Once upon a time, not too very long ago, I woke up early in the morning with an odd feeling. It was a feeling that was low in my belly, and it affected my heart, and was causing my brain to be very alert. I hadn’t felt this feeling before...or if I had, I hadn’t felt it in a very long time. I quickly jumped out of bed, and by the time I went to the mirror in my bathroom, I was looking back at my smiling face! I took a good look at myself and confirmed what I was feeling- I felt AWESOME. Right then and there, I decided, That’s it! I’m going to be awesome. Every day! There’s NO stopping me! And here I am! Still being awesome. Pretty simple stuff.
I used to be average. Wait, no. I used to THINK I was average. You know, there’s tons of people in this world who are like me. In fact, allow me to tell you a story of my seemingly very average years of life. Back when I was little, like elementary little, I had a dream of becoming a Dallas
Cowboy’s cheerleader. I had even asked Santa for Cowboys pom poms that year for Christmas, and guess what? He brought them. So I set off working on my dream of becoming a Cowboy’s cheerleader. The very next year, I dreamed of becoming an astronaut and for Christmas I asked for Astronaut Barbie and she and I set off doing the necessary things you need to do to prepare for outer-space. (I have no idea what that was, but in my imagination, we were doing cool stuff!) The very next year, I dreamed of becoming an orthodontist. I had gotten braces earlier that year, in 5th grade, and thought it would be really cool to straighten out people’s teeth. The next year as a 6th grader, I dreamed of becoming an insurance salesperson. I have NO idea why...and this was way before Jake from State Farm was so popular with his khakis! Then I hit middle school. It was then I must have determined how very average I was. Because I stopped dreaming. And I started comparing myself to others. And I just did what my parents expected me to do, like get good grades, try different sports, play the flute, attend church youth group. I look back at those years, and I am so sad for that middle school girl that I was. Because I was so much MORE.
I remember coming home from school crying, because I had this total mean girl bully that seemed happy to make me feel miserable, and I remember my mom telling me to smile. Smile? Who was she kidding? I wasn’t going to smile at, or because of, a mean girl. She sat me down and explained to me that the smile was for ME. Because if you smile, your body responds in a positive way. Of course I wasn’t going to tell her I’d do this weird thing of smiling at myself in the mirror...but...then again... maybe I’d try it...and MAYBE my mom was onto something.
You know, I look in a mirror everyday to put in my contacts, do my hair, apply my make-up, all that stuff mirrors are really useful for...but the thought of talking to myself used to seem weird. But when you take a look at yourself, and I mean a really good look at yourself, you can look much deeper than what is on the outside.
Back to my average story though, I started smiling. Oh yeah, remember that I had braces, right? Sure, so I endured those super not nice things like “brace face” “rail-road teeth”. I also had eye glasses (I had them since I was four years old!) , and let’s not forget that some kids come up with some very creative names. But I remember thinking, well, what can I lose? So I smiled. I’ve never stopped smiling.
I would like to tell you now that all my dreams came true just from smiling. The reality is this- sometimes you forget that dreams are actually achievable. Remember that I told you I thought I was average. Do you know what average means? The Webster’s Dictionary defines average as this: noun- “a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean, which is calculated by dividing the sum of the values in the set by their number. "And the definition of average as an adjective is this: "constituting the result obtained by adding together several quantities and then dividing this total by the number of quantities”. So...basically that average means the most middle. So my point is, I thought that because of me being so average, my dreams were not too important.
You see, I dreamed of being on TV. A news anchor woman who then would be on Good Morning America and then finally have my own talk show, like Ellen. But lucky for me, I had many people reminding me that I was too average and couldn’t achieve that...even, believe it or not, my own mother who had originally instilled the idea to smile and never give up believing in myself! (Granted, my mom has never thought I was average, but just scared of where my dreams could or would take me.) Now, let me tell you a secret- nobody, and I mean NOBODY, can tell you your dreams aren’t good enough. And you are NOT TOO AVERAGE. Because NOBODY is average.
No, I did not become a news anchor. I became something better. Much like how I explained to you about waking up one day and deciding I’m going to be awesome...one day when I was 20 years old, a small tiny voice told me I was meant to teach. To inspire. Motivate. Excite others. It didn’t take long for that small tiny voice to be a BOOM! I was lit up. More than that, I truly believed that was my purpose and I couldn’t wait to share that. Besides, my students have to listen to me- if I had ended up as a news anchor, anyone could turn the channel or turn the TV off! (Oh, see, I could have also been a comedian!)
How many of you watched that Pixar movie called “Inside Out”? In the movie, Joy was always happy and looked for the bright side, while Sadness always saw the negative. This is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist. Psychologists have studied people who had a positive mind-set versus a negative mind-set, and it has been found that you are born with a certain outlook. But can that change? YES!!!! Researchers have found that a pessimistic person CAN, in fact, change their mind-set to positive. It is called Learned Optimism! However, it is very difficult to change a positive mind-set to an overall negative one. How exciting is that?!
To wrap this up, this is just my little story of why you’ll always see me smiling. And smiling and talking to myself in the mirror in the morning. And keeping on the optimistic side of life.
Why not wake up and decide it’s time to be awesome, once and for all!? You are worth it!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
~Dr. Seuss
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." – Walt Disney
A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartache
Whatever you wish for you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true
A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're feeling small
Alone in the night you whisper
Thinking no one can hear you at all
You wake with the morning sunlight
To find fortune that is smiling on you
Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow
For all you know tomorrow
The dream that you wish will come true
When you can dream then you can start
A dream is a wish you make with your heart
When you can dream then you can start
A dream is a wish you make with your heart
A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep
In dreams you will lose your heartache
Whatever you wish for you keep
You wake with the morning sunlight
To find fortune that is smiling on you
Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow
For all you know tomorrow
The dream that you wish will come true
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true
When you can dream then you can start
A dream is a wish you make with your heart
When you can dream then you can start
A dream is a wish you make with your heart
When you can dream then you can start
A dream is a wish you make with your heart
How did you like today's blog post? The Sisterhood Coaching would LOVE to hear from you! What do you do to feel awesome?
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