Real Simple’s September issue had an insightful article on how being scared is actually really healthy, which piqued my interest. I started thinking of times in my life I’ve been scared and if those times really did move me forward to learning & growing.
SO, the team and I decided to parody the article with our own experiences. Today you’ll learn about my experiences and how they helped me. Cristina Sigurdson will enlighten us next week. Joy Weber will wrap us up all neat & organized. We hope you’ll find some inspiration & laughter from our stories to help you in your effort to continue learning & growing.
Adrenaline is the New Yoga
Every time I make a Styled & Organized video for Instagram or Facebook, I want to die. It’s true. I stop breathing, my skin gets all prickly, my muscles turn to jelly & my mind will not communicate to my mouth. It’s the only time I wish I were a millennial. They LOVE making videos. And, they look so professional. A toddler could make a better video than I can. But oh when they are done and don’t look so bad, the adrenaline gives me the confidence to make another. SO, when the prickly, jelly, passing out, dumb stupor returns, I’m able to remember previous video successes and push through.
When You Make a Scary Leap, You Just Might Fly
After the market crashed in 2008, my boss at the real estate company I worked for told me they would keep me as long as they could, hoping the crisis was only a little hiccup. One by one, employees were let go. I was the last little worker to get the sad news. It was July 2009. Thankfully, I had been entertaining my dream of starting my Professional Organizing business well before the market took the dive. I weighed my options: tons of possibly-go-nowhere job interviews or start a business in a terrible market where clients would pay me with their hard-earned money to enhance their lives. The latter seemed the wiser decision. I took the plunge. Ten years later I have amazing clients, a thriving business & 2 team members whom I love working with. It’s scary every day, but updating my resume & interviewing for a job I really didn’t want was a lot scarier.
Fear Teaches Focus
Organizing client’s spaces in a defined amount of time give me mental training every day that helps me through other frightening circumstances. Organizing one space creates a domino effect. There are always items in the space you are organizing that belong in another location. SO, not only are you using your defined time to organizing the main space, you have to find time to take the misplaced items & organize them into another unorganized space. The time constraint can create some serious stress. It’s not like I can stay the night and keep working until it is all done. I must get it all done in the time allotted. Some days are really tight! But, I always make it. If I can do that every day, I can do something as vulnerable as making never–to–go–awaySO Instagram videos for everyone to watch over and over.
Your Example Could Inspire
I spent the last year shedding, prying off & struggling to lose 25lbs. There were only a few people who knew my goal just in case I didn’t succeed. Some days I wanted to eat my arm I was so hungry. Getting back to working out was hard. There were many workouts at 5 AM to get it done before work. My success produced many appreciated pats on the back from clients & friends. But the biggest success is the family & friends I have inspired to lose weight for the umpteenth time. It is hard!!!!! I am still mindful of what I eat. I still have to exercise. The people I’ve inspired inspire me to keep going.
You’ll Be Proud of Yourself
My scariest experiences—making videos, starting a business, losing 25lbs—are things of which I am so very proud. And now I’m facing a much more, very personal achievement that while incredibly scary keeps me beaming with pride. I’m about to be married. My first marriage & a very serious relationship that followed both left me doubting any potential suitor’s real intentions. Then, I met Jolly. He was patient with the time I needed to talk myself off each self-induced ledge. Now, I’m about to start sharing life with a deeply caring, very handsome, funny—his name is Jolly—& wonderfully tidy man. I’m Wonder Woman, proud of myself for opening my heart, laying out my vulnerability & trusting again.
Real Simple may have discovered something. Forging ahead through the“scary” has brought me to the happiest, healthiest I’ve ever been.
