Lesson's from Kristin with an I...

One of my biggest heroes has been Biggest Loser 7 contestant Kristin Steede. She has such a sunny and bright attitude! I LOVED watching her transformation, how she always played the game with such integrity through her struggles and triumphs! Her sassy humor and nack for expressing herself had me enthralled each and every Tuesday night!

A couple of weeks ago, Kristin posted a thought provoking story on her blog (www.kristinsteede.com) It was a "write your own ending" of sorts. The evening of her post was the end to one of the hardest days of my life. I had hit rock bottom emotionally, physically, and financially. I haven't been that low in a long time. I am usually a VERY sunny person! Always positive and ready with a smile! But months and months of keeping up that sunny disposition had finally gotten to me, and as I wrote a check for the mortgage, which left $3 in my checking account for the next two weeks, I broke down. No longer able to keep a smile on my face.

I would like to paste here the post she had published, along with my comment I left on her blog that night. It's a defining moment in my life, that has gotten me back on this wagon, and taking the pot holes one bump at a time.

Please read Kristin's blog, it is VERY inspiring!

www.kristinsteede.com

Here is her post:
_______________________________________
JULY 27, 2009

Finish the story…

So imagine it is Sunday night and you are planning for this exciting new adventure. You have thought about it for years, you have finally planned for it and now you are ready to go! Tomorrow you and your closest family and friends are going to get on this wagon and go to a place you have always dreamed of. A place where you fit in. A place where you can be yourself. A place where you know you will be happy. It is a place you really want to be.

Now you are riding on this wagon and you are cruising along. You are happy, you are committed to the long ride, you are obeying the rules of the road. Things are good. All sudden you see something up ahead…what could it be? Oh my, that is your good friend Betty! She started on this trip with you but it appears she has fallen off of her wagon! Being the good friend you are, you stop your wagon, hop off and visit with Betty for a bit. Deep down inside you know that you have to get going. You have to get back on your wagon or you are never going to get to your destination.

There you are, back on your wagon again and suddenly you start hitting some bumps in the road. These bumps are really slowing you down and it is SO FRUSTRATING! In this bumpy stretch of road there are so many people who have fallen off of their wagons. Are you going to let these bumps stop you from getting to your destination or are you going to ride these bumps out until you hit smooth road again? You have to keep going despite how bumpy the road gets or you are never going to get to where you want to be…what do you do?

***This is the point where you take over! Finish the story. Write it down here. If you were riding on your wagon but hit a bumpy road and fell off tell me how your story ends. YOU are the ONLY one who can write your story. (There is a deep message in that sentence) You are the only one who can decide how much time you spend on the side of a bumpy road while all of these other wagons pass you by.

And my comment...

Kristin

said on July 27, 2009 at 10:36 pm:

Wow girl… I know I joked that you should blog about our “boy” Ronnie. But man. I needed this.

I TOTALLY had an emotional and mental breakdown today. My road has been SOOOOO bumpy these last couple months. But I kept on going, with a smile, like I always do. Today, it was as if I hit a pot hole, man hole, or sink hole, SOMETHING huge!

I was supposed to meet my mother at the grocery store so we could shop together, just for some “girl time”. Instead I just sat in her car and wept for almost an hour with her.

Almost 600 lbs am I. It’s starting to feel like the bumps in my road are getting too tough to handle. But I know all I have to do is take the road ONE bump at a time. Looking down the road, it can be OVERWHELMING to see all those bumps in my way. But really, the ONLY bump I need to concentrate on is the bump right in front of me.

Thanks to your post, I am going to go to bed and figure out WHICH bump is at my feet. WHICH bump it is that I need to step over. WHICH bump it is that I get to CONQUER tomorrow!

Love ya Girlie!
Kristin

_______________________________________

I hope you all choose to navigate the bumps and pot holes down your road!! It's the ONLY way we are going to get to where we desire to go!

When I was at Denver Academy, my Senior year of HS, I kept a journal and wrote all kinds of "thought provoking" quotes. lol The one though, that has ALWAYS stuck with me I thought was pretty dang good:

"If you are having trouble moving a mountain, try building a tunnel and going through it!"

Basically, don't keep doing the same thing over and over if it isn't working for you! There is a way out of ANY situation, you just have to be willing to exhaust all the options!

Love and Cheers!