(IN) COURAGE

The premise is to ‘interview’ people I admire with 7 questions.

1) What do you do for a career? (also include if you are a parent/grandparent)
I am the Finance Manager at Hand2Hand which is a local nonprofit organization that feeds hungry kids on the weekends who would otherwise not each much while not at school. I am also a parent to 3 daughters. My stepdaughter is 18 year old and graduating high school this year and I have a 13 year old daughter in 7th grade and an 11 year old daughter in 5th grade. I also have a 2 year old pup named Ollie and a kitty named Chub Chub.

2) Who has inspired you? Why?
The most inspiring people to me are the ones who have walked through hell and come out the other side willing to be vulnerable and brave enough to tell their stories to help others. There are many people that have inspired me over the years but the first person that comes to mind is my sister Jessica. She has overcome so many challenges throughout her life and she continues to persevere and to use her tenacious spirit to keep blowing through obstacles. Even though life should have hardened her – she has the most giving heart for others and continually wants to learn and improve and grow. She inspires me to keep working hard daily to be the best version of myself.

3) What are some examples of things you’ve done that are courageous?
I have started businesses and that was courageous for me because it’s a bit overwhelming and the fear of failure is real. But I would say the most courageous thing I’ve done is have children and work as hard as I can each day to be the best Mom I can possibly be to them. But I’m also recently divorced and choosing to work on continued healing and personal growth throughout the hard seasons feels pretty courageous too.

4) Do you have a ‘bucket list’? Would you mind sharing at least one thing on that list?
I don’t have one – and I don’t know why but I think I try to live in a way that if I want to do something, I’m going to figure out a way to do it now because we are never promised tomorrow. I would love to do some sort of Eat, Pray, Love situation – but that will wait until my girls are grown and out of the house. 🙂

5) What inspiring advice would you give for others?
You are the only human in this world that can do anything about your life. Your choices, the way you view the world, the way you treat yourself – those are all on you and those are what makes your life. Nothing anyone else does has anything to do with you. Life is happening FOR for you, not TO you. Find the lessons and keep on growing.

6) Is there something about you/your work or hobby you’d like to be shared?
I love to be active physically and I love to read. I’m going to learn how to play pickleball this summer and I’m super excited to start that new hobby!

7) HOT SEAT! What is your question for me?
What has been the absolute hardest obstacle for you to overcome so far in your life?

My hope is that these both inspire and encourage anyone who reads this. It is an honor that Krysta thought of highlighting me. I truly love all the responses, the way she views life, and the advice, as always Krysta is so very wise and inspiring.

Now for my ‘Hot Seat’ response to the question “What has been the absolute hardest obstacle for you to overcome so far in your life?”

Sometimes I think of life as chapters, and there have been a number of chapters or times that I felt that “this is the hardest obstacle.” It’s always hard for me to pick one or a favorite of things, but I will step out of my comfort zone and pick ‘the one’

It was when I got really sick over 15 years ago. It was August 28th when it all started. In summary my hands/feet were tingling and felt like they touched a stove, meanwhile I had a severe sinus infection/tooth ache. It would be over a year of asking questions, receiving various dental treatments and diagnostics some of which were incredibly painful. In just over a couple of weeks I had lost about 30 pounds of and couldn’t eat or keep food down. It was scary. My husband (who was my boyfriend at the time) was terrified but was at my side. We thought the worst and even talked about my wishes if it got to the point where life/death decisions needed to be made. We’d keep much of this to ourselves because we didn’t want to worry anyone.

Finally, a chiropractor of all people asked, “What have you been eating before you got sick?” and after telling her that was it was soda/candy. She told me to stop, we actually went further cutting down lots of other things to be sure they weren’t triggers. Instantly, I did just that.

Also, the 2009 recession started, and I went from working 80 hours to 32 hours, not only giving me time to heal, but work on my stress levels. It saved my life.