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Shadow Self

Our shadows hold the essence of who we are. They hold our stories… they become our platform for growth, and reflection. 

Shadows are beautiful, and equally important as the light.

When we swirl in spaces of deep trust versus mistrust, faith versus control, patterns of painful choices, we purposefully turn our face from the light.

There is always a divide of what we dream of being as opposed to where we stand at this very moment. 

This morning, let yourself rest in who you are. Do not let your joy be stolen, and know the light does return. 

Accept, not resist, what you can accomplish today.

Shadows and light… love and hope… faith and fear. These things are necessary for change. 

Live your story, and love all the humanness about you that got you there.

Amen.

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Welcome Home.

Are you ready to shift? How many of us are stuck in what seems like a timeline of never-ending quicksand? Toleration of ideas or thoughts that make us uncomfortable, that spark uncertainty, and allow for dragging of our being… both physically and mentally.

To welcome ourselves home does not mean to give up and just let life “happen to us.” We are the builders and the architects… but more importantly, we are the occupants of our mind, body, and soul.

We must stop looking outward and elsewhere for approval. We must realize that our gifts and talents are unique to us, and we each have a different vessel and source of travel to get where we dream of going.

I was overthinking way too much lately. Letting magazines, commercials, and others’ opinions infiltrate and try to buckle my foundation.

I had to pause, and breathe, and remember that I do not have to stay stuck. I can shift and move onward to being a better athlete, runner, wife, friend, and “all the things” that I cannot wait to accomplish.

Your structure, the way your house is built… is wonderfully designed for you.

You are enough, you have a gift… go find it and share it.

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Go Get It.

Go Get It.

As she pulls the covers back, she notices a faint whisper of all the old voices meant to deteriorate her mind and derail her progress.

Her past buddies of laziness, discontentment, and self pity attempt to follow her to the closet… where her courage, self healing and strength– her sneakers, lay waiting.

She laces up, drinks her rocket fuel… and escapes outside to the pavement of progress.

She glides carefully, one step at a time. She hears the crunching of gravel, feels the slight change in temperature on her skin as she dips in the familiar valley of her back roads. 

It is then she realizes that no thing, no voice, no hater, no critic, no substance can undo what she has… and that is her joy.

She is me, and she is changing hearts and stirring minds… and she is extending her hand for you to come along.

Let’s go get it! #RUNBEFOREYOUFLY

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Investing in You.

The future of who you become does not start in someone else’s four walls… it starts in yours.

The potential of your well-being does not start within someone else… it starts within you.

Take the time to sow your own seeds… nurture them and watch them grow.

Investing in yourself is never foolish. Trying something new for personal betterment is not risky… it is smart.

Wanting to see and help people heal and feel their best is not meaningless. It’s nourishment for the soul.

Delay nothing that will aid you in the greatest investment to be made… YOU. What are you waiting for?

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All Along You Were Blooming

Boundless living is scary. It means waking up early, it means demanding a peaceful mindset.

It means turning the negative chatter off in your head. It means sacrifice when it’s necessary, and doing the work when there is every reason to quit.

It means shaping your future when the cards are stacked against you. It means trying harder. It means tasting your tears, dressing the battle wounds, and starting over every damn day if necessary.

It means moving the vertical structures that are stacked high between you and what your dreams and goals are. It means trusting others and others trusting you. It means building what you want, even when it seems impossible.

From once a broken and lost soul, addicted and miserable… to now the love of endurance running, hiking mountain tops… to writing my heart every day in my blog, to falling into a side hustle I love.

Make no mistake. It’s not by luck or coincidence. It’s not by chance or by happenstance… it’s by determination and challenge… it’s by hope and faith, and by imagination and grace…

All along you were blooming… Today is a good to settle for nothing less that what sparks your soul.

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The Art of Wellbeing

Good Saturday Morning!

It’s not just another day. It’s more than just a shuffle to the coffee pot. It’s not about let’s just exist and pray nothing gets in our way today. 

It’s not the crap on television or fake news. It’s not the stigmas of BS people have so generously placed upon us. It’s not about faking our way through the day and hoping no one sees our struggles, our shortcomings and our setbacks.

It’s about trying to love and accept ourselves even when the mirror and mind are fighting against us. It’s about forgiving what we could not understand and educating ourselves on nutrition and wellness. 

It’s about owning what we could not change and fighting like hell to do something about it.

It’s about trying our best and believing that no matter what… life is begging us to sign a contract with renewal, and hope, with faith and freedom.

You are enough. Today, tomorrow, and forever. Time to fly.

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Seek Your Soul

Each day as the darkness lifts and the light of morning approaches, the driver of our mind is eagerly awaiting to criticize, underestimate, and drop us off at the destination of fear, and uncertainty.

The mental chatter starts… the banter between self-love and self-sabotage gets louder as it bullies us into confusion. And before we even make it to the coffee maker… we feel defeated.

It’s hard to trust ourselves at times. Joy becomes more difficult to cultivate, and the beauty within us gets hidden in our deteriorating exterior world and circumstances.

This morning as I close my eyes and breathe in all that I am yet to become… I am beyond grateful for those opportunities to give back and serve.

I forgive what I cannot change. I accept where my reserved seat in life is at present… and I thank my creator for allowing me to be teachable in my erroneous ways.

Things will not always make sense. Life is fascinating, and difficult, beautiful and tragic. Joyful and miserable, lonely and full… but today, breathe into what you know and desire.

Seek kindness and happiness for you and others. Seek wellness and contentment. Seek your soul… seek to be better…💙

Life is waiting. Isn’t it time?

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Purpose Fuels Passion

In the meantime…

You’ll arrive at the place of finding purpose and fueling passion when you stop feeding the monsters of negativity and failure.

You’ll arrive at the crossroads of change when you rise with gratefulness and thanks, and seek more blessings… not count more curses.

But in the meantime… do not waste any further time wishing you were someone else. Do not wear jealousy of another’s success… or anger at the ignorance of what someone does not understand.

In the meantime, make sure you are loving with your whole heart.

In the meantime, set your standards high and keep your judgements low.

In the meantime, do the very thing that scares you to death, but brings you to life.

In the meantime, do some living… haven’t we punished ourselves enough for things we had little or absolutely no control over?

Set your goals, run your races, swim the oceans, climb the mountains, grow your business, make new friends, make new plans, cross out, scratch off, re-write, do over, release, repeat…

Just remember in the meantime… that person inside you is begging you to love them. You can be anything you set your mind to. But in the meantime… let’s start by being perfectly, wonderfully, no matter what you weigh, or where your scars are, or what you did, or what you couldn’t… YOU 💙.

In the meantime, just do your best. In the meantime say please, and thank you, I love you, and I’m sorry. Stay excited, and keep believing. In the meantime… the universe is watching… be ready when it shakes you 🌎.

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Path of an Empath.

My story is not unlike that of many others. Beautiful people all around me have shared similar experiences, allowed me to visit their private space of struggle, and let me peer through their personal viewfinder of challenge and uncertainty.

Growing up, I was a kid who had low self-esteem. I struggled with who I was, and where I was headed. Even so, I comfortably knew two things about myself:

  1. I had a deep appreciation and love of books, and reading… of pretty pens and notebooks.
  2. I connected deeply with how people felt. Their sadness, their joy, their happiness or anxiety… I could feel it all… and even at a young age pondered how I could help to fix it.

Circling back through my kaleidoscope of life… I am starting to better understand why I am here, why I had to endure my particular lot of darkness, and how through my re-discovery of healing through writing and running was able to overcome my disastrous relationship with food and alcohol.

I am no longer interested in trivial things that absorb my time and cease my progress. Today, I invest my time in what serves my greater purpose and yours. I am not perfect in my ways, but what I am is dedicated to my health, my mindset, and the well-being of people as a whole.

Don’t quit your daydreams 💭 ‼️ Because when you arrive at the doorstep of believing you can… kick your shoes off… you’re going to want to stay a while.

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Study Your Ingredients

Did you ever stop to think about all the virulent crap we put into our bodies and minds daily? I am not just speaking about foods we ingest, but in all facets of life. We are so conditioned to wake up… hear the bad news of the day, stuff it down, go to work, come home, REPEAT!

I overhear conversations at the grocery store, the gas stations, and the coffee shops all the time. People are on their phones, screaming, wanting more, or demanding less, fighting over yesterday’s deals, and sharpening the blades of their tongues to hurt others.

This year I have promised myself to study my ingredients a little closer, and to really examine who I will let in and who must go. I write down the things that are important to sustain my wellbeing, and how I can choose the better-quality ingredients of life to get me there.

We all need balance. We need a piece of cake once in a while… we need rest days and mind resets. We need retreats and refocus. For years I was too one-sided… all or nothing. I didn’t care about the quality of the ingredients as long as it served my purpose.

Today I am more selective. I am more patient. I am more intuitive with what matters to me and what I will and will no longer tolerate.

I am not just concerned about the quantity of things… but the quality first and foremost. This road, this pavement, these sneakers continue to enlighten and surprise me with their teachings. The time spent on this familiar, yet ever-changing route has afforded me new insight to creating joy… and being happy, just because!

Study your ingredients. Watch out for fake substitutes sneaking their way in to arrest your progress. Settle for less if it means gaining the essence of who are. Today starts with grace and it starts now. Onward… 🖤