... when you build a platform (and life) on authenticity and heart-aligned living and the very essence of who you are is met with outright rejection, it stings... But pain can be a great teacher, if we'll open ourselves up to the lessons.
Category: Empowerment
The Charlotte Teen who Started the Foundation to Nurture the Leader in Every Girl (repost via @clttales)
“Although Foundation For Girls is work, it’s something I love to do. Helping these girls brings me so much happiness. When I go after school on Thursdays to volunteer with refugees at Ourbridge for Kids or on Saturday’s with the Homeless at The Relatives Crisis Center. I’m just filled with joy and always leave with a [...]
Leaning Back
At any given time and under almost any circumstance, each of us can live out our callings in any one of a number of ways -- that the highest and best use of our gifts and talents need not be reflected in something extraordinary, but rather, in the ordinariness of our everyday lives; that the form of our work is less important than how we choose to show up, share our gifts, and serve others each and every day.
How Do You Do Vulnerability?
One of my favorite authors is Brene Brown (Elizabeth Gilbert is a close second). Maybe it's because we're both from Texas and share a similar dust-yourself-off-and-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kind of thinking. Maybe it's because she's brought shame out of the closet, shored it up with courage, and has helped legitimize the struggle for empowerment that so many [...]
The Gifts of the Journey
One of the great gifts of the journey are the people you meet along the way, and last week was no exception. Thanks to a year-long series of serendipitous connections I could not have foreseen, last Wednesday I had the privilege of speaking to a group of dynamic women -- sharing a piece of my own [...]
From Surviving to Thriving: 16 Principles for Empowered Living
Before we can effectively lead ourselves or others, we must first feel worthy of the journey itself. We must develop the confidence and courage to step up and into our own voice and to live our own truths with mindful intention and integrity. Whatever the road behind us, if we are to reach the places [...]
Falling into Fear or Leaning into Strength?
In any given situation, we are presented with a choice: we can either fall into our fear or lean into our strength. When we fall, it is rarely of the controlled sort. After all, we don't seek out and intend to fall, unless we're skydiving, of course. And though we may welcome the feeling of 'falling' [...]
“Everyone’s a Winner!”
Last week my daughter broke down in a pool of tears. Trying to understand why she felt she was struggling in school when her report card indicated otherwise, she shared with me the practice of teachers rewarding students with an 'A' simply for effort, regardless of whether their answers reflect actual learning. My son, now [...]
We Each Walk Our Own Path
If life is a journey, I believe each of us must honor the sacred integrity of our own path. But how exactly? How, for example, do we discern and distinguish our own path from others'? How do we hear our own voice above the noise and courageously honor our own callings in the face of [...]
Changing Our Narrative
How many times do you find yourself describing your present in terms of where you've been in the past? "I'm here because of what happened when I was there." "I'm doing this because that happened before." There is nothing wrong with providing context for our stories, our choices, and our lives, but too often we [...]
Sharon E. Reed [Blog] 