A few weeks ago I visited with a friend who shared some of her life story. As she shared, I was in awe of her and couldn't believe she did not view her life, resiliency or accomplishments as interesting or significant. Her story, everything she overcame, and how she has chosen to live (in spite of it all) is inspiring, yet she couldn’t see it. She is a quiet and humble friend so I understood where she was coming from, but I wished she could view her life through my eyes. This is when I encouraged her to “Own Her Awesome!” This is common and typical of all of us, right? Whether it be humility or comparison, owning our awesome can feel arrogant and self-absorbed, but I see it differently. For starters, I’m not suggesting you become a social media influencer, start a podcast, write a book, become a blogger or share every intimate detail of your life. The type of “owning YOUR awesome” I’m recommending is shifting your mindset about yourself and your life to one of uniqueness and significance. Notice I wrote “your life”, not “your life in comparison to his, hers or theirs”. After all, comparison leads to self-judgment and that’s where the hang-up, shut-down and closure occurs. Recently, I read an exert from a book called “Distinctly You” by Cheryl Martin. In it she said: “Bananas are yellow and lean; I have to peel them in order to eat them. A raspberry is tiny; you have to simply pop it it into your mouth. A cherry has a pit; you have to skillfully move it to the side of your mouth or spit it out. What I find interesting is that when I eat a strawberry, I never expect it to taste like another fruit. You don’t hear strawberries asking why they aren’t longer and leaner like a banana or smaller than a raspberry. They don’t compare, compete or covet.” I love this fruit analogy, as nature is always a perfect example. Like fruit, not only is our size, shape and color unique, but so is our story and process and how we’ve developed into us. What a snooze-fest life would be if we were all bananas (blah!). Our ripening story would all be the same. (Double-blah!). As we approach week 2 of our 60 day Unstoppable Challenge, I encourage you to fully embrace the term ‘unstoppable’ and consider all of the many ways you have been unstoppable in your life and how you are currently unstoppable—as a wife, mom, care-taker, friend, professional, philanthropist, etc. Then, claim it and own YOUR awesome! I’m not asking you to shout it out, rather this is more of an inner peace, understanding and confidence that is a result of owning your efforts, owning your uniqueness, and owning your story. All in all, it’s not until we fully own our awesome that we become completely alive, and only then are we are able to live our life to the fullest. It is then when our light shines the brightest and we can have the greatest impact on and in the lives of others, because after all, owning your awesome is not about you. It’s about a vulnerability and willingness to share yourself with others. God didn’t create the variety of beautiful and delicious fruit for their own nourishment. He instead created it for our nourishment. By the same token, you owning YOUR awesome and sharing yourself provides nourishment, inspiration and encouragement for others. Love, Neissa
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