Just Be YOU

****VULNERABLE POST******

Yes.  That's me in those pictures.  Dorky...awkward in front of a camera..scared to death to do a photo shoot.... ME!!!

I've worked REALLY hard over the last year and a half to get my body into the BEST SHAPE OF MY LIFE after 4 kids.  I didn't do it for ANYONE ELSE....I did it for ME.  To prove to myself I could.  To learn to PUSH myself.  To leave my destructive body image, destructive negative thoughts, and destructive eating habits in the PAST. 

The result has been incredible.  My heart, my HEAD and my body have changed.  I feel HAPPY to be ME. CONFIDENT in my own skin.  Driven to help others feel the same. 

Which is WHY I decided to coach for Beachbody.  Because they gave me my life back.  And even more importantly...it opened my eyes to a BIGGER life that God has intended for me.  It has taught me to PUSH and DRIVE and WORK for what I WANT and to BALANCE it with what matters most...my FAMILY.

I am just an everyday MOM.  I get frustrated with my kids.  My kids eat macaroni and ice cream sometimes.  I am tired  from chasing them  all day and being up in the night with them.  I am not SUPER HUMAN.  My abs dont always look like that because sometimes I eat too many cookies...or have a diet coke.  Sometimes I sleep in...till like 8. (if only my kids got the MOM wants to sleep memo)   Sometimes I DONT want to workout or do ANYTHING but EAT.  YES...Its a battle for me to not buy oreos or eat all the ice cream.  I've gotten pretty good at that....most the time.

My point here is that FOR YEARS I was wrapped up in what I THOUGHT everyone else thought.  I felt like I had to be perfect all the time.  Keep every toe in line.  Never Cry...never swear. (yes it has happened)   Never have a FAULT.  But guess what???  WHO CAN LIVE LIKE THAT!!???  NO ONE!!!  I was living in a box made of unrealistic expectations and imagined perceptions created out of FEAR of being judged....AND I PUT MYSELF IN THAT BOX!!! Imagine that?? 

WELL...I'M DONE!

I am crazy.  I am silly.  I LOVE chocolate more that words can express.  I love to read.  I love to walk in the rain.  I love to run and run and run and run.  I love to get popcorn at the movies.  I love long walks on the beach. (TRUE) I love spanish POP music.  I love super hero movies.  I love being a wife and mom, and sometimes..I love to be ALONE!!!! (GASP! Silence and personal space after having children is something to be cherished!)

These pictures make me smile.  Because the EXPERIENCE was terrifying for me.  Even though I had some clothes on..being in front of a camera..JUST YOU...PROVING that YOU PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS (so to speak..coaching for Beachbody).....yeah...I just felt NAKED.

I was kinda freaking out the week before...SO nervous. And then my husband (bless his patient heart) said 3 words.

JUST BE YOU

So I did.  I was vulnerable.  I was PROOF that I love my job and that I do it well.  I was dorky.  I was silly.  I was ME.

And I was HAPPY.

Truth.....NO ONE IN THIS WORLD CAN EVER DO WHAT GOD SENT YOU HERE TO DO.  SO STOP HIDING!  STOP worrying about what other people will say...or think..or whatever.   BREAK OUT OF YOUR BOX of FEARS.  DO SOMETHING that SCARES the HECK OUT OF YOU!!!!  Be vulnerable.  Be REAL.  DARE to make mistakes....and Say your SORRY and learn from it. 

But for HEAVENS SAKE......BE YOU!!!  Because YOU are one of a kind. 

....and I spontaneously do the running man...a lot. 

So what??  I am ME.  and it makes me Happy!!!

Who are YOU???  What makes YOU happy??  Now go do more of THAT!!!