Some nail color stories I hear are so good you'd think they were made up, like this one from my friend Carolyn. But, as the day is long and my favorite nail color is red, I swear the following story is completely true:

"The day before my wedding, my matron of honor, Dena, and I got French manicures for the big day.

Dena is a busy mother of two preschoolers and was working for a large technology and information company. I was working for a large financial services company. Dena is also my best friend since first grade. We've kept our friendship going through different colleges, living states apart, men, children, and stressful professions.

We were really enjoying this time together with just the two of us to catch up on each other's lives. As our fingernails dried, we noticed that we each chose a slightly different shade of white for our nail tips. When we turned over our nail polish bottles to read each name, we couldn't believe how perfectly they matched our lives in that moment.

Dena's color was Bubble Bath. She and her husband had left the kids in North Carolina with Grandma for a sorely needed get-away for the wedding weekend. My color? Ball N Chain! We were indeed living like our nail colors."

Nearly every woman I've met, including myself, has felt like Julene at one point:  worn out, unenthused, lifeless.  What's impressive is the simple, but powerful action she took because she wanted to feel differently.

"I'm taking the little bit of down time I have to re-evaluate where I want to go before I get caught in the same ruts and routines of the last couple of years," she told me.  After years of working tirelessly, raising children, and volunteering, Julene was a middle-age Wonder Woman wondering what the heck happened to her life.  It wasn't psychologically easy to hit the pause button on the treadmill of her life.  In fact, at first it felt odd and a bit scary.  But, she kept remembering that her old routine wasn't working and that she wanted to figure out another way.  After a few weeks, she gave me an update.

"I love every day, and thank myself for making me a priority.  It's very positive, refreshing, and revealing.  Wow!  I just might finally learn to play the guitar after all!" And the nail color she decided to wear during this time:  True to Be You.

It doesn't sound like Julene's world fell apart because she made herself a priority for a while, either.  She said she loves every day.  She's excited again.  She's feeling creative.  She''s feeling what it's like to get back in touch with herself, which is exactly what she needed. And I bet she's not the only one in her world who is benefiting.

I love Julene's story because she did one of the bravest, most powerful things we can all do when our lives feel like a swirl - stop and re-evaluate.  STOP?  I know.  Julene is such a radical, isn't she?  In today's fast-paced, modern world most of us believe we don't have time to stop and reflect.  There are jobs to go to, clients meetings to attend, tasks to complete, children who need our attention, phone calls to return, groceries to buy, bills to mail, pets to walk, and plants to water.  That's today. More is coming tomorrow.  It says so on my Blackberry.

But how can you know what you want and figure out a new plan if you never get off your own treadmill?  You can't.  Somehow, some way, you've got to carve out some space to just be.  When you do, it's amazing how much you can get back in touch with what you'd like to experience and explore.  Maybe its guitar lessons, or a salsa class, or a day trip to part of the city or countryside that you've always been curious about.  Regardless of how these experiences turn out, simply doing them is re-energizing.  Feeling energized about life is what Julene wanted.  Can I hear an "Amen!"?

Last night I went to a fun gathering on my block.  One of my neighbors, Debbie, proudly showed me her painted toenails.  They were painted with alternating colors of neon orange and green.  "Aren't they fun?" she exclaimed!  And, of course, they were.

Before I could ask her the names of her toenail colors, she started to tell me about an exercise track in a city park that she uses several times a week.  "Oh, and the best part were the guys from the Police Academy." she continued.  "They were out there exercising the other day with their shirts off.  Talk about some ripped abs.  They were hot!  I tell you, the older I get, the hotter they are!"

Lest you think Debbie is old, she isn't.  She's 54.  Fifty-four years old, wearing neon orange and green polish on her toes watching young men crunch their beautiful abs, and loving every minute of it.  A woman after my own heart.

I was so absorbed in my own mental image of the cadets that I totally forgot to ask her about the name of her nail polish.  But, no matter.  I conjured up two nail color names worthy of such a woman and an experience:  All Lit Up and Ready to Glow!