Note to new readers: This post is part of my 30 Days of Writing Practice. I am allowing blocks of 10, 20 or 30 minutes of my day solely to putting my swirling thoughts on paper. No going back to edit which will only serve to stop the stream of consciousness. My writing buddy and I, we call it writing from the heart. Please read my introduction for the full story.
I’ve found my calling. Writing is my passion. But it is just a means to an end. I write to inspire people. To motivate. That’s my gift.
I’ve reached a junction in my life. The kids are semi-independent, my home duties are in autopilot, I’ve achieved my career goals, I have a happy and fit husband who cooks, I have travelled much… What next? It’s time to look WITHIN. That’s where I am right now.
So I lost weight. I carefully choose what I eat. I exercise madly daily. I had so much joy going back to ME. I was self centered. Repeat. I allowed myself to be self centered. Back to my core. ME. Then I look around me as I think. This epiphany needs to be shared with friends. Because I am a share “whore”. Share to those who are in the same stage of life as I am.
So I became a “pusher”. At first, I told my friends what I was doing. Then I realised that not all of them were ready to listen; they were not in the same mindset as I was. I can only lead the horse to water. I can never force the horse to drink. So I pulled back. I decided to just BE. Let me become an example, use the social network to tell the world my story. That’s when the magic began.
I posted my Twelve Books Challenge and Walking Diaries in FB/Instagram. My FB and IG feed were filled with pictures of things I do. I was trying to rub off my energy to the ether. I shifted into higher gear early this year. I created a new album called Good Living Diary. I also created the “Fitness Anonymous” FB group and added friends who were ready or were in the right mindset. I wasn’t satisfied. I changed the voice of myGloryBox FB page. I posted braver and louder messages. I used the word PUSH to get my message across. I even created the hashtag #EatBetterMoveFaster for a unique and clearer voice. Then two friends, one in Canada and another in the US messaged me out of the blue. One asked about quinoa. A classmate from UP High Cebu, she has a family of diabetics and herself trying to eat healthy. Another ex-workmate asked about green smoothies because she just had a kidney gall bladder surgery and has put on weight. Lots of it. She asked for the green recipes. I was so very happy with the connection I made with them.
Then a current girlfriend asked if I could guide her in losing the kilos she put on after a December overseas holiday. I told her to simply cut down the carbs during lunch and dinner, and go very low on sugar. We all know it’s as simple as that, we just need to hear it from someone. So I held my friend’s hand and asked for her weigh-ins every second day. I pushed, she lost the weight. One month later, she happily announced she lost 5 kilos and thanked me for it. She is still losing weight, not stopping at 5 kilos. Compliments from friends spur her on. Simple joys. And I get such a big kick out of it. It’s my very own source of adrenaline rush.
Another mum-friend was curious what I was doing for exercise. So I told her about the Power 90 fitness videos. She sent me an SMS the next day asking where the best place to buy dumbbells was! A few IG friends started running and exercising and actually acknowledged me for the push too. These IG friends I don’t even know in person!
Little things. These little gifts give me my daily dose of endorphin rush. And I didn’t even have to exercise for them. All I had to do was do a good deed and be myself.
Meet my friend Anna. A few years back, Anna was going through a painful breast cancer treatment and I so wanted to help her. She was my very first friend who was afflicted with the big C. I was lost and flustered. I didn’t know how to help. Words were not enough. Even actions seemed lame. I knew from our constant message exchanges that she was an articulate and intelligent writer. And that she expresses herself best in her writing. I recognised a gift. And while I was in the shower, I had an Aha! moment (you will notice I have plenty of Aha! moments). I suggested she create 365 Days With Anna, an FB page. Be the voice of information regarding breast cancer. And to share her journey, left, right and center. This is not an easy task for anyone, as you bare and expose yourself to the world. The good, the bad and the ugly of cancer. But there are stories to be told. Anna was brave. She took my challenge by the head. I gave her a car to drive, and she raced through the cancer highway going zipping and zapping. She went viral, that woman, reaching and inspiring thousands. And she beat cancer to a pulp in the process. In her posts, she recognised that in her darkest and lowest moments, messages coming through via the 365 Days gave her strength. It became therapeutic. (Aside: I derived the name 365 Days from a favourite high school book called 30 Days To A More Powerful Vocabulary. This title is stuck in my head all through my life.)
Last night when I saw Anna again for a catch up, she intimated that although her 365 Days postings have become an inspiration to her audience, she is constantly self correcting and filtering her post content. Always fearful how she will sound, how the reader will react. In other words, she had chains around her. So I told her about my writing adventure with Kat. That it was quite powerful and liberating to write with abandon. I encouraged her to get rid of the demons in her head (cue Tony Stark: “We create our own demons”). We were like high school girls giggling giddily with our new mission in life. We were in cahoots. We decided that from now on we will write straight from the heart, unbridled, come hell or high water. Folks can stop reading us or unfollow us altogether. But no more of this “guarded” nonsense. We will go a little crazy.
Anna and I will be wanton writers. Whoa. Where did that word come from? Words just keep on pouring, I love it when my mind works seamlessly.
My writing is just a means. Of expression, of being heard and of spreading my news. What I really want to do for the rest of my life is to be a… coach of sorts. I’ll figure out a word for it later. Life coach is too big a thing. Scary. Not that one. I just want to be your regular helpful simple ChaR-g.
Say HI and follow Anna at 365 Days with Anna.
Follow myGloryBox.com FB Page.
Always from my heart,
ChaR-g
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