Category: Blessed

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Show Your Face to the Morning.

Some of us today will wake up with a sense of uncertainty.

We will walk down the hall with the same inner conflict we have every day since we can remember.

Some of us will wake up today hungover, ashamed and with a deep disgust within ourselves that we yet again let substance win over our truest longing for sobriety.

Some of us will wake up hiding the cookie package, crumpling the chip bag, hearing the screams of defeat echo that “you’ll always be fat and unhealthy.”

One of us will have woken up after standing up to a bully, deciding that today they will no longer have power over you.

One of us will have prayed for the first time ever… hoping for just one miracle teetering on the brink of a rock bottom.

One of us will wake up and draw the curtains open for the first time in a decade… unsure if the anxiety will let them outside for even just a minute.

One of us will need a friend today. One of us will have a huge victory, and of us will no doubt have a setback.

Whomever you are, wherever you are… draw the shades, let the light in, let the bad shit out. Own it, claim it, trust it, and move through it.

Rise on up… show your face to the morning.

Show up uninvited to all the places within you trying to hold you back. Today matters, and so do you 🌻.

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Sundays are for Slaying.

Good morning‼️ My feet hit the floor… my legs are strong… my mind is clear… and gratefulness is in action.

You can wake up miserable or you can wake up and tell your demons: not today, bitches 🤚🏻.

Be a sunflower today. Sunflowers stand stall, they are resilient, and they face the sun… but their journey requires endurance and withstanding much darkness of the soil first.

Whatever it is today… whatever is trying to bury you, trying to intimidate you… whatever isn’t serving you with peace and wellness… put your face to the light, stand tall, and show them… you are a sunflower.🌻.

Now, last sip of rocket fuel and we go… Sundays are for slaying.🖤

#earlyrising #milesandsmiles #slayinthemgoals #hopedealer

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Be the Change

đź’™BE THE CHANGEđź’™… This morning as I was lacing up to head out and enjoy the gift God has afforded me… I thought about something very important: the power of our words.

I can’t post names for obvious reasons of confidentiality… but I want to share this…

To the woman who sent me a private message yesterday, admitting for the first time that alcohol is overtaking her…. don’t give up. I have stood where you stand…. there is hope 💙.

To the person who private messaged me yesterday feeling the lack of self-worth and confidence to stand up to her own enemies… I have stood where you stand… there is hope. 💙

To the brave soul that messaged me yesterday who stepped on the scale for the first time in a year, feeling depressed, defeated, but with a new sense of purpose she hadn’t felt in a while… I have stood where you stand… there is hope.đź’™

To the man who has recently shared some of his life with me, the pain of not wanting to live, the deep hurts of overthinking, and wanting to numb himself from this world… thank you for revealing a part of you with me… and yes, there is hope đź’™.

Our words our powerful. Kindness is free, and lending a helping hand can change the world… literally… one person at a time.

I don’t have all the answers. I struggle, I sit with heavy things, too.

I fear, I pray, I contemplate, I hope, I trust, I love. You want to see a better world? Then stop complaining and let’s “Be the change.”đź’™

This run is for the wonderful people who have touched my heart… you know who you are.

Now let’s get it!

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Run for Humanity.

Today I run for our soldiers. For our heroes. For our men and women who have given tirelessly and relentlessly for my freedom and for my protection.

Today I run for this world, and how unbelievably broken it is. I run for those weary, and struggling. For those who are broken and sick. I run for our forefathers and what they fought for. I run for humanity and kindness for all humankind, of all skin colors, ethnicities, and race.

I run for peace, and to ignite unity. I run to understand ignorance and to pray for patience. I run for to seek clarity of a world that I admit I am sometimes fearful of and disgusted by.

I run today for this land that I love. Thank you, heroes… military, fire, police, first responders, doctors, nurses, pastors, truck drivers, clerks, gas station attendants, teachers, waitresses, waiters, lineman, mental health counselors, and everyone else who I didn’t mention…

I RUN FOR US ALL TODAY. May we continue to love, to be kind humans, and may our spirits be filled with a united love for all mankind…❤️💙🇺🇸.

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Where I’ve Been.

Timely Tuesday…

Back from a well rested time at the beach. With so much going on in this crazy world, how wonderful it felt to “almost feel normal” again.

Nostalgia flooded my mind all throughout the week as the smell of Coppertone, French fries, seagulls, and kids laughing brought me to a happy place of memories as a child growing up with beach vacations.

I realize as I get older earthly material things mean less and less to me… and the time spent with my family and good friends is priceless. Life is truly flying by quickly, and now more than ever the present moment is where I must try like hell to allow myself to stay in.

I also became more aware that I am typically very hard on myself, but also that I am uniquely me… that what I do matters, and that where I have been and where I am going tell my tale of just what I am made of.

Today I woke up in my little hometown, back on my country roads, with my familiar surroundings, and a renewed sense of why I do what I do.

I know where I have been, I know where I am going… 💜

“The cure for anything is truly salt water” ~

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My Father’s Daughter.

This morning I set out for my 15-mile training run.

Today was rough… humidity at 98%, and an added challenge to run without music for that distance to allow time for truly resting my head from purposeful noise… and just allowing nature’s music to be the background today.

It’s these days I often think of my Dad in heaven. So many thoughts are going through my mind…

Happy that he’s at peace, a little jealous that he doesn’t have to deal with the stressors of what’s around us. Heartbroken that I can’t ask him advice on how to deal with certain things…

But even still as I round the corner to finish this run, I know he is looking down… proud at what I have overcome, smiling at who I am becoming, and glowing because his lifelong harsh but gentle teachings are woven in me.

“I am my father’s daughter.”

Fifteen miles of “I-get-to-wake-up-and-do-what-I-love…”

Life has really been good to me. đź’™Amen.

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Perspective.

When self-doubt creeps in and negativity creates a hazy film over our progress… changing our perspective can make a world of difference.

See yourself through different eyes… love who you are. Be proud of the accomplishments and progress you’ve made.

Accept the things that cannot be undone, and continue to march forward, placing the building blocks of your dreams and goals into action.

Self doubt will come. People will try to cloud your vision, and trials of life will attempt to strip you of the faith that is necessary for contentment and peace.

Seek today to be happy on purpose. Know that waking up and trying to be better, moving your body, and mentally seeing your destination is critical to a healthy mindset.

You are allowed to be unsure, you are allowed to self question… that’s where growth comes from. Shift your perspective… simplify the plan, and trust that you are exactly where you need to be your journey today

Let’s make today beautiful…

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Serenity Sunday…

Often times I think we forget the power held in a little serenity. We are always expecting, wanting, striving, pushing for more, for better, or the next best.

On my 12-mile journey this morning, I thought about the power in having stillness, and enjoying what is… in this very moment.

Giving ourselves permission to lift the expectations of what others think is a must. Giving ourselves permission to just be grateful in the moment changes not only the outcome, but allows a clearer view into our own looking glass. It is here where we are surprised at how simple serenity can undo the plans of our destructive robber in minutes.

Waking up clear-headed without a hangover, well-rested, for me is serenity.

Seeing the beautiful sunrise… waving at familiar faces… and getting to wake up and do what I love… is my serenity.

My body was strong today. I felt good and alive and accomplished… yet I surrendered. I allowed the present to just be. I let the “what if’s” go to hell, and the voices of the naysayers drift off to a place I ain’t visiting.

Let it all go this morning. Surrender. Be. Exist. Find your serenity today đź’™.

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The Porch.

Every once in a while I take time to visit my porch. It’s a quiet place looking out into farm fields, the road I run every day, and the occasional passerby walking their dog.

This porch has tremendous meaning. It used to be the place where I would drink as much alcohol as I could, eat too much crap, and dwell in self-pity about how I wanted my world to change so badly. It was a place to contemplate how much I hated the choices I was making in my life.

My porch today takes on a much different meaning. I sit out here now so incredibly grateful for the lives I’ve touched, and those who have steadily helped me get here.

I log my running miles, reflect on my training, meditate and focus on the things that I aspire to be. I give thanks for the universe and God, and I appreciate everything spiritually.

I seek stillness, all while sober, healthy, and knowing that I can dream, be, and achieve anything I damn want to…

My porch was a place I used to dread visiting because I knew the sadness that was tear-stained on its wood.

Today my porch sees and witnesses a different me. The wood of its foundation is solid and strong, tough and weathered… just like the woman who sits there now and rejoices. She is me… and she is happy 🖤.

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Hope is Here.

I’m here to let you in on something that took me years of unraveling to learn…

Hope Is Here.

My headband today, “Hope is here,” has had significant meaning in every aspect of me changing my habits, my life disciplines, and my personal outcomes.

We are going to stumble… it’s okay.

We are going to lack grace somedays… it’s okay. We are going to feel defeated at times… it’s okay.

Because Hope lives in all of us. It lives in why you do the work you do. It lives in why we run. It lives in why we get excited about our personal victories.

It lives in you and in your neighbors. It is the only thing we desperately cling to in our lowest, most desolate moments.

My run this morning is dedicated to Hope. A Hope for you, and for me. A Hope for this nation, and this world.

Hope lives here… do not be discouraged, nor sad today.

Fill your cup alive with Hope. Watch how one simple word and concept can change the course of this day, can change the attitude of your mind, and can change the ways of your heart.

Find your way to some Hope today… and you’ll find your way home.

#findyourwayhome #runningmotivation #friday