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Challenging yourself is really important if you want to live your best life. This was an exciting challenge for me but one that I really enjoyed. Be sure to read the update and what has happened as a result!
It’s hard to believe that 2016 is here already. The last year and a half have been a whirlwind for me. It has been a time of profound and significant transformation in my own life. Anyone who knows me knows that my Mother transitioned from this earth in August of 2014. Two months to the day after that, my husband moved out and I was left a shell of my former self. That time in my life, although difficult then, created profound lessons and even more profound blessings for me.
Losing me
I had always believed that I wouldn’t be able to make it when my mother passed. She was my best friend, confidante, and one of the few people who ever got my quirky ways in a world where few people did. She was always my biggest cheerleader and was there for me, even when I disappointed or hurt her.
I lost myself in my marriage and felt trapped. I lost touch with who I really was…although my soul and spirit were screaming at me to let them out and step into who I was supposed to be in the world. But I chose to ignore them, to not listen so that I could remain in my comfort zone…even though that comfort zone was not so comfortable.
The stress of the previous two events affected my body negatively and I got sick. One of the side effects of my illness was laryngitis which lasted five and a half months. As a singer and a voice teacher at the time, as well as someone who loves to talk, I was devastated. I did not know if my voice was ever going to come back and if I would ever be able to speak or sing again.
Isolation
During this time, I became a hermit in my home. This is where the blessings and lessons came in.
After losing my mother, I discovered that I was much stronger than I ever realized. That I could stand on my own two feet and come through losing her stronger and better than ever. In losing my husband, I recognized that being in a relationship in which I felt I had to give up who I truly am is not healthy for me, nor for the relationship. I learned that I should never have to change who I am for anyone.
In losing my voice, I discovered myself again. I was at home, alone with myself for nearly six months. I took that time to learn who I am and what I wanted my life to be. It was important to give myself time to grieve, and time to heal. I literally and figuratively found my voice. I spent hours reading books on the law of attraction, listening to the masters, and changing my mindset and my life. During that time, I discovered myself and changed my life completely!
That brings me to January 2016. My life has been pretty amazing and getting better since I went through my awakening. But now I know that to continue creating the life that I want to live, I do have to be intentional about how I’m living. And I do as much as I can to keep myself in a happy, grateful, and loving place as often as I can and to be authentic to who I really am. And I continue to challenge myself to grow and to get rid of things from my past and present that no longer serve me.
Excess weight
One area where I’ve struggled for decades is my weight. I’ve had the habit, as so many others do, of stuffing down negative emotions with food. The more stress and negativity I dealt with, the more I ate. It has left me with 65 pounds to lose.
So this year, as I was setting intentions for the year, I decided to challenge myself and do things that I never believed I could do before. To force myself to face my fears and step outside of my comfort zone. To boldly go and do what I had never done before. So I chose to start training for a 5k that is being held in my city in April of 2016.
I did this for several reasons:
- I want to challenge the limiting beliefs that “I can’t do it”, “I’m not strong enough”, and “I’ll fail”. Those wrong beliefs are holding me back and keeping me from the life that I want.
- Exercising regularly is a GREAT way to raise vibration! Couple that with feeling really good about accomplishing something new, and that’s a big bonus towards helping you be a vibrational match to the life you want!
- Working with some friends who are going to run with me, is helping me be accountable and stay on track.
- It’s helping me to create the body that I’ve always wanted. But I had to choose to get up off of the couch and start!!
In order to create the life you’ve always wanted, you have to be strong enough to start challenging yourself. You must challenge the beliefs you hold that are holding you back from reaching your true potential. You have to practice believing that you can do things that you’ve never done before, or that you can have things that you’ve never thought possible. And then you need to get yourselves in an emotional vibrational place, feeling joy, gratitude, freedom, and love as often as possible so that the manifestation of what you want can take place.
So, as we face a new year, what are some ways that YOU can think of challenging yourself to be better than you were last year? Face your fears and take that step today….it will be so worth it!
UPDATE
I wanted to give y’all a little update about the Color Run. I did complete it, although because of stress fractures in two of my toes, I had to walk instead of run. But the one thing that I discovered by having to walk is that I enjoy walking. I mean, I REALLY enjoy walking! So much so that I’ve expanded my challenge to myself. And have set a goal of completing 10 different 5k walks by the end of 2017! I had a great time doing the walk and it was a good challenge for me. I really enjoyed getting out and walking with my friends.
My next 5k walk is going to be the Glo Run, a great nighttime Run/Walk with lots of glow sticks, glow-in-the-dark clothing, and great 80’s music!! Can’t wait!! Thinking about challenging yourself? A fun run like this is a great way to do that!
