I AM ALWAYS WITH YOU

LIVE BIG DREAMS February 15, 2019 I am on a journey of self-discovery. And to, as Marianne Williamson said, make manifest the Glory of God that is within me. To discover my gifts and to share them with the world. To be ALL that God created me to be.  I’ve been writing notes, gentle reminders to myself for most of my life. Then intended them for my three wonderful boys. Recently, I began sharing with those I love and admire.  I am definitely blessed with a lot of inspiration. I see or hear things and I can write a story about it, connecting it to an old experience or reading.  I want to inspire action on dreams and the over coming of our fears because I’ve been there and through this process I am facing my fears. We’ll never know what we are capable of until we put ourselves on the line. And what I want my loved ones and everyone to know is that we exist in a world of infinite possibilities. The only limitations are the ones we accept for ourselves. ...

Can you believe? February 14, 2019 Can you believe in your dream, in your vision when no else can see it? Michelangelo once proclaimed, “I saw the angel in the marble and I chiseled until I set it free.” I’m sure people looked at Michelangelo pounding that marble thinking he was crazy because to them it was only a lump of stone. But it wasn’t about them. It’s not about other people; it’s about you and your vision. When things seem against us. When mistakes pile up and our boss is telling us we aren’t doing enough. When our energy drops and frustration sets in. And our vision, our goals and our hopes seem so bleak, how many of us just want to give up and say, “ Today just isn’t my day?” Yup, I’m raising my hand. I’ve been there too! As a coach, I always told my players to keep their head up no matter what happened. My reasoning was that, once your head drops, your heart drops and when your heart drops there isn’t any hope anymore and when there is no hope you are ...

Should I go in? February 13, 2019 Standing at the shore, a non-swimmer, I stare out at the clear blue lake. The waves crashing against the shore appear more treacherous than ever before. Maybe it’s the fact I’m considering whether to jump in. My heart races. Thoughts of all that could go wrong flood my mind;  What if I flip? How deep is the water? Can the life vest really help? What if it doesn’t? I take a deep breath and decide to make the leap. I jump into the kayak and with a helping push from a friend, I am off into the water. I clear the first wave, then the second and the third. With each wave I see the front of the kayak elevate above and no longer level with the back end. My heart pounds harder. My body stiffens. My muscles tense. I tighten my grip on the paddle; my knuckles turn pale white. I close my eyes. I take another deep breath. Before I realize, I am deep out in the lake. And a funny thing happens; the water is no longer rocky. It is calm. It i...

How do you eat an elephant? How do you eat an elephant? How do you climb a mountain? One bite at a time and one step at time. Landing or standing at the mountain top is so seductive.  I’m sure there is a way we can just land at the top. We get a lucky break and are handed the “title;” we take a shortcut; or we buy our way there-- hire a helicopter to drop us at the top. And trust me these are all extremely tempting *cough* I wanted to try. But then I ask myself if I did, would I ever really learn anything new?  Tony Robbins once wrote, “Often we are caught in a mental trap of seeing enormously successful people and thinking they are where they are because they have some special gift. Yet a closer look shows that the greatest gift that extraordinarily successful people have over the average person is their ability to get themselves to take action.” I don’t believe any one person is more special than the other. Our individual specialness exists deep within and i...

Saturday, February 9, 2019 Can I lift this weight? If I always lift the same weight, how will I ever discover how much weight I can actually lift? At first pushing a heavier weight is difficult, but then the muscles adjust, and the weight isn’t as heavy anymore... then you progress to the next weight and your muscles take time to adjust again. But eventually the weight feels light and so you go a step further and the process repeats itself.  If I don’t step out and attempt to lift the heavier weight I will always lift light and I’ll never be as strong as I am able.  It’s not the weights fault, it’s not that the body builder is stronger or more able, it’s that I didn’t push my limits. I didn’t stretch myself. I didn’t go beyond my comfort zone. The heart is a muscle and it works in the same way. When we try something new it can be scary, even daunting. I think it’s super easy to get caught up in being human and in our experiences that lifting weights can feel...

Friday, February 8, 2019 The other night I read the book, “The Dot” by Peter H. Reynolds to Liam before bed.  In the book the little girl didn’t believe she was an artist, her self-doubt paralyzed and kept her from painting. She sat glued to her chair and refused to even move a muscle.  When approached by her teacher after class. Her response was, “I just can’t draw.” Her teacher encouraged her by saying, “Just make a mark and see where it takes you.” She jabbed at the paper with a marker and made a dot, her teacher asked her to sign her name to the paper. She thought, “maybe I can’t draw but I can sign my name,” and so she signed it. The following week when she went into her art class she was surprised to find her drawing framed on the wall behind her teachers desk. She snarled and said, “hmmmph I can make a better dot than THAT!” She opened her water colors and painted a masterpiece. Her initial doubts and fears about being an artist and her ability to draw pre...

Thursday, February 7, 2019 Am I playing to win or am I playing not to lose? Teams and people that play not to lose stay within their bounds of what they think is possible, they play with fear of losing, they hope to win, they don’t go all out. Teams and players that play to win go all out and play with faith, with trust in their abilities and that they have and know enough to succeed and if not they trust in their preparation that they’ll be ready for whatever new challenges come up.  Think about it, what happens if you play to win, you play all out but what if you lose? A winners attitude will seek to learn where things went wrong, they’ll ask themselves; “why did I lose? What did I do or didn’t do?” Winners always seek growth. On the other hand, if you play not to lose you’ll never know what you were capable of. You’ll never have a chance to learn new insights about yourself and what you do to get better. You always stay within your comfort zone, your capabilities. A...