THE TRUTH ~ MYTH #6: DREAMS VS. REALITY

Have you ever been the one to set goals, reach them, and push for more?

You charted a course thinking…this IS the one?

Then you arrived at a detour; two paths to choose from and not knowing which one to take.

You intuitively choose the path you thought was right and moved forward.

Maybe that path brought you to a place of growth and learning, but soon the path ended.

Then, you reached another detour.

You try again. This time, you expand your mind and try something new and different. You travel for a while gaining strength and thinking, this is IT! I got it now!

Along the way, you discovered more about yourself and the World and found a new sense of courage.

But, once again the path is no longer straight and narrow. It splits with two roads to choose from.

You’re lost. Everything looks the same.

You look around realizing you are spinning in circles not knowing which way to choose.

You are alone and left to your own thoughts, vulnerable, and confused.

Throughout this journey, you have accomplished many things and some things you felt you failed at.

But, failure never deterred you, until now.

You have been learning, growing, exploring and persevering all along. Despite wanting to, you never gave up.

But, then time and time again the path you thought was right, ended.

You had to start over, clear the confusion, fight and start again.

As time goes on, the path gets rockier. Each time you choose a new direction, the slope gets steeper and the terrain unstable.

You wonder do I just turn back. Or do I forge forward?

You are tired, need sleep and lack clarity. In fact, your brain takes over and your thoughts are convoluted.

You say to yourself, “Maybe if I just sleep it off, tomorrow will be a new day?”

But, the days between inspiration and hope get shorter.

Your energy drains and you feel weak.

“What am I to do?”

“Why does this keep happening?”

You ask these questions over and over again, sometimes in your head and sometimes out loud looking up towards the sky.

“Am I cursed? Does the devil live inside me?”

You seek spiritual answers; turn to a higher belief that the journey is part of a bigger plan.

It is called SURVIVAL.

You pray, call out, and ask for direction. You seek a compass to your own life.

You know in your heart, you were placed on this earth for a bigger purpose.

But yet over and over again, just when you think you discovered it, the answer strays again.

“How does one discover their purpose and stop defeat?”

“How does one find fulfillment, success and happiness?”

“How does one turn dreams into reality?” I understand each person defines those words in their own terms.

You often close your eyes and attempt to visualize this place and make it “real.”

“What does it feel like, smell like, hear like so that it can be felt…touched with your own fingers?”

Those are the real questions of life. Nothing else matters until you find the answers.

I have no further answers. I only read the stories of those who say it is possible.

But, no matter my efforts, I have yet to find the when, how, where or what to make my dreams come true.

I know I am not the only one. It is part of being human.

May my strength continue to find it so that the day comes when I can share it with all of you.

The question: Is the possibility of turning “ALL dreams into reality” just a myth?

-All Rights Reserved, 2016, Beckie Jorgensen

POEM: The Power of ME

In many of my posts, I talk about discovering your innate talents, turning them into strengths, and discovering your purpose in life. I have walked you through my own journey of discovering who I am, what I do, and why I do what I do. I have done this by walking you through my own life story and writing about scenes of my life where internal and external struggles have taken me into a dark pit. I make connections to memories of past successes and how the power of persistence helped me crawl out of the pit on a search for solutions. And, most importantly, I teach you how my search led to discovering my own strengths which pathed the way to my breakthrough moment in life. But, today, I want to pause for a moment to address a fundamental part of this journey, self-acceptance.

The path of learning, inner-growth, and discovering your life purpose is a long winding road. One that never really ends as every new day brings with it different experiences, challenges, bumps in the road, and transitions. It can take years of self-observation, investing in coaching, practicing mindfulness and meditation, and inner awareness to truly acknowledge your innate gifts and accept who you really are. The truth of the matter, my friends, is that not everyone achieves this state of clarity ever in their lifetime.

“Self-acceptance is an invitation to stop trying to change yourself into the person you wish to be, long enough to find out who you really are.” – Robert Holden

When I speak about self-acceptance, I don’t mean liking some things about who you are and dismissing the rest. I don’t mean suppressing your weaknesses and pretending they don’t exist. True self-acceptance is about loving all of you inside and out.

This is by no means an easy task. In fact, it can be very painful. Those of you, who follow my Blogs, read my social media posts, and consider me your friend or colleague know I come from a heart-centered place. My consistent and authentic message is to inspire you and others to never give away your passions, dreams or hope. This is my personal value statement and my purpose in life.

But, self-acceptance is an area of struggle for me too. Despite all that I have shared openly, the path to success has not been straight and narrow. It has had it curves, turns, and detours along the way. To be perfectly honest, it continues, even today, to be that way. I can gain clarity, confidence and calm in one direction only to veer slightly and find myself driving down a road of fear, self-doubt, and frustration. I discover I am lost, have no sense of direction, and need to decide if I am going to stop to ask for help.

Take a moment to remember a time when you were lost. Metaphorically, a time when your GPS failed you? Despite your passenger begging you to turn around, you spent several minutes, maybe even hours, driving around and around? Yet, you were so determined that you could find your way, you refused to stop and ask for directions.

I hope in this very moment as you continue to read on, you have a slight smile on your face, let out a chuckle or paused to reminisce at a time when you too experienced this.

My point in yet another story is to share a poem that I wrote last night as I was contemplating my own journey and the day to come. It is a subtle reminder that can be read over and over again to help achieve the true desire of self-acceptance. It is a gift not only to me, but to share with you too. Visibly post it, read it daily and…if you really like it, please click like, comment, or share. Enjoy!

“Today, I choose MY life. Not what you think it should be, want it to be or expect it to be.

Today, I choose ME. Not who you want me to be, think I should be or expect me to be.

Today, I AM me.

The REAL me!

The me I was BORN to be.

Nobody can TAKE me away from me.

Today is the first step to FREE me.

It is the only step forward to BE.

Without the real me, I am useless. With the real me, I am LIMITLESS.

I AM ME.”

– ©2015, Beckie Jorgensen

Live Your Life: The Art of Leveraging Your Strengths to Live Your Purpose

Confront Your Real Story Part 2: The Power of Persistence

On July 13, 2015, I shared a link on Facebook, Step-By-Step Blueprint to Monetize Your Message by Ted McGrath. This was a 3 part video series. Mr. McGrath shared in his Message 2 Millions about the power of story and a four step formula to create your story:

The Power of Story

1. The Call – Every story has a Hero. The call is the Hero’s journey. 
2. The Pit – Depths of darkness. Your private thoughts of despair. The power of vulnerability. 
3. The Search – Searching for the solution or the big breakthrough. 
4. Break through Moment – “Freedom!” 

His message reached the depths of my soul. That afternoon, I wrote a Blog – “Confront Your Real Story: Get Rid of the Ghost.” This was a very vulnerable moment for me. It was the first time that I ever wrote about and confronted my past. My very own personal story exposed to all who chose to read it.

Today, I began THE SEARCH. I am not exactly sure how this happened, but I went through my emails and chose to open one from Michael Hyatt. I started to look through his podcast series and found this: “The One Way to Guarantee You Won’t Succeed: 6 Tricks for Training Yourself to Persist When You Want to Quit.” As I listened to this podcast, I wrote down his 6 steps to persistence:

1. Break your project into smaller goals. 
2. Keep the end in mind. 
3. Improve your pace and renew your enthusiasm. 
4. Run and walk. There has to be recovery time even in the pursuit of a big goal. 
5. Kill the distractions. Stay focused. 
6. Change your self-image. See yourself as persistent and not a quitter. 

The reason I chose this podcast was because of its title. Over the past few weeks, my usual positive and hopeful personality was draining. I started to severely doubt my ability to be an entrepreneur, get clients, and make an income. With only a few hundred dollars left to my name and many projects “up in the air,” I started to slide into THE PIT once again. But, Mr. Hyatt’s podcast reminded me of yet another story about my life.

When I was in High School, I was a long distance runner, cross-country and track. My freshman year, I was #2 on the varsity Cross Country team. The leader of the pack was a senior. By sophomore year, I was #1 on the varsity Cross Country team and remained so through my senior year. Running became my passion. For all 4 years, I made the All-State Championships, moved on to the New England Championships, and became recognized as one of the state’s top runners. I set a goal for myself that in my senior year, I was going to win the Connecticut State Cross Country Championship. I was well on my way. Having been written up in the Hartford Courant Newspaper many times, my senior year full page article featured, “Mercy senior has love affair with running.” I was noted for not only my physical talent, but my discipline and mental toughness.

Then, the most unexpected tragedy happened. I had just finished defending the Class LL Championship for the third year in a row, set a new course record, and as I crossed the finish line I experienced excruciating pain in my left leg. I collapsed, could not stand up, and could not walk on my leg. All I could think about was that the Connecticut State Championship race was only a couple weeks away. Was I going to be able to run? Was I going to be able to achieve my goal as the State of Connecticut Cross Country Champion? Am I going to let my team and fans down? What was I going to do?

The next newspaper article written in the Hartford Courant stated, “Star Mercy Runner Out.” After several weeks of trying to run through the pain, rest, and try again with nothing but tremendous pain, my mom took me to the Yale New Haven Hospital of Sports Medicine. I had a severe stress fracture in my left tibia. There was no way I could run without risk of further damage. I was done for the season! I missed my chance!

persistence

noun per·sis·tence \pər-ˈsis-tən(t)s, -ˈzis-\

the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people

I was absolutely devastated. Watching the State Championship from the side-line my senior year was one of those life moments where my mom would say, “This builds character.” Just like in my previous story, “Confront Your Real Story: Get Rid of the Ghost,” this was yet another time in my life where I had to make the choice: give up, give in, or fight. As you can see, there is a pattern forming here. I chose to fight, because I valued persistence!

Over the next several months, I was rehabilitated in my home by a former Olympian from the 70’s. I rode a stationary bike, worked-out on a make-shift wooden box turned into a weight bench, and trained. It took the entire winter to heal, re-gain my strength, and be able to run without limping. I had one more chance. Becoming the 3200 Meter Connecticut State Track Champion was my new goal.

The day of the Track Championships was also the day of my High School Graduation. I will never forget the date, June 5, 1990, as my mom had it carved into the back of a sterling silver cross necklace that she gave me in the morning before I left. The Championships took all day and the 3200 Meter race was the very last event of the day. It took a lot of persistence to remain calm, keep focused, and stay hydrated all day.

It was late afternoon and it was time. We all lined up on the track. My High School Coach, Rehabilitation Coach, and even the University of Connecticut Women’s Cross Country and Track Coach (I was being recruited to attend college at UCONN) were all there watching. The gun goes off…and well, the rest is history. I won the State Open 3,200 Meters in 11:10.24 to earn the title All-State Champion in Track for the first time! I did it! I reached my goal as the Connecticut State Champion!

That evening I went back to my High School, quickly showered, and made it just in time to walk into my Graduation Ceremony behind the tallest girl in my class. The entire auditorium erupted with clapping. Word had already spread like wild-fire that I had won. Now that was truly a moment to remember!

We all have memories, stories, and times we can look back upon to get us out of THE PIT. There is power in persistence, power in your story, power in your life lessons, and when you are faced with falling into THE PIT…SEARCH for the solution. Your breakthrough will happen. My search led me back to this story and one of my non-negotiable core values, PERSISTENCE.

I am out of THE PIT with renewed enthusiasm to move forward with my calling to help others never give away their dreams, passions, or HOPE! Give these tips a try and reclaim your FREEDOM!

Coming soon: Confront Your Real Story Part 3: The Break through Moment