touched while we are here.

I hope you gain some peace from what I have shared from my own experience of loss and that even one nugget will help you navigate your way with grace, through the holidays. I wish you nothing but LOVE and beautiful moments celebrating LIFE at this wonderful time of year.

Always remember one person can make a difference…that one person is you.

With much love always,

Kim xo