Yesterday I had the wonderful privilege of attending the Regional Juice Plus conference. It was an amazing experience to be around other people who care so much about the health and well being of others. I get discouraged quite a bit with Juice Plus because people assume that I am just "pushing" Juice Plus to make a buck. Honestly though, health and nutrition have become such a passion of mine and I just want to share it with everyone. There was a woman who spoke named Carol and listening to her was like hearing my own voice. Listening to the struggles she has had in her life paralleled my own. She had so many set backs in her life and yet, she is now a very successful business woman and just so full of life. She had plenty of reasons to say to herself that she would never make a 6 figure salary. She had plenty of reasons to believe that she would never get to live the life she knew she wanted. She said something in her presentation that I have often thought myself, only when I thought it, I thought I was just being arrogant. I've often thought, there is more than THIS in life for me. I was meant for more than THIS. She had always said the same thing to herself too. And when she said it, it didn't sound arrogant. She sounded confident. We are the creators of our reality and if I believe I was meant for more than what I am or have now, I will be more. I can do anything in the world that I want to and so can you. Circumstances are just that, circumstances. They do not define our lives. They definitely make an impact in our lives but then we just choose how to use the impact of those circumstances. So, live confidently with purpose and use every situation for your benefit. Create the life you want and live it to the fullest.
Ok, so, some of you may know, some of you may not, but I signed up this week to get certified to be a Zumba instructor. I absolutely love Zumba. It is a lot of fun and a great workout for me. When I started my healthy journey, Zumba was the first workout I had done that really seemed to work for me. The more I stuck with it, the easier it was for me to keep doing. Then, the longer I stuck with it, a few people started encouraging me to think about becoming an instructor and I thought, pshh, NO WAY!! I thought, there is NO WAY anyone wants to see a FAT GIRL up there LEADING an exercise class. Now that I am signed up, I am so excited. But, those same thoughts keep sneaking in there every once in a while. I mean, I know I have done some great work and I am proud of the work I have done. I mean, 88 pounds is not a little amount of weight to lose. But, it is less than half of what my long term goal is. Some of you are thinking, hmmmm, this doesn't sound positive! Well, give me a second, I'm getting there, Lol! When I get those sneaky thoughts in there trying to discourage me, I think, not everyone wants to see a stick thin instructor either. I am in good shape and I will be a great instructor and I think I could probably be very motivational for people. I like to have fun and I like to be encouraging to other people and this is a great way to do that. I will admit, I am nervous I will get to training and people will look at me and laugh and think, there is no way this chick is going to make it. But, this Melissa says to them, BRING IT ON!! I think I can and I will! Zumba can be as easy as you need it to be or as difficult as you want to make it. You have to challenge yourself to better yourself and that is what I intend to do the rest of my life. I intend to be an example to my daughter that if you believe you can do anything, you really can. I intend for her to see that I made mistakes with my health and my body, but now I am working really hard to get it back under control and live the best possible life I can. I am being intentional with my health -- physical, mental and emotional. So, people may want to think these negative things about me, and that is ok with me because I KNOW that I can do this and I WILL! And if you don't want to see a heavy girl leading Zumba, well, there are other people who instruct, Lol! Remember friends, life is what we make of it. I could dwell on the fact that not everyone is going to want to come to my classes because of how I look but I will choose to focus on those who want my encouragement and pour into them every ounce of love and positive energy I have received. Live each day happy, my friends : )
So, I have the urge to blog but not really sure what to blog about. I have so many things that I want to talk about but not sure that it will fit into a concise blog. First, I love how strong I feel. I feel really really song. Not only do I feel physically strong but I feel emotionally and mentally strong. I haven't felt that way in so long and that feeling is so intoxicating. For the longest time, my attitude was on the frequency of, "I can't handle this," or, "this is too much for me." I sabatoged myself over and over and over. You always, and I try to use definitive words like that sparingly, but you ALWAYS get what you continuously put out there. So, if you continuously say, "my life sucks," "I'll never do this right," "I'll never get to where I want to be," this is what will happen for you. These are called, self fulfilling prophecies. Why in the world is that what I would choose to bring into my life? So, there's that. Now, what else? Oh, I know. Today, I think I received one of the best compliments. Someone said to me, "when you came in the room, you brought all of this positive energy with you, you just filled the room. Can you just stay in the room?" That was the best. I would say that in the past, when I entered a room, I brought black and cloudy skies with me. It is awesome that someone felt positive energy from me. I just love that. I am grateful for that. I am grateful for a lot things these days. I love living in this space. Life and the frequency you live on is up to us. Things are going to happen in life, but how we choose to approach these events is what will make our lives either a positive and happy experience or one to write a depressing song about. I got another compliment today and I thought, really? Someone told me that I inspired them. Now, being inspiring just doesn't seem to fit me and is actually embarrassing for me to think about. But, that is some "stinkin thinkin" right there. I work hard every single day and I have done some serious emotional and physical work on myself in the past year. So, I will accept that compliment and be grateful that my work can be appreciated by someone else. So, I guess that is all for now. I hope you enjoyed and will share or subscribe and comment!! <3 <3 <3