What is funny...is that it is Day 2 of my 45 day commitment to Inspiration, to being inspired, to inspiring, to gathering the "Umph" I need to finish strong, to give my best, to be my best...and I am grouchy, overwhelmed and quite possibly "Umphless"...
BUT...that is EXACTLY WHY...I have posed this challenge for myself. I need it! Some days...finding inspiration, sharing that and letting my "Umph" lose, is easy...AND it is on those days that are filled with distractions from that Inspiration that I need to focus the most...to Live With Intention.
So...I am falling back on some original inspiration...at least the original inspiration that so crazily made this sick, fat, tired girl find her lost courage...get up...decide that I could in fact, find my "umph"...find that energy that I once had and begin this Journey.
I recently had someone pose the question to me...Why I was inspired by this Olympic Champion Beach volleyball duo? Certainly...I did not have much in common with them...they are world class athletes that had not lost some unbelievable amount of weight or seemingly overcome some huge physical challenge...they were not sick, fat or tired.
No in fact, Misty May Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings are pretty much the polar opposite of who I was sitting on that couch in August of 2012. But...if I am being honest, I connected with their story...their "persona" in two completely different ways. I connected with their athletic talents, they fired up that athlete inside me...the one buried underneath the fatness, sickness and tiredness...They play volleyball like I dreamed of playing volleyball...only at a world class level...vs. a mediocre high school level..:) They are "nails" every time they touch a ball...they dominate and they never give up!
But there was another part that inspired me...on a much deeper, unexpected and very difficult to explain level. I connected with their friendship...and I felt particularly touched
by the profound respect and love that they had for each other and it reminded me that they are a great "team". They helped each other, held each other accountable and worked at becoming a great team. In doing so, they accomplished something remarkable...Greatness...and though they did not seemingly share my personal struggles...they, I am betting, had their own share of struggles that could have very easily derailed their Journey...but they Overcame those challenges...they accomplished something not done by anyone else in their field and they genuinely cared about each other through the process.
That in turn, reminded me of the beauty of a team...the wonders that can be accomplished when we open our hearts to the possibility of being loved through a struggle. When we open our minds to the idea that not being able to accomplish something alone does not make us weak...it makes us human.
That when I opened MY eyes and realized that I too, in context to my own life, could accomplish so much more if I was ready to be accountable, to be honest, to own and to be loved through all of the perceived and real challenges that I felt I faced in August of 2012...I too, could do something great or at the very minimum...I could be better!
Yes...I got all of that watching the Olympics!!
Now for all of you that have patiently followed this Journey and have listened to my stories...You know...that I have, since that moment of Original Inspiration, been so unbelievably blessed to have met and gotten to spend some very precious time with Kerri. And I know it may sound a bit wacky to some of you... but I fully BELIEVE that God's Grace led me down this path I am currently on....He has divinely guided the formation of this "team" that supports, loves, counsels, confronts and that has carried me through the last 2 years of my life.
I think it no coincidence that I have been blessed by Kerri's presence in my life...or that I have an entire "team" of people who have completely and totally embraced this Journey as if it were their own.
I will fully admit that I don't know why I was inspired on that day or in that way...But I do believe I was rescued...by two unsuspecting people who in living by example, helped me become a part of a great Team that quite frankly...are saving my life!
On that note...I am reminded that one bad day...could not possibly be more powerful than the "Umph" generated by Love!
Share the Love...Share the Umph!
Just a few pics that inspire every time I see them!
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