Living...Or Just Not Dying?

I saw the movie The Croods this week.  I normally do not go see animated movies as my children are teenagers, but was invited to go with the girl scout troop I will be a part of in the Fall.  It was a good movie about a family, but what is amazing is this, the family moved from fear to fearlessness by the end of the story. 

There was a line in the movie that has resonated with me for the past several days, "that wasn't really living, that was just not dying."  What does this mean really?  We all go through the motions of day to day life almost effortlessly and without thinking.  But, what if we were to stop and notice the life that is happening around us each day, what impact would it have on us?  What if when life throws us curve balls that we intentionally learned how to hit them versus dodging them? 

I spent many years just not dying.  Life went on around me and I did not participate.  As a result of this I ended up in a place of self loathing, anxiety, fear, hopelessness.  I was not living, I was not noticing life, I dodged all the curved balls I could.  There were times that I tried to live, only to sink back into the pit of despair.  In the movie, the father figure said throughout, "always be afraid"  "fear is good"  "fear keeps you alive."  But does it really? 

I discovered in the past 18 months that fear does not lead to living life, however being fearless does!  Living in fear really is no more than letting the thoughts in your head have control over you.  Believing the thoughts of hopelessness, fear, worthlesness is what keeps you in the pit.  However, as you choose to make the journey to your heart and start to listen to what it has to say the fear begins to subside and true life happens.  When the family in the movie met a person who lived life with hope, with courage, with no fear, they at first resisted, but soon discovered all that life had to offer.  They moved from their heads to their hearts and as a result they started living. 

I would love to be able to say to you that I live each day fearlessly...but I cannot.  I allow at times my head to lead me in my day and the result is always the same, I end the day with hopelessness.  But, the good news is that this is a journey!  A bad day does not mean it is over, it means that you are still learning, growing, living.  Being able to recognize this and make the choice to go back to your heart is fearlessness!    We are all on this journey together of learning to live fearlessly in our hearts and to shut down the voice in our head  that can be stress, tiredness, fear, negativity.  What makes the journey so amazing is when we are able to tap into the positive aspects of our hearts such as courage, fearlessness, hope, passion, this when when the dying stops and the lving begins!

So I challenge you, are you living?  Are you each day choosing to shut down the neagative in your head and start listening to the positive in your heart?  Take this journey with me and start living a life you onlu dreamed possible!

What In Your Heart? Make It Happen!

When I woke up this morning I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with life!  So I went on my morning run to clear my head and to move back into my heart.  An hour later a calmness had settled in and my heart was back in control of my day.

As a result of this happening, something started to take place in me I haven't felt in a while!  I don't know if it is because I am thinking about and preparing for a presentation I make in June on my journey over the last 18 months, or if I am in tune today more than usual in what my heart is staying leading me to do. Today my heart is "talking" to me more than anything about my vision, my calling, what I KNOW I am supposed to be doing.

I am in the process of wrting a book based on this blog.  I have stopped/started several times over the past couple of months and let my head tell me that I have nothing to say, but I do.  You see, I made a decision about 18 months ago to take back my life.  To stop letting life happen to me, to stop going through the motions and to make life hapen, to pursue with everything in me the the person I am meant to be, to allow the GREATNESS in me to be awakened and to live life like never before.  This will be the theme of my book.  I believe that there are others who need to be awakened to the GREATNESS that is in them and I know that what has happened in my life others can experience as well! 

This is also what I am going to get the privilege to share at a summit in June.  How going from wanting to end my life to living a life I never though was possible.  This happened as I allowed myself to listen to my heart and to "turn off" the voice in my head that said I was not good enough, not worthy, incapable.

The other dream I have is to be able to share my story with others as a personal trainer!  As a result of my heart journey, I was able to lose 150 lbs in the past 18 months.  This is a direct result of listening to my heart that I had GREATNESS in me and was fearless and could do anything I set my heart to do!  I know that others can start a journey to physical wellness, but it has to start in the heart.  I am just a regular person who followed her heart and made it happen!

So as a result of my heart "chattering" away today, I am going to make these two things happen within the next six months to a year.  I am excited for the new journey I am embarking upon and look forward to sharing with all of you who read this blog the process and steps along the way.

But now, I challenge you!  What is in your heart?  What dream, vision have you had for a while that burns deep within you?  What is stopping you from making it happen?  Stop and listen...what is your heart telling you?  Do not listen to the head that says you can't because of time, finances, or any other hinderence.  What is in your heart it meant to happen...listen.  It can happen, I believe it, let's go on this journey together!