In my own personal quest to not just seek happiness as an
end result but rather to actually be, feel and act happy on a daily basis, I’ve
noticed a recurring message about being true to yourself.
A favorite saying I’ve come across is: I’d rather be hated
for being who I am than loved for being someone that I’m not. Or something like
that. I think we’ve all seen our
fair share of similar motivational sayings on Facebook, email forwards, distressed
wood signs in gift shops, etc.
I’ve realized being me is actually a lot harder than it
seems. Think about it. You might say “well, duh, I’m “me” every day – aren’t
I?” But, do all of the decisions you make in your life truly reflect who you are
or who you want to be? I can think of many times I made a decision or acted in
a way that did NOT reflect who I am. Sometimes I was conscious of it in the
moment and sometimes not.
A more specific example that is currently weighing on me is
the potential opportunity to take the next step in my career. Like a robot, I have
been working towards that end result and have probably said the right things to
the right people, but suddenly I started to ask myself: Regardless if the
opportunity is there and I’m next in line and sure maybe the money is good…do I
really want that job and the
responsibilities that come with it? Will that job allow me to be who I want to
be (awesome wife/mom/friend) and keep doing the hobbies that make me happy
(running!) ? The gut instinct
answer is no…so why do I keep doing and saying the right things to get
something I don’t want? I’m not being true to myself.
It can take a lot of years to unravel the person you never
wanted to be. Think about the choices you make, the way you treat people, the
people you surround yourself with.
Why do I write about this, well, because to me being true to
yourself is a big part of the Sparkle.Pounce. mission and message. To encourage
everyone to be who they are and to make choices that reflect what they want out
of life, no matter how big or small the dream is. Not to reflect on their
deathbed if they were happy or not
but to focus on it now, every day. Perhaps a lesser known fact about SP is that
while it is true our common
interest in running and being active is what introduced us five ladies to each
other through our triathlon club and has since become a common topic in our
blogs, posts and apparel designs, because running helps us be better versions
of ourselves and gives us that extra boost to tackle other dreams in our lives,
Sparkle.Pounce. the motto actually emerged more from conversations we started
to have during our runs and our New Recipe New Ingredient Thursday cooking
nights about being happier on a regular basis. Having that sparkle (a buzz
word, we know) and using that positivity to catapult our ambition (pounce). But
running doesn’t have to be the catalyst for you, it’s just a lot harder to put
a “go get that corner office in your power suit” message on our super soft and
comfy tanks and hoodies. Maybe you
have always wanted to start a small business, or a travel blog, take a
photography class, get something you’ve written published, go back to school or
you keep meaning to volunteer for that animal shelter or maybe seeking that next
career step IS for you but you haven’t raised your hand and said “I want
that!”, you’ve been making jewelry for years and always thought it’d be neat to
set up at an art fair, start certification classes to become a yoga instructor.
It could be something for the community or the world. Or it could be something
just for you.
This is reflected in our most recent design we are getting
ready to launch on Etsy. “Run This Day”… it can be taken literally as in “Quit your
whining, put your shoes on and get your butt out there and RUN. Right Now.
Today.” Or figuratively as in “Put
your cape on ladies and do something today or this week that is true to who you
are that will put you that much closer to whatever it is that you dream of
doing.”
Sparkle.Pounce.RunThisDay.
Leigh Ann
 |
| New Design in our Etsy Shop! |
No comments:
Post a Comment