I don’t love scary movies or roller coasters. I MUCH prefer the adrenaline rushes in my life to be those of my own creation…the leaps I take that I’m not sure I can land…
Because I am NO adrenaline junkie.
Not exactly. =)
Still, I love a challenge.
Still, I know that a certain part of me
a large part of me
is addicted to the thrill….
to the elation of a victory…
to the satisfaction of a job well done…
to the pride of overcoming a challenge.
So, when I was running this weekend, i went my normal path. (The path that left me broken and bruised just a couple of short weeks ago.) At the last minute, I decided NOT to make the jumps this time, immediately noticing that I felt a bit disappointed in myself.
Why not LEAP again?
Why not PUSH?
Why not go the EXTREME route?
Why not challenge yourself, Michelle?
Are you going SOFT on me, or what? =)
Honestly, I just wanted an easy, longer than average run.
I just wanted to enjoy the run…
to be inspired by it…
to move my legs and feel my lungs burn with exertion…
to feel empowered by how far these 41 year old legs could take me.
And so, I ran STRAIGHT — having no idea where it may lead — but opting OUT of the OBSTACLE course / jogging trail that I had grown to love, and choosing a gentler, easier run.
AND OMG…. LOOK AT WHAT I FOUND.
This new path…
A beautiful path,
a path that was full of EASE and BEAUTY and JOY,
taking me past beautiful bodies of water,
stunning scenery,
and not a HINT of civilization anywhere to be found. #winning
AND I WONDERED,
something that brought me right back to business…
how long this “new path” had been there…
Was it there ALL ALONG?
Or was it recently carved by a sexy green John Deere tractor?
I’ll never know…
I was born and bred under the “daylight to dark” work ethic,
into a mentality that NEVER expects NOR — for God’s sakes — has the sheer audacity to ask for EASE.
Laziness was the ULTIMATE “sin.”
As the Alabama song goes, “I’ve got 100 years of down home, running through my blood” and this means that I grew up knowing it was NOBLE to work HARD, to be willing to BLEED if necessary for what you want, to PUSH to exhaustion.
And I’m CERTAINLY not complaining.
This has served me very, very well.
But I have to wonder,
while I was toiling away at this business….
while I was working HARD,
while I was PUSHING to exhaustion,
while drops of sweat and blood marked the pages of my story,
while I was HUSTLING
and JUMPING
and BLEEDING….
how many paths of EASE and BEAUTY and JOY
did I miss out on?
Simply because I wouldn’t admit my desire for EASE?
Simply because I wasn’t looking?
Today, I have a lot of people try to remind me that I get to do what I do NOW because I did all of the HUSTLING HARD in those early days. True.
BUT, I know for a FACT that I hustled harder and longer than I had to… I know for a FACT that there were shortcuts I could have and –in hindsight — SHOULD have taken.
I just didn’t know they were there.
Because I wasn’t looking.
TODAY, I am 100% sold out to my outcome goals. I trust God to open doors that no man can open in order to get me there.
But I am NOT committed to a “story” of doing it all alone, walking up hill both ways in the snow in order to build this business, this legacy, this brand, this community, this movement called Women Who WOW.
Today, I remain very OPEN…
to PUSHING
to SWEATING
and even BLEEDING
when necessary…
but also,
to looking for,
and even expecting,
some beautiful paths of ease
along the way.
Because I think WILD success,
OUTRAGEOUS success,
requires BOTH
adrenaline AND ease…
hustle AND flow.
P.S. If you have been wondering about joining Women Who WOW… you can Message Me or you can take this curated content journey…. to see if you’re “one of us,” OR NOT.
