BE BOLD. BE BRAVE. JUST BE.

BE BOLD. BE BRAVE. JUST BE.

“Get comfortable saying no and say yes to things that make you uncomfortable.” 

Yesterday I spoke at an extremely inspirational event titled “Be Bold. Be Brave. Just Be.” and it definitely required all of the attendees to do just that. When I think of the choices all of us have to make each day, we all have the opportunity to decide where we spend our time. Not only that, we all have the obligation to ourselves, to decide where we invest our energy and at the same time how we replenish our energy too. Here are a few thoughts from the Dressed in Resilience event, put on by my friend Latika Hassell, and I share them hoping they are helpful to you, wherever you are on your own journey.

Be Bold. 

In this particular case, be bold to me meant I need to be able to ask for help. In my case, I always try to do as much as I can to help as many people as I can, and yet, we know this is not sustainable. As my good friend Tina Fox says, you only have 168 hours a week. With 168 hours in a week, there needs to be time for family, helping clients, giving back, and downtime to replenish. Many of the attendees yesterday all said the same thing, that they were feeling overwhelmed and that asking for help is a good thing. Why do we think we need to do things on our own? If we get help from others the chances are we can focus our energy on our purpose as well as make sure we have the support we need.

There were a few other ideas on what being bold might look like:

  • Sometimes, being bold means being quiet and just being present
  • Sometimes, being bold means to let others have the spotlight and realize that your purpose is to help them blaze their path
  • Sometimes, being bold means to say no more and yes more intentionally

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Gandhi

Be Brave.

It takes courage and bravery to be yourself, to be vulnerable, and to share your story. Each of the speakers yesterday spoke on personal topics and shared their story with the group. The constant theme was to be resilient and every day to keep moving forward seeking and living your purpose. Every attendee had stories of moments of extreme hardship, moments where they were brave and moments of resilience. It is a hard thing to take the fork in the road that is less traveled sometimes and to have the courage to simply be yourself. Sometimes what we perceive as our weakness can actually be our greatest ally and strength when it comes to our purpose. Each person is unique and intended to be that, not to conform to everyone else or what society tells us to be every day. 

Here are a few ideas on how to be brave:

  • Give yourself space and time to think about what makes you unique
  • Share your vision for yourself with another person and go from there
  • Find your tribe, who can help you on your way and who can you help on your way

“Have the courage to grow up and be who you really are.” – E.E. Cummings

Just Be. 

Every moment matters and if life is a string of moments together, then we need to be in each moment or we miss them. Being present is extremely important and something that is hard to achieve at first. Between technology and our own inner voices reminding us of all of the things that we need to do each day, it can be hard to be present. However, I know that I am happiest and most effective when I am present. Part of being present means that you are also just being you, as in, you are aligned with the moment you are in and not distracted. We cannot multi-task life.

Here are a few ideas on to just be:

  • Prioritize how you spend your time so that you are in the most important moments (don’t simply schedule things and say yes to things if you cannot be fully present)
  • Take time to make each moment matter, to engage fully with the person or people you are with
  • Take care of yourself and give yourself time to pause, to heal, to re-energize, to just be. Otherwise, everything else is a heck of a lot harder.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you make them feel.” – Maya Angelou

I have such gratitude to Latika for inviting me to speak and asking me to be vulnerable and share my own story. She provided a space for women to come together and hear each other, truly see each other, and help each other move forward in their lives, wherever they are on their journey.

Be Bold, Be Brave, Just Be.

Jen

 #dressedinresilience  #shadesofsarai2018  #beboldbebravejustbe