What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid? (aka my new business adventure)

Questions have been swirling in my head lately. Questions, quotes, ideas, this fire and passion that I NEED to do something. For me, for my family. And maybe, for you. I've come across that answer, the thing I want to take on. 

• WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WEREN'T AFRAID? - a nod to Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In
• The trending term, YOLO (you only live once)
• The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying: How do I make sure I look back on my life with no regrets?
• "We can do hard things + Love wins + We belong to each other" - Glennon Doyle Melton of Momastery

The list goes on and on. I am watching these people in the arena, and I'm thrilled to want to be there, too. I will be there.

My venture is all about promoting health + wellness, balanced nutrition, energy + performance, and giving our bodies what they need. Common side effects include weight loss, increased sleep quality, mental clarity. These things, in my book, help us focus on living a full life. 

More to come with details, but I want to share this journey with you because you may be interested! The products and company are awesome. Let me know if you want to hear more. I'd love to discuss and share this information with each and every one of you.

When I read Brene Brown's Daring Greatly, I made a promise to myself to "live and love with my whole heart." I wrote it down, and I'm going to live it. It's scary to take on a new challenge, to be vulnerable. At the beginning of her book, she quotes Theodore Roosevelt, and I think this really hits home: 

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly.” -Theodore Roosevelt

It's Innate

Tonight, my daughter was drinking water from her water table. She does this often - I realize that most kids probably splash and play in the water, but she prefers to find a cup or container and literally fill it with water, pouring it into her mouth repeatedly. I think it's pretty cute. Then, after about two containers for herself, she filled the container and put it on the ground, and looked around and pointed at the water and called, "Lala. Lala."

This is what she calls our dog, Callie. And it's a great example of something that she does frequently. She wants to make sure that others are getting the same enjoyment out of the activity that she is doing. She wanted Callie to share the water, and she was SO CONCERNED that Callie was participating in her fun activity. (In the end, Callie came over and lapped up the water, which Kennedy thought was hilarious.)

Kennedy often does this, making sure that those around her are also enjoying her food, playing with her toy, and taking a turn on the slide. "Mama, mama," she says as she points down the slide because it's my turn. Or let's just sit on the step together, because that's fun.

It makes me (of course) proud to see her selflessness in action, especially in an (almost) 18-month old human who is the center of her own universe. And it makes me realize that our desire to share enjoyment with those around us is very much innate, within us from birth. We want others to feel happy when we are happy, and we want others to share in our excitement and joy. When we model selflessness for our kids, I think they just pick up on the behavior we are modeling. When they practice selflessness, they learn that it's fun.

So much of what we want - what we think we need - comes from what society tells us we need. Right now, Kennedy doesn't care if her room is sort of small, if our living room is also her playroom and also our office. She doesn't care about designer clothes or labels or fancy new things. She's got her priorities straight. She needs the basics - sleep, food, shelter - and love from the people who matter most. This world will show her what she will think she needs in so many ways, and it'll be our job to help create a balance between having some special things and having it all. Advertising and celebrities will do that to us. (As a side note, Simplicity Parenting is a GREAT book.) But, it's a great reminder for me as well to realize the happiest moments in my life are typically free, and typically meeting those basic needs: feeling rested, playing, eating good food, and spending time with the ones I love.