“All you need is a little faith, trust, and pixie dust.”
The greatest gift is the unexpected one that is about someone else— a bond, an inspiration, an outlet for a story that needs to be told.
Tonight, I sit in bed curled under my blanket attempting to unravel the mysteries and blessings of the universe and our connections with each other. While it’s too grand of a task to actually achieve, I can rejoice in the happenstance that is anything but.
Mother’s Day weekend was spent in California running 13.1 magical and slightly painful miles in Disneyland for the 5th Annual Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend. While, my blog is expected to be about the race, the miles, the sights, the triumphs, the medals—- instead, I write about unexpected connections and inspirations.
In writing my book— or perhaps really, in putting myself out there with raw honesty, insecurity and venerability— people I meet share their own truths of past and current lives, as revealing and vulnerable as they may be.
It often comes from a place of gratitude for the inspiration that I may have given to them, but what I have failed to reveal is the endless inspiration that I receive from them.
It feels as if the universe is open far and wide right now for connections and inspirations— symbiotic in nature and in a loop of equal amounts of give and take. At every turn over the last ten days, I have accidentally sparked a bit of inspiration, openness, or revelations with people near and far—strangers, friends, acquaintances—but what I want to say is it is YOU who is the inspiration! It is YOUR story that moves me. It is YOUR honesty, YOUR strength, YOUR resilience. YOU are the hero of the story. YOU are the one that I am grateful to have met.
We are all in this together, and as much as you might feel my story has inspired you, you have given me a gift in return tenfold.
Something is in the air, and I want to bottle it up for a rainy day. Together we are strong. We, our stories, are connected. Positivity, perseverance feeds off other optimism and strength. Putting myself, my story, out there and in return receiving yours puts us in that incredible loop together. It is a reminder on our darker days or a reminder for when we slip. It is a reminder of what we have survived and what we can survive.
So because we are all connected and I’m rejoicing in the happenstance that isn’t, I’m going to share Tinkerbell Half Marathon photos. I was originally inspired by bloggers writing about RunDisney and the Tink Half, The DisneyWorld Marathon Weekend and more. I decided to become a runner, in part, because of those inspirations and goals. As I reach back to those connections and inspirations, I extend a hand to others to feel, inspire and connect with this post and to go on to share their stories.
It’s a big open universe out there with so many incredible people living and surviving their own darkest days. We have warriors among us, and I hope we continue to inspire each other.
Thank you to everyone I’ve met or have gotten to know more intimately, in particular over the last ten days. Thank you for the messages. Thank you for the constant inspirations to be better, to survive, to learn, to grow, to continue to share and to really let your stories resonate— trust me, they do. You are amazing, and if for some reason no one has reminded you of that today, then I hope this post will.
