Every leap year there are two things we can all count on. 1. A knock-down, drag-out fight between Republicans and Democrats and 2. The Olympics. I appreciate the opportunity to vote for our nation's leaders, but I LOVE the Olympics. I love watching Swimming, Diving, Gymnastics and of course Athletics/Track and Field. Watching the competition among the elite athletes is nail-biting sometimes and at other times it gets me out of my seat cheering loud enough to disturb my neighbors. I drew on the inspiration of Florence Griffith Joyner and Jackie Joyner-Kerse to run track. I eventually paid for my college education by running track. (Thank you FloJo and Jackie.) Today I watch these games and my inspiration comes from Dana Vollmer.
In the past I've only watched Swimming and by watched I mean I am looked for the swimming caps with the American Flag on it to touch the wall first. I'll be honest, aside from Dara Torres, Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin, Ryan Lochte and "the black guy" on the relay, I didn't recognize any other swimmers. It wasn't until watched Dana Vollmer break the world record that I knew who she was. It was an amazing race to watch. She crushed the field. But what made her stand out to me wasn't her victory, it was the story behind her "don't quit" attitude.
Vollmer has been a talented swimmer for a very long time. She competed in the 2000 Olympic trials at age 12. She made the Olympic team in 2004 and brought home a gold medal as a part of the quartet that swam the 4x200 freestyle. By all accounts, she was a shoo-in for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing...until she wasn't a shoo-in. Vollmer did not make the team. After all that success, she fell down, and fell hard. But what makes Vollmer my inspiration is the fact that she got back up. She refused to accept a temporary condition (not making the team) with a permanent mindset (giving up on swimming). She got back in the pool and in 2012 she not only made the team, she won a gold medal and broke the world-record in doing so. The race that day was for second, because Vollmer was not going to be beaten. I can't think of a better rebound story. It was as if she took a cue from a famous Winston Churchill quote, "Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up. Never give up. Never give up. Never give up." Imagine where you would be if you had that kind of conviction in your life.
So the message for this post is don't give up. There is redemption after a failure. Persevere and see your goals through. Make some adjustments, but don't give up. Greatness is in all of us.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Starting with your MOUTH
The power of life and death resides in your mouth.... If I had a penny for every time I have heard that I would never work again. It's a very powerful and cryptic, but a resoundingly true statement. You can create chaos and comfort from the things "you say". I can think of the ways I've been discouraged and encouraged in the matter of a couple of words. It makes you wonder how many people you have validated or victimized from saying whatever you had to say just because you could say it. Or maybe knowing that someone needed to hear a specific message from you and you either offered a word or neglected to give it. Or this; a personal pet peeve of mine, saying you will call/email/text and neglecting to do anything at all. Not offering a word in these cases is almost like speaking death, death to your credibility. My thoughts are if you can't do what you say, you will have issues with telling me the truth. Words, or the lack thereof, are so powerful. Simple enough, right?
My cousin is a life coach and several years ago, probably well before I graduated college, she recommended a book called "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. In this book there are four things you as the reader should agree to do to create "A Better Me" [meaning you]. My cousin didn't realize how this book would be read and re-read because the message is timeless and even as a very young woman I could identify with the message to the point of wanting to live it out. And when I caught myself falling, I could read the book again and instead of falling down, fall in line. The first and most prominent agreement is -Be Impeccable with Your Word.
Being impeccable with your word. Sounds simple, right? Sure it is, but it doesn't just stop with telling the truth and keeping your word. Being impeccable means being "without sin". The word impeccable has a Latin root base that literally translates to "without sin". Directly from the book, it is stated, that "when you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself." You do not reject yourself, rather you embrace what is true about yourself. To make this short, you don't let words of yourself and others effect what you should think and know about yourself. You also don't use words to hurt other people, because in the long run, this also hurts yourself. You don't gossip, and you don't accept negative speech about yourself. More than not gossiping is not falling into the ever so easy trap of listening to the gossip. You don't repeat negative speech and you keep the confidence of others. When you are impeccable with your word, you avoid letting your mouth get you into trouble. So yes... this is simple enough.
I've had an acquaintance tell me that people will talk about you even if they don't know you and even when they know it is not true what they are saying about you. She is right. This will sadly happen all the time. But accepting what is true about yourself will cause naysayers to falter every time. This is also why Don Miguel Ruiz, in his book, also poses the second agreement as "Don't Take Anything Personally".
Until next time,
KB
My cousin is a life coach and several years ago, probably well before I graduated college, she recommended a book called "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. In this book there are four things you as the reader should agree to do to create "A Better Me" [meaning you]. My cousin didn't realize how this book would be read and re-read because the message is timeless and even as a very young woman I could identify with the message to the point of wanting to live it out. And when I caught myself falling, I could read the book again and instead of falling down, fall in line. The first and most prominent agreement is -Be Impeccable with Your Word.
Being impeccable with your word. Sounds simple, right? Sure it is, but it doesn't just stop with telling the truth and keeping your word. Being impeccable means being "without sin". The word impeccable has a Latin root base that literally translates to "without sin". Directly from the book, it is stated, that "when you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself." You do not reject yourself, rather you embrace what is true about yourself. To make this short, you don't let words of yourself and others effect what you should think and know about yourself. You also don't use words to hurt other people, because in the long run, this also hurts yourself. You don't gossip, and you don't accept negative speech about yourself. More than not gossiping is not falling into the ever so easy trap of listening to the gossip. You don't repeat negative speech and you keep the confidence of others. When you are impeccable with your word, you avoid letting your mouth get you into trouble. So yes... this is simple enough.
I've had an acquaintance tell me that people will talk about you even if they don't know you and even when they know it is not true what they are saying about you. She is right. This will sadly happen all the time. But accepting what is true about yourself will cause naysayers to falter every time. This is also why Don Miguel Ruiz, in his book, also poses the second agreement as "Don't Take Anything Personally".
Until next time,
KB
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Random Acts of Kindness Can Change The World
The week of July 23rd could have been the roughest week in a very long time for me were it not for this one, random thing done by this one, random woman who I consider my Starbucks benefactor. I was in line, at Starbucks on a Tuesday morning. And if you are a frequenter of Starbucks you are familiar with how much of your time waiting in line at Starbucks can take. It's similar to Atlanta traffic. I waited and I waited. I was able to return a phone call, check and respond to two emails before placing my order. I ordered a Lime Refresher. The total came up to $3.45. I pull up to the window and my order was already paid for. I received a note to accompany my beverage that read, "God Bless You. Have a great Friday".
This was something so random and so remarkable and though this was not the first time something like this has happened to me, it was the first time that it started a ripple effect. I took to Facebook and posted a copy of the letter and even offered a challenge for everyone who commented on, or liked my post regarding the start to my Tuesday to do the same thing. I had quite a few likes for this post. If only one person offered some random act of kindness to a stranger after reading my post I can feel like I made a difference to some else's day, albeit indirectly. I felt so good, I went to a McDonald's and randomly paid $2.12 for another's random order. I gave the recipient of my "gift" the very same note I received from Starbucks with an additional note urging him to "pay it forward". And even in not knowing the outcome for sure, something tells me he did. I kept the receipt in my wallet as a reminder of how something so little can make a big difference.
So that is what birthed this blog. I have blogged about completely useless information. I have even read blogs about completely useless information, but all of that changed in a matter of me spending $2.12 on someone who didn't expect it. So what does this all mean? What now? This means filtering through information, experiences and advice to make "A Better Me" thus hopefully helping you to make a better you for your family, your friends and ultimately the world. That's a daunting task, I know, but we have to start somewhere. I'm starting with the $3.45 that was gifted to me and ultimately gifted to someone else in another form. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, after all. There are little things we can all do to make life easier for each other.
I hope you enjoy. I hope you share. I hope you stay tuned.
xoxo,
KB
This was something so random and so remarkable and though this was not the first time something like this has happened to me, it was the first time that it started a ripple effect. I took to Facebook and posted a copy of the letter and even offered a challenge for everyone who commented on, or liked my post regarding the start to my Tuesday to do the same thing. I had quite a few likes for this post. If only one person offered some random act of kindness to a stranger after reading my post I can feel like I made a difference to some else's day, albeit indirectly. I felt so good, I went to a McDonald's and randomly paid $2.12 for another's random order. I gave the recipient of my "gift" the very same note I received from Starbucks with an additional note urging him to "pay it forward". And even in not knowing the outcome for sure, something tells me he did. I kept the receipt in my wallet as a reminder of how something so little can make a big difference.
So that is what birthed this blog. I have blogged about completely useless information. I have even read blogs about completely useless information, but all of that changed in a matter of me spending $2.12 on someone who didn't expect it. So what does this all mean? What now? This means filtering through information, experiences and advice to make "A Better Me" thus hopefully helping you to make a better you for your family, your friends and ultimately the world. That's a daunting task, I know, but we have to start somewhere. I'm starting with the $3.45 that was gifted to me and ultimately gifted to someone else in another form. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, after all. There are little things we can all do to make life easier for each other.
I hope you enjoy. I hope you share. I hope you stay tuned.
xoxo,
KB
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