My sponsor, Coralie, also my mentor, cheerleader, accountability partner, close friend…right. So why don’t I start this out with a huge shout out to Coralie, for all those reasons, and also because I wouldn’t have gone to Success Strategy Weekend without her talking me into it. I remember her saying it will improve my business, but also my personal life. She told me the training makes her a better mom, wife, daughter, friend and so on. I wondered how much improving I could do in those areas in 3 days, but I’ll tell you right now my cynicism was DEAD WRONG!
Before I even left I learned how to pack for a weekend into one small personal item, which eventually lead to letting my sisterhood help clothe me for the weekend.
I met this amazing woman Karen, whom Coralie told me I’d become instant best friends with, which turned out to be an understatement. The hour and a half drive from Edmonton to Red Deer was all high fives and revelations. There’s a good possibility we’re two halves of an egg-split, which is compliment to me, she’s amazeballs. But it was also something she said in reflecting on one of her revelations that lead to my big realizations.
Even now I feel the giant lump of “trying not to cry feeling” as I type. She said quite a long heartfelt speech, but when I heard, “…too much for people…” I instantly started ugly crying. I struggle with this a lot in my life. I’ve had so many people tell me they envy that I seem to not care what people think, and there have been times in my life I thought I didn’t, but the truth is, I do. And it holds me back from acting and being who I am, all the time. (Some of you are thinking, “wow, that’s the held back version?”) I’ve had people try to dumb down my personality, how much of a morning person I am (one ex-boyfriend tried to teach me a ‘gentle hello’), try to teach me to fit in and so much more. I have “Don’t dull your sparkle” on waitlist at the library. I start a new job and people expect my enthusiasm to wane eventually. Even at my cousins weddings, all three of them boys I grew up with, there kept being call outs of my need to be the centre of attention. It’s quite possible I’ve always been this way.
I considered at one point that it could be a malfunction in my brain, that could one day fix itself, although if that’s the case, I hope it never does. I’ve also been mistaken for a special needs individual, which I’ll admit, I take as the highest compliment. There’s a lot of inspiring hero’s in the special Olympics, and I rarely meet a special needs person who doesn’t make me smile, and brighten my day.
After I cried a lot, I caught myself saying, “I know, I’m so weird. I’m so very sorry” That stops as soon as I landed back in BC. I no longer want to apologize for what makes me unique. I’ll apologize if I hurt someone’s feelings, or embarrass them, but I won’t dull my sparkle. A video on Facebook ended with, don’t dull your light for people, give them sunglasses.
I learned a lot that weekend, about my truths, about my business, about my fellow consultants. It was hard, I cried a lot and came home with a migraine, but it was a testament to how much I put into it, and what I got out of it is worth it’s price in gold. I can’t even begin to quantify the lessons and friendships I came home with. The amazing revelations, the ah-ha moments, and the HUGS! Mommy hugs! (They’re better than regular ones)
I also signed up to do the Ride to Conquer Cancer for the third time with my Pure Romance Tribe, another thing that came out of that weekend on the flight home. Don’t considered going to corporate training, just sign up.
My friend Danny tried to tell me, “you’re not weird” to which I replied, “Oh yes I am!” But I quite liked what he came back with, he said, “you are unique in a rather dull world of people trying to be the same.”
