"Regular" people

Courage doesn’t always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice
at the end of the day saying,
“I will try again tomorrow.”
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Don't underestimate your ability to change the world. Don't lose site of your strengths. Don't become a victim of circumstance. Sometimes I think we get caught up in the fact that we think inspiration, greatness and courage have to come from the top performers, the celebrities, the pros. But that is not always the case. Don't get me wrong, most of those people are amazing and they most definitely are inspirational but they are not the only ones that can participate in courage and greatness.

I'm inspired day after day by the "regular" people that surround me. In fact 90% of my inspiration comes from these people that demonstrate courage single day.

The courage that it takes...
- for an adult to admit that they need help with their diet.
- for a sedentary person to walk into a CrossFit gym for the first time.
- for a new person show up and suck for the first month or two.
- to genuinely care about someone other than themselves.
- for someone to set challenging goals for themselves and go after them.
- to lead other people.
- for someone to have integrity and follow through with what they say they will do even when the plan fails.
- for someone to admit when they are wrong.
- for someone to tell the truth even when it hurts.
- to change lifestyle habits.
- for someone to really push themselves and give it all they have.
- for someone to stand up for their dreams.
- to try again and again even after they fail.
- for someone to go against the grain.
- to openly seek help for their struggles.
- to do the right thing.
- to be excited and all in.
- to admit how they feel.
- to be honest with themselves.
- to not make excuses.

I put regular in quotations because these people are not "regular" they are extraordinary. There are millions of other people that walk around every day without goals, without passion, without ever leaving their comfort zone. But not the "regular" people that inspire me. No, these people change the world. They do so by having courage in their own lives every single day. Not by being pro athletes or celebrities.

There are enough people walking around without courage. By all means understand, it is your life you can absolutely do what you want with it, but I'm urging you to choose to be one of the extraordinary people that have a positive impact. You have the ability to change the world. You will have an impact on the world either way. Everything you do matters. It matters to all of us. We are all connected.

So what kind of impact do you want to make? Playing it safe, making excuses and living with the walls up are not inspiring. Choose to be an inspiration. Live with courage. Be extraordinary.

If words can do this to water

Dr. Masaru Emoto's Water Molecule Experiment

I first heard of Dr. Emoto in 2004 when I watched the movie What The Bleep Do We Know? In the documentary-style film, Dr. Emoto's findings on the energy of thoughts are demonstrated. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to.  The reason I'm sharing is because I truly believe that words and thoughts are more powerful than we can even imagine.

Love the life you live, it said on the back.

When I got this necklace 4 years ago I was struggling to figure out how to turn my passion into a career.  At the age of 24, I already felt like my dreams were slipping away. I already felt run down, uninspired to get out of bed and I was working for the weekend. I ignored what my heart told me and listened to naysayers. I let people tell me how I should live my life. I let people steal my happiness. I let people tell me I wasn't good enough to go after my dreams. Notice how I say "I let", because it was my stinkin thinkin that needed to change...not other people. ME, I was in control. When I found AdvoCare, I found a group of people that were not afraid to dream. I found people that believed in me more than I believed in myself. I found people that filled my life with HOPE. Once I got a taste, I knew that this was how I wanted to live my life. I wanted to be that positive force in the world, I wanted to encourage others to chase their dreams, and I wanted to pay it forward. I originally got this necklace to serve as a constant reminder to live my life with PASSION.

In the past 4 years those words have become a part of me and my life. They have given me strength when I needed it. They pushed me to continue when the road got bumpy. They reminded me of why I was fighting so hard to create a life on my terms. They encouraged me to play outside of my comfort zone. They reminded me that I had a choice to LIVE my life and a choice to LOVE all the decisions that I made, good or bad.

Recently I've been looking for a new inspiration, I no longer needed the reminder to chase my dreams and live my passion, I was finally doing it.  When Avery was born, I changed. I felt insecure about a lot of things. Body image, athletic ability, parenting skills, everything. Who was I to be beautiful? Who was I to be strong? Who was I to be an amazing Mother? For the first time in a long time, I felt uninspired. In my last post I talked about a call that had a huge impact on my life. I wrote a blog about accepting myself where I was post-postpartum and at the same time wanting to be better. Sarah Wilson of Fashletics, posted this in the comments:

"Shanna, this is amazing! Thank you so much for being a part of the call and for writing such a beautiful blog. I would love to feature you as the March Fashlete of the Month! ... I would love to share your blog with our community AND you get a customized necklace"

If you haven't checked out Fashletics, you need to! Sarah creates some incredible inspirational jewelry and apparel. I am thankful for an opportunity to share....and to be honest a little shocked and embarrassed that my blog and all my current struggles are going to get read by a lot of people. I became inspired again. As Fashlete of the month, Sarah was going to create a one of a kind charm for me with the words of my choice. I literally was up all night thinking about the words that I knew would become part of me.

Then I remembered...the quote that I wrote on my kitchen chalk board a week earlier, the quote that I so desperately needed to be reminded of every single day.  I'm a people pleaser and sometimes I hold back so others feel better about themselves. As an insure people pleaser, I found myself doing it a lot more. When I think about it...its a really crappy thing to do to someone. I found this quote and it really hit me. I knew this is what I needed to work on more than anything. "How do you sum that up?" I asked my husband. He said "Powerful Beyond Measure"....... Ooooooooo YES that was it.

A couple of days later I got this in the mail! This charm will be with me until these words become part of my soul. Like the water molecules that are changed by the words in Dr. Masaru Emoto's experiment, these words will change me. More than just a reminder to value myself, but also as a reminder that when I don't hold back I give others the respect that they deserve. These words remind me that I will become the person that I know I am, I am GREAT,  I inspire and I give others permission to shine too.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others" - Marianne Williamson