He Says...I Believe; So You Should Too

After a very long week and even longer weekend away on business, I truly felt like going to bed tonight and skip the blog, especially after being on the road all day driving home. However, staying focused on my priorities and being consistent is very important to me. As easy as it is to get  distracted I refused to bail on my priorities tonight since I have committed to writing a blog every Monday. Now here I sit with tired eyes and a hot cup of coffee.

I attended a leadership conference this weekend a few states away with my kids and nanny in tow... it was great. I took so much away from it, so I was expecting to write on something that stuck with me. Yet as I sat to write, I was driven to write about something more spiritual, personal and intimate. I don't know why really, but when I am led from the gut, I know it's God, so I listen and obey. 

My guess is that someone needs this today, so here it goes. (forgive my weary self for any type errors or sentences that may run on.)

I DON'T BELIEVE IT

Not everyone believes they are meant for greatness, that they have the abilities to do anything they set their mind to, nor do they have faith that they can recover after they fall flat on their face. Competing with your own doubtful mind is the most difficult thing to do, especially when trying to recover from a tough blow. When we are hurt, saddened, angered or shaken, we often take a hit to our faith, belief, pride, ego, self esteem and self worth. Nothing seems worse than the situation, the circumstance or the pain we are going through and we fear of ever going through it again.

HOLDING BACK

When we are hurt, we shelter ourselves, we hide and often repel even the good things that come our way fearing that we don't deserve them, that they are artificial, or that they will hurt us and disappear just like things from our past. The problem lies most in the fact that holding back will never push us forward, it will simply keep us where we are or push us even deeper into our hole.

COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE

It's time to come out... to peek outside and face the fears that you have within you to experience the goodness that waits. Holes are deep, dark, cold and lonely. God says that He believes in us, that He believes in us so much that me has prepared a life for us, one of greatness, abundance, happiness and peace. Our only job is to seek and find... to trust and obey... to see it and seize it in obedience. Are you hiding in a hole rejecting what God has for you or are you going to come out and gather the gifts He has to give you?

I CAN'T LIE, IT MAY HAPPEN AGAIN

I lost count years ago how many people have hurt me, failed me, rejected me and saddened me... I chose to stop counting so that I could carry on. Quite frankly I'd still be counting if I hadn't made that choice. I discovered that as long as I was keeping score, I stayed in the game. Every time it happened again, it got easier to recover and though I did not know why, I know now it was God's way of building strength for what was coming. I needed more mental toughness, more resilience, more fight for the future hurdles I would face and through these trials that continue, I come closer and closer to Him. I trust more and more in my faith; it's on purpose.

IF I COULD DO IT ALL AGAIN

I think back and can't imagine how many things I would have missed out on if I had stayed in my hole and not taken the next step. Sure, I continue to suffer from hurt, sadness and disappointing times, but I bounce back quicker from the tears each time it occurs. Through the process, I have been humbled as my ego was shattered and flushed away. My heart softened, my bitterness ended and it was all replaced with compassion, peace and hope for all I have ever wanted no matter how out of reach some things still seem. I suppose knowing what I know now, if given the chance to do it all over, I would ask for the same gifts... that is how I truly try to look at things even when I am tearful and confused as to the "why".

HE BELIEVES

What will you do? Will you move on from your pain, hurt,  rejection, anger and resentment and accept a life fulfilled? OR will you stay in your hole, that darkness, that cold and lonely place and die without hope and happiness? God believes IN YOU! He has given you all the talent, all the drive and ambition to be amazing. Through these trials, he has built your strength. Maybe you don't see or feel it maybe you've never revealed it, or maybe you have buried it... but I promise you it's there. I further promise that if you pay attention, He will place the people you need to unleash it directly into your path if you call upon Him. Remember, HE has prepared a life for you. Will you take that step of faith? 

I encourage you to choose life instead of strife and love instead of loneliness. 

Until next time....

PURSUE WHAT YOU HOPE FOR; LEAVE BEHIND WHAT YOU WISH TO FORGET.... 

xoxo

Shells

WWW.THESGIARDGROUP.COM

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Big Miracles... Big Gifts... Tiny Packages

Sometimes, on Monday's (especially those falling after a holiday weekend off) it's really hard to get your mind back into gear. However, when you have responsibilities and duties such as being a regular blogger, you can't let that be an excuse and with that comes pressure. (BTW, that is a sure-fire way of getting writers block) UGH! This happened to me tonight. Two hours ago, although I posted my "It's blog time" status on Facebook... at the time, I had no topic. I was trying to reverse-psychology myself into coming up with an idea really fast. #FAIL! So.... I decided to wash my face and get ready for bed, then come back to it.

 There I was, in the bathroom washing my face still trying to think of a topic to blog on after an hour or more hour with no luck, I instantly thought...  I will blog on "Do you ever wonder why certain things happen to certain people; how the nicest people typically end up with the most adversity while the heartless jerks make millions and never skip a beat?" The topic transpired as I thought of something that happened late last night with a fan on my page, and as I have shared in my book, adversity has been the story of my own life. I finished washing my face, sat at my computer screen ready to bang out a blog and said "better check email one last time" ( BTW, I had just checked it before washing my face) and in my email inbox I found Amy's story; the fan I was just thinking of from last night.

Now, let me tell you who Amy is. Last night, I was up really late because I could not sleep. (Imagine that) All day long, I had been sharing the link to my friend's fundraising page which was started on July 4th to hopefully raise the money it will take to save her son's life on all my social media sites. (see details in my last blog post)  I was posting real-time updates on how much we had raised so far, attacking this fundraising mission with Gazelle intensity when I suddenly saw a post from a fan of mine whom I do not personally know; her name was Amy. Amy said that she wished she could help but that she was "raising money for her own purpose, to buy her son who was born "asleep" a headstone, but how nice it was to see people pull together to try and help Kody." I suggested that she share Kody's  link on her page and that I would reciprocate by sharing hers on all my social media pages and that way we could help each other without having to involve money. I went further and stated that maybe we could have her on the Hopes Not A Crime radio show and asked her to email me the entire story of her son Caleb to me. She graciously shared our link for Kody's fundraiser and Shellie and I both donated and shared her cause. I of course realized even more, how lucky so many of us truly are. 

As I read her ENTIRE story in email, tears overcame me... as I thought... God just connected us, holy Toledo, GOD just TOTALLY happened! (That's what I believe anyway... it's okay if you are not on board with that, it's still a great story.) NOTHING is by chance; it's ALL on purpose, and I say that all of the time; (my whole book is on that very fact in a more generic sense)

Now that I have read Amy's ENTIRE story, I am seriously overwhelmed. I am speechless, like truly speechless. You have NO idea what these kind of moments mean to me! (Nothing like really feeling connected to the big kahuna) I just wrote Amy back telling her that I am a speaker "aka" Hope Ambassador, for Hopes Not a Crime Ministry and that we look for people JUST LIKE HER to share their stories of keeping hope & faith  through adversity, and that we wanted to put her story on our radio show. I cannot wait to hear back from her, this girl has a story much more profound that losing her son and not having enough money for a headstone. It's truly heart-wrenching in many different directions!

To add  the final layer to the story, I will share that the radio show's guests are typically booked out three weeks in advance, but Shellie messed up her show schedule during all of her own recent struggles of finding out her son Kody had masses in his lungs and throat and seeing him through sudden lung surgery last week. She made a mistake in all the chaos and has nobody for the show this week which she just shared with me last night in a bit of a panic. We were brainstorming together about it and had come up with a fill-in idea, but then, I saw Amy's post on my fan page... and responded to it, and then she responded back tonight while I was washing my face and simultaneously thinking of her with this unbelievable story of faith hope and perseverance WAY beyond a grave with no stone.

No matter how messed up, depressing, or empty your life may seem at times... be happy that you HAVE life, that you are not mourning over someone you lost or needing to raise money for your own cause. Thank you Amy Keaton, for sharing Kody's cause on your page while you are at the same time trying to raise money for a gravestone for your beautiful little Caleb who went back to see Jesus the very day he was born. I KNOW God will bless you with this simple request; to mark the place where his little child rests. Here is me paying it forward! 

CLICK FOR CALEB:

http://www.gofundme.com/38olxs

We want to help Amy get that headstone for Caleb but trust me, her story which we will share on air will give YOU MUCH, MUCH more! I will share the link later this week if we get to air her full story on the show!

SO... 

The moral of this blog is... you don't have to have money to GIVE to a cause, you don't have to do something over the top to change someones life. All you have to do is put heart into something, FEEL that feeling that stirs within you and ACT on it. Big Miracles and Big Gifts often come in the most simple, least impressive & most tiny packages. 

Goodnight, sleep tight may you be blessed beyond your dreams!

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CLICK FOR KODY:

http://fundly.com/a-mother-fighting-for-her-son#supporters/donors

CLICK FOR MY STORY:

www.Ineedthehappyending.com

WOW, JUST WOW! 

XOXO

~SHELLS~

Perseverance Pays Off...

This has been an AWESOME week and I have learned to really appreciate those weeks, because as we all know... life does not hand us awesome weeks all of the time. If you are in the up and down world of freelance work, or self-employment, it can feel even LESS often. It is because of that, that many people have a hard time sticking with it. Perhaps they feel their circumstances do not allow a choice; they feel that they need something more financially stable and predictable, something more "normal".

It makes me really sad (and frustrated quite frankly) to see people who are amazing at something or who have amazing potential in their craft give up for reasons like this. I simply cannot imagine myself completely leaving what I love to do for something I "have" to do... I suppose I am just not wired that way. When it comes to my career, it is because of my love for it that I have always FOUND a way to make it work; to make it my living, to give it 120%, 100% of the time. After all... where there is a will, there is a way right? Do you BELIEVE that? I do, and that is the first step in making what you love your living.

I remember 22 years ago when I had to present my career as a cosmetologist to my twelfth-grade English class. Classmates chuckled and snickered at me as I shared my aspirations; but that never stopped me. I was on a mission to do what I loved and THAT is what I would do. There were times when I worked two jobs... I had opened my first salon at the early age of 20, and while I got it going, I took a side job as a server/bartender in order to pay my bills. I networked with my customers, but not about being a server... but about me being a hairstylist/makeup artist because THAT was my love. Serving was merely a temporary necessity in my path to keep my dream alive; and although I was a dedicated server and gave it my best... at the end of the day I knew where I wanted to hang my hat and I always stayed focused on that.

Many years went by; I would be lying if I said it was easy, but somehow, I always managed to FIND a way to make it work, to make ends meet, to network for new business and learned what I could to gain more. It was hard; sleep was often a side note, but when you have big dreams, big goals, and a desire to reach them, you do what it takes despite the obstacles because it's the only way to get there. There were times when I questioned myself and although I never thought of giving up, I would get frustrated, overwhelmed, tired and would have moments where I felt like my hard work would never pay off. There are still times when I feel this way even now as my career flourishes because when you add up the hours sometimes the math just doesn't make sense. However when you see things coming to fruition, when you finally reach the point of people realizing your value, your mind begins to shift and you realize there is more to this than a dollar amount; I guess that is where I am right now.

Over the course of many years... I have given my services away, I have done things that cost me money yet yielded none... I have invested both time and money and lost that time and money because not all of your investments will pay off. However perseverance does... EVERY single time. You have to know when to hold em' and know when to fold em', but doing what you love is something you should never fold and that holds true whether we are talking careers or simply what makes you happy in life.

As my week comes to a close, I am so happy to see that my perseverance is making things happen. I know I am on the track to where I have always wanted to be, I have said it before and I will say it again and again because THAT is what belief sounds like.

Yesterday afternoon before heading to a photo shoot for a new client, I checked my email. I was excited to see a message with a few sneak peek shots from another brand new photographer client that I worked with earlier in the week. In the message, she included these two shots as well as this this... 

"I didn't do any contouring in post--that's all your amazing makeup!"  

I must admit, it made for a very good day... you just can't put a price on stuff like that. 

I am so happy that the days of people asking me to work for trade are over because my value has finally been realized. My confidence in my work is also strong enough to not feel bad for charging what I am worth. It may take you a long time to get there, unfortunately in the freelance world you must prove yourself.  I PROMISE that if you never give up and continue to improve your skills and professionalism, your perseverance WILL pay off one day! If you love it, want it bad enough to do whatever it takes!

I wish you all the ability to do something you love for a living... 

to maintain passion in something and follow your dreams.

xoxo

~Shells~

Here are a few more shots from my VERY busy week...