© Copyright 2022
The Courageous Mind
When I was little, we would play for hours at my grandma’s next door. She encouraged us to dream and act out anything we wanted to be. My favorite, which has played vividly over and over in my head ever since was standing behind this tree stump with this gorgeous book in my hand. My grandma had so many beautifully bound books. At the wise age of five, I thought I had so much to share in those speeches.
I will never forget the moment. I was sitting on my front porch in Aurora, Nebraska. Married with two young kids. I had a successful business and everything appeared amazing on the outside, but I was so empty on the inside. I read a short little book FIVE WISHES. The book guided you through if you were on your deathbed, what would you have wished you had done with your life. One of mine fifteen years ago was “I wish I had written a book, and used it to speak and inspire others”
Living a Courageous life begins one courageous decision at a time. A decision to step out of your comfort zone and onto the path to create the best version of yourself that God designed you to be. You are destined for great things, to experience immense joy, and to impact the lives of others around you to live their best lives. We will be going on a journey together from living in the comfortable to making bold decisions to create happiness and success in your life and the lives of those around you.
“Stop living on autopilot and start living on purpose. You owe it to yourself to do everything you have always dreamed of. All of the people you are going to inspire and bring with you as you relentlessly chase your dreams are counting on you it is time to be courageous.”
My life has been far from a perfect journey. I have made lots of mistakes and had many failures. I have been far from the perfect mom to my now 21 and 18-year-old children and I have been divorced twice. I know I hurt others in my path when I was hurting, and at times I was not the leader the people I had the privilege of serving needed me to be. I know there are so many times I could have been a better friend, sister, daughter, team member. There are many times it looked like I had it all together when in reality it was a struggle to get off the floor of my closet.
Everyone has failed and questioned themselves over and over. It takes extraordinary courage to stop making excuses, not be a victim, but choose to be a champion.”
I chose to rise beyond the circumstances and strive to be better. To take the lessons from every failure, and to be a constant student fueled by the wisdom of others to become a better version of me. I knew I wanted to “Be a Light” in the lives of everyone I encountered and that meant first working on the light inside of me.
We all have a sparkling light inside of us and many times the words and actions of others, things that happen to us, exhausting schedules dim our light. We start to fail ourselves in doing too little of what sets our soul on fire. We go about doing life for far too long with that dim light as it becomes fainter and fainter. When we are courageous enough to open our hearts and be ready and show up, our light can be reignited. It might be a friend, leader, mentor who intentionally breathes life into you and makes your light burn brighter. It might be an encounter with a stranger, a conversation, a book, a podcast, a sermon that shifts your thinking and creates a spark. It might be in prayer, in scripture, or silence.
It begins with you. It begins with a courageous mindset and a willingness to show up and be ready for all those things. It continues to be you, in a constant mission to fan the flames of your light. Being intentional about chasing your dreams and doing more of what sets your soul on fire, and protecting yourself from what doesn’t.
Let’s take a courageous journey together.
© Copyright 2022
The Courageous Mind
