For those of you struggling to seek self-joy or self-empowerment… here goes it.
Our power within awakens each day with us. It is our thoughts that can destroy us. Choose happy on purpose. Choose balance.
Choose flexibility over rigidity. I remember asking myself… Why me?
I asked that question a thousand times… until I got still enough to really seek the answer. My struggles, my hurts, my lot in life was a tool. A tool to teach me grace, humility, strength, and freedom.
Negative people suck. Naysayers, manipulators, and evil doers are at every corner, every stop light, every open door we enter through. Greet them with a few things they can’t stand: contentment, happiness, and a heart full of joy.
Challenges come, but be victorious in today. Clear your mind, have a little talk with your thoughts, and be better…
Her awakening came not by chance, but by an inner voice that was calling her. She was desperate for change but stuck in a quicksand of past failures, deep hurts, and powerful addictions.
She cleared her throat, wiped a single tear off her cheek.
She saw the courage one day, it came to her in a flash. She knew in her heart of hearts the day had to come. She would have to seek justice for herself. So afraid and scared, she wrote the words that she knew would trigger an ending to the madness.
She wrote the words of freedom and liberation. She wrote the words that only a coward could read and twist to inflict more guilt and manipulation.
She was tired, she was exhausted. She was playing a game of chess she could never win because she is not skilled in sickness, and obsession.
She heard the words of what the Spirit told her to write… she backspaced, afraid. Then she re-wrote it.
“Relish in this day because this is the last day any of you will have control over me again. I am not afraid anymore.”
She knew these words within would end the game. Peace would come in the morning. Stand in your beliefs of good versus evil, be afraid of nothing, their guilt-infused words, the booze, and the food only have the power you give these things.
“Seek Me and forgive yourself… you are set free 🖤.”
My letter to a Narcissist, my addiction, and my unhealthy lifestyle ~
Set yourself free. Run to freedom, and allow peace to flow like a river…
Follow along as Suzanne Swanson takes us through her transformation from addiction to athlete. Find support and healing in your own life! We’re sending Suzanne’s blog updates via email along with a daily dose of motivation. Don’t miss the next post… delivered straight to your inbox.
There is a neverending journey to my soul. Each section of my path teaches me something valuable to my foster my continued growth and repair.
Here’s what my journey has spoken so softly yet loud as a bell this past week… listen and your spirit will guide you ~
Seeking rest and solidity is a must for me. I struggle with this…. but to rest in His word… in my truths, and in my beliefs, isn’t just for show… it’s my life support.
Release any and all toxic bullshit from your life. This includes people, places, and things. People will try and attach all their baggage onto you. Cut the cord and seek out only those who amplify your well-being.
Never ever underestimate the power of your inner badass. Stop worrying about tomorrow and unwrap your hidden gifts. Share them.
Be kind, be good and ever so light… but be not fooled. Do not be fragile or persuaded… be strong and clothed in his strength.
Seek your power today… Amen.
Join our safe sharing space!
Run Before You Fly Private Facebook Group is open to all who wish to continue to share their experiences, love of running, and battles of life, with each other. Together we are better.
This road before me challenges me today. It speaks to me. It tells me that I if I want to continue to rise like the Phoenix, I must remember a few key things…
My relationship with myself is one of the most important jobs I must continue to cultivate. I must never allow my happiness to depend on another person, place or thing. I am responsible for my creating my own inner joy.
The body war, image struggles, inner food choice fights, and mental sabotage are only a thought away from being used for good. I can change my thoughts and create behaviors that make me well, vibrant and full of life.
I’ll admit it: these past few days, some old feelings, and that familiar knock on the door of derailment have been loud….
BUT today this badass is up and ready. She allowed herself a minute… she comforted her soul, she accepted what was, and now she is ready to close the door, and RISE.
This picture of my road and the breathtaking view of what God created… reminds me that I am on a path to victory. RISE, PHOENIX, RISE 🔥
The triad you see in this picture is all me, however each image reflects stages of my journey. Each picture depicts truth, and displays spiritual, emotional and physical transformation.
As a child, my smile was real. Happy thoughts of mud pies, laughing with my best friend, and reading my favorite books were all I needed. Life was simple. The cruel world, awful people, rotten concepts of thinking and hatred remained dormant and had not reared their ugly heads.
The middle picture was after life had truly pulled the rug. Negative influences, compiled with tremendous self-loathing was driving the car. Addictions to food, alcohol, and hating myself comprised my daily ritual.
I was stuck. I hated myself. I played the game, forced half-hearted smiles, and repeatedly begged for God to use me for good.
The last picture is a woman who found her joy, wakes up happy on purpose, and chooses to feel and experience all life will offer her. This road behind her has taught her that instant gratification is bullshit, and ordinary moments, wide-smiled surprises, and a random chat with someone at the grocery store is what life is all about.
Take time out today to do what you love. Be ever so gentle with yourself… but own your crap. Decide that today is the day you start over.
Overcome, not over complicate – and may who you are designed to be shine brighter today.
Today I am going to put some powerful work in and press the Ctl Alt Delete reset button of my mind.
When stresses accumulate, when toxic people show back up, when the ways and behaviors of this world are heavy on me… I need a reset.
It’s so easy for any of us to be persuaded back into old patterns of unhealthy eating. Invitations to our destructive habits and addictions can arrive wrapped in deceptive packaging.
Do not be fooled, and do not be led. Be the leader.
Take time today to meet yourself on the roads and trails of your life. Be grateful of where you are, be accepting of where you have been, and be hopeful of where you are going. When the anvils and pressures sit heay… hit Ctl Alt Delete. Clear your head space… and start over.
Every day we are given a new chance to re-arrange, re think, and re-adjust the choices and progress of who we are. Take your power back. Claim it, own it, and use it for good.
Our wealth, our health, and our prosperity are gained but only by the fruits of our labor. Grace is new every morning… and may this road, and these sneakers continue to be the steady ground that has changed my life.
BE THE CHANGE… 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.
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 .
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.”
This run is for the wonderful people who have touched my heart… you know who you are.
As a child, I was carefree, with a zest for life. I didn’t know about responsibility then, or have worry. I didn’t understand the concept of adulthood, paying bills, raising children. I didn’t know about the harshness of cruel people, who the taxman or bill collector was, or that I would soon walk the road to darkness.
In my early to late adulthood, I was taught the hard lessons of love, the fear of crippling anxiety, the sadness of the battle with the bottle, the raw truth of feeling less than.
I felt the defeat of being overweight, the sadness of lack of joy, and had an overwhelming dreaded falseness that I could not become who that little girl on the left dreamed of.
In my midlife, I found the love of running… and today I inhale gratitude with each breath.
I welcome joy, I preach hope. I tell the booze to shut up and lay down. I make my choices. I decide who stays and who goes, and I will choose peace over bullshit every time.
Faith leads the way. Hope lights the path, and perseverance steps you there.
Take a step… take a breath… and find your way to your metamorphosis 🖤.
The responses I have received from my Run to Change Lives interview have truly been overwhelming and sincerely heartfelt. I have received many messages today on the subject of self-worth and how did I use my love of running to help me achieve it?
We are conditioned to feel less than. We have been taught to try harder, to “erase and try again,” to hesitate when we are given an opportunity to better ourselves, and that we are selfish when we put ourselves first.
The open road, and my running sneakers have given me back what other people, and certain concepts have tried to repetitively take from me… my self worth.
To make progress, allow yourself the wonderful endowment of self-acceptance. You have been given a gift. You were made for a purpose.
You are allowed to sit in both places of uncertainty, and places of great unrest .
You are allowed to sit in unsteady moments, and stand taller when you have rebuilt the foundation that once tried to crumble you.
The open road will listen, will push you, will be gentle some days and fierce the next– but it will guide you to regain your own love, life and trust back.
Whether it’s the park, the track, the mountains, the pavement, the bicycle, the pool, the yoga mat… take all your lack of’s and should be’s there.
Discard them one by one… and when they come back… let them visit but NEVER invite them to stay again as they no longer serve a purpose. Amen.
Follow along as Suzanne Swanson takes us through her transformation from addiction to athlete. Find support and healing in your own life! We’re sending Suzanne’s blog updates via email along with a daily dose of motivation. Don’t miss the next post… delivered straight to your inbox.
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.
. 
