Find Your Fire

"'Everyone needs to find the one thing that brings out her passion. It's what we do and share with the world that matters...far too many people die with a heart that's gone flat with indifference, and it surely must be a terrible way to go. Life will offer us amazing opportunities, but we've got to be wide-awake to recognize them...If there's one thing I'd like most for you, it's that you'll find your calling in life. That's where true happiness and purpose lies. Whether it's taking care of abandoned animals, saving old houses from the wreckin' ball, or reading to the blind, you've got to find your fire, sugar. You'll never be fulfilled if you don't.'
'But how will I know what my fire is?'
'Oh, you'll know. One day you'll do something, see something, or get an idea that seems to pop up from nowhere. And you'll feel a kind of stirring--like a warm flicker inside your chest. When that happens, whatever you do, don't ignore it. Open your mind and explore the idea. Fan your flame. And when you do, you'll have found it.'" -Aunt Tootie and Cecilia Rose from Beth Hoffman's Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

This weekend I was at a friend's house and I asked her what she really enjoyed doing, what really made her happy. After thinking for a moment, she gave me her answer (it was exercising and making people feel good). As I often do, I turned the question on myself. What do I really enjoy doing? What really makes me happy? To put it in the words of Aunt Tootie, what is my fire? Honestly, I'm not sure I know. There are things I enjoy doing. I enjoy exercising. I enjoy reading. I enjoy dancing. I enjoy eating. I enjoy baking. There are two things I would say I love doing: teaching and listening to people.

Let's address the second one first. Listening to people may be considered an odd activity to enjoy but I love hearing what people have to say. You can find out all sorts of things if you just close your mouth and open your ears. It's fascinating to find out what makes people tick, what bothers them, what their hopes and dreams are. I often find out a lot about myself, too. And every once-in-a-while I get the opportunity to help someone.

Teaching. Why do I love to teach? I get to help people learn and understand something they didn't know before. My dad used to tell me you know you've learned something when you can effectively and correctly teach it. Teaching is a way for me to prove to myself I've learned something and that is very fulfilling. By no means am I a trained, educated teacher. I'm not in public or private schools educating the young. I do, however, get to teach occasionally at church and sometimes I teach Zumba at my local gym. I love it!

But are teaching and listening my fire? Do I wake up every morning and fall asleep every night thinking about them? Not really. I echo CeeCee Honeycutt's words: "What my fire was, I didn't know. But I promised myself that I'd find out." After all, what have I got to lose?

Have you found your fire? What is it?

Feel the Burn!

About a year ago, I started getting into exercising much more seriously than I have before. So serious that I actually joined a gym and have gone three times a week pretty much every week since. I even became a fitness instructor! What got me into exercising you ask? ZUMBA!!! I went to my first class as a support system for my sister-in-law and I never looked back. Eventually, Zumba wasn't enough. I wanted to challenge myself more. My friend told me he was doing the Insanity workout program and I thought to myself, "Sounds awesome!" (What was I thinking?!) It actually has been quite awesome. My endurance is up, my muscle strength is up, my exhaustion level is up. It has totally been worth it.

But, again, that just hasn't been enough. One of my friends at the gym told me she signed up for a race and somehow convinced me to do the same. I am now signed up to participate in the 2012 Run Amuck. It's 3.5 miles through Quantico Marine Corps Base and includes various obstacles such as a tire run, an A-frame wall, mud pits, and a fire hose. I'm actually really, really excited about this race. There's only one problem: I'm not a runner. I have not been able to run a mile since elementary school. The last time I did any type of running was about 8 months ago in the form of a 5K. I walked a majority of it. However, knowing I was signed up for this race, I figured I should get a baseline in my running ability so I can gauge my progress while preparing for this race. Shock of all shocks, I ran a 15 minute mile today! Even better, if I wasn't in a time crunch I could have run EVEN MORE!!! This was a huge milestone for me! (Pun absolutely intended...)

Bottom line: Exercising more has made me feel better and is now allowing me to do things I never thought I'd ever be able to do. I never thought I'd be able to survive Insanity (I still have another month to go...). I also never thought I'd be able to run and enjoy it! Who knows what's in store for me in the future? What have I got to lose?

What Have I Got to Lose?

So here I find myself, 10:30 pm on a Thursday wondering what the heck I'm doing with my life. And then I think to myself, "Start a blog! Why not? Everyone else is doing it!" Because that's a logical reason. What will I post? Who knows! Maybe something about my somewhat recent and kind of insane interest in exercising. Maybe my frustrations with trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. No, I know what I want to do with my life. I just haven't figured out how to make it all happen yet.

I'd like to say my life is exciting. As a vibrant, young 20-something, you'd think it would be. And, dog-gone-it, why shouldn't it be? I watched the end of "Yes Man" the other night and it got me thinking... How exciting would life be if we said "Yes" a little more often? Not as recklessly as Jim Carrey's character, but within reason. One of the best experiences I've ever had was brought on by a momentary lapse of judgment when I was asked if I wanted to go skydiving. "Sure!" I said. The closer we got to the drop zone, the more nervous I got. And when we couldn't jump, I thought I was going to explode! All that for nothing but shot nerves! I decided not to change my mind about the whole thing and when we finally got to jump out of that plane (after constantly wondering what was wrong with me) it was awesome! Definitely an experience I would never trade and one I have repeated and want to continue to repeat. Why not say yes? Open up to new experiences!

Maybe that's why I started this blog. You never know what can happen. So I ask myself, "What have I got to lose?"