Little Moments of Clarity

So...Happy Tuesday to you all...We are in full swing event planning!  Our Play It Forward-Rally to Serve planning committee met tonight...with lots to discuss..Lots to plan and Lots to accomplish!

I received a box today from Oakley (One of Kerri's sponsors)...She had requested that they send some cool Oakley stuff for our Silent Auction and boy did they...Awesome sunglasses (4 styles), women's sportswear...really great Oakley items...So thanks to Oakley and Kerri for the love! 

Planning a charity event is very challenging...I am learning a lot as I go...My biggest wish for this 1st year is that we raise awareness for our two charities and actually are able to make a decent to donation to both.  My biggest fear is that we will not!!  Such a worrier!!! 

So as some of you know...I have been facing my growing pains throughout this process pretty head on and have chosen to share many pieces of that with you all...Again...I believe that being honest here will help me move in a direction that is healing...and I am an experiential learner...in every aspect.  So I need to see, touch, feel... and as I said a couple of days ago...

God provided an opportunity for me to feel the future...to feel strong, in the middle of weakness, to feel loved at a time of vulnerability, to feel empowered when I felt powerless. He has provided a great light that has seen me through...

I think that I am truly learning how to maneuver the changes happening on all levels...and trust me...losing weight is not a stand alone process...it is not just about eating differently, working out, stepping on a scale and watching the number reduce...At least not for me..It is a full mind, body, spirit experience for me...and I choose to believe that all of the different  experiences I am having are supporting that kind of change and healing!  Having said that, I certainly struggle with the extremes...from being on Cloud 9 to my more recent blubbering bouts...It is confusing to me and clearly to others...

However..God continues to gift wrap little moments of clarity that all add up and provide me with the "experience" I need to tackle this challenge. 

So..as I have said...I am kind of on a big giant swing...UP and Down and UP and Down

But today...I get an email...from a friend...one of those perfectly timed emails...She was writing me about my recent Dune climb and about meeting Kerri...

She wrote a few brilliant sentences for me...I thought I would share them here.

As I have been reading about your trip to California and what an incredible life experience God orchestrated to keep you stretching to reach your goal, I am amazed at how you have faithfully continued to fight for your freedom.

When you were describing your hike up that big ass dune, I felt like I was right there with you and I could feel you taking each step feeling the fear and wondering how you would make it to the top without keeling over, and literally having God take your hand through one of His own to encourage you to push through the pain and finish with that Rocky ending!!

 

 

I absolutely love the sentence...Literally having God take your hand through one of His own to encourage you to push through the pain and finish...

 

That is THE perfect summation of the importance of that moment for me...climbing up that hill..truly thinking that there was not a single chance that I could finish...and having someone take my hand and by doing so...giving me the strength I needed...through the Grace of God, to FINISH!!!   That, my friends, is why I still cry when I think about it!  I BELIEVE that God works through others...He works through ALL us...WE can provide strength for others...WE can provide inspiration...WE can share our experience, strength and hope!!!  And Yes...I am feeling pretty damn special that He chose Kerri to be His Hands for me!!! 

 

Thank you Mary for GETTING IT!!!!  Makes me SMILE BIG!!!

 

My friend shared with me one more cool thing...a blog post about Extremes...from a blog called The Minimalist...

 

Here it is...

Pendulums and Extremes

Posted: 15 Jul 2013 01:00 AM PDT

By Joshua Fields Millburn · Follow: Twitter

Montana is a state steeped in extremes. This year, as April gave way to May, snow dusted my eyebrows and I needed my puffer coat to stay warm. Less than two months later, however, as we waved goodbye to June, the city was erumpent with temps brushing against triple digits.

These extremes are just bookends, though, markers by which we observe the spectrum. And these extremes don’t last. Soon, summer will set in, and we’ll be back to 72º and sunny, spending long summer afternoons by Flathead Lake.

In many ways, I’m the same way. My life has been peppered with similar (almost ironic) extremes: “Director of 150 retail stores becomes a minimalist and rejects consumerism.” “Six-figure executive walks away from his career and earns less than he did a decade earlier.” “Entertainment-addicted jerk jettisons his television and home Internet.” Etc.

But of course the flip-side benefits are just as extreme, too: “Depressive man discovers lasting happiness.” “Rejected writer becomes bestselling novelist.” “Fatso loses 80 pounds and gets in the best shape of his life.” Etc.

You see, sometimes we have to move from one extreme to another in an effort to course correct. Sometimes we must embrace, at least temporarily, the discomfort of the other side of the spectrum. Sometimes we must hit both walls before we find the middle.

Eventually, once the pendulum has traversed both extremes, we discover what works for us, and we end up somewhere completely different from where we started—somewhere in between both extremes.