LET HER BECOME. Rediscovering You. And Choosing to Become who you were Meant To Be.

Once upon a time there was a girl. This girl was a sensitive child who grew into a fearful adult. Mostly this girl was afraid of disappointing her family and the ones she loved most.

This innocent little girl began to believe that she was not good enough. That she would never be good enough. She criticized herself all the time. Even though this little girl was very smart and very talented, she thought she should be smarter and her projects could be better. As a result, her work was never finished.

She began comparing herself to other people, and soon she became disappointed in who she was. She hid all of her ideas, because she was afraid of criticism. But no one criticized her more than her self.

This little girl’s heart ached. Sometimes she thought it would just burst. She thought about freedom all the time. And more than anything else, she wanted courage. If she could only let down her walls, she thought, she could escape this jail. This well-intentioned little girl wanted to flow and have confidence. She wanted to just BE without worry of disappointing anyone. She longed to be free. To be brave. In her soul, she knew she had so much to give.

As scared as she was, this little girl stepped beyond her walls and set out on a quest. A quest to get to know herself. This self exploration was the beginning of a great adventure An adventure to reinvent the happy, confident little girl she knew existed deep inside…

Do you know a girl like this? I do. I look at her in the mirror every day.

When you lose yourself. When you are afraid. When you have lost your confidence..it feels impossible to climb out of that valley and back to you.

BUT YOU CAN… AND IT’S EASIER WHEN WE SUPPORT EACH OTHER.

Deciding to make a big change in your life is huge. It’s so hard to start. It takes discipline to practice and create habits. And then there’s the frustration and daily failures. Like the little girl at the beginning of this post.

When I woke up this morning, I began to recall my life ten years ago, and my intentional commitment to rediscover me..

Im still on that journey. It’s a bumpy story that no one really knows except me. And then I thought about all of you. All of you brave women who have a story that no one knows. And then I realized. It didn’t matter. I don’t need to know your whole story to support you. We all need encouragement. Especially when we decide to take a leap of faith.

Shaded Design started when I was at my bottom. When I was making the hard commitment to start climbing out of the valley and find myself again.

Today I write cards to support, empower, and inspire women. But that is certainly not the way the cards were born. They actually began during a vulnerable step in my journey to reinvent me.

Recently I published a poem on a card and I want to share it with you. I wrote this poem a few years ago while traveling through Montana. The wide open space and wild freedom within it inspired me to tears.

This poem is about Letting Go and Becoming. I urge you to buy this card for yourself. You may be entering a season of change or just want an encouraging reminder to ‘Let Go and Let God”. But especially, choose this card for someone else. Someone who is on their own journey of “becoming”. Let her know you support her.

I’ll share my poem with you in just a minute. But first I want to pass on some helpful tips…Daily reminders to tape to your mirror as you embark on a life change. A quest to rediscover YOU. Or a commitment to reinvent yourself. Remember, it’s your story…

I actually found these tips on a business blog, minutes.co. The post was written by Nicolas Cole. I thought they were great suggestions, and I encourage you to check out the blog and dig deeper:

1. See yourself outside yourself. Imagine you are a sculptor. Then see yourself as a work of art, always in progress. No need to get upset, or come down hard on yourself when you see something you don’t like. Instead, be like and artist, and just get to work.

2. Find the habit associated with the thing you want to change. Don’t focus too much on the thing you want to change. Instead focus on the habits that formed the thing in the first place.

3. Practice every day, no matter what. Change requires daily dedication, to the point where that the new habit takes the place of an old one and no longer requires conscious effort.

4. Set realistic goals. You can’t just wake up one morning and say, “I’m not going to be impatient anymore!” Instead, set the goal to be more patient during your team meeting that happens every morning. Use that as an isolated practice space and subconscious reminder of what it is you want to achieve.

5. Constantly look in the mirror. Things get dangerous when you refuse to stop and really look at yourself — when you avoid self-reflection.

6. Surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth. You need people who are going to challenge and question you. You need people who won’t be afraid to tell you the truth.

7. You have to take risks. You will never become the person you want to be by continuing to be the person you currently are. Growth’s only request is that you step out of your comfort zone. That’s it.

Reinvention is an art. It is a process.It is a deliberate practice, day in and day out, until you realize who it is you want to be, you already were all along.

I hope you find these tips helpful.

And if you stand today at that crossroad in life…that choice to take the familiar road, or adventure down a new, risky path…you have my blessing. I applaud you and I support you!

Enjoy this poem. May it encourage you to let go.

LET HER BECOME
Live like a Waterfall.
uncontrolled. wild. free.
a steady, unstoppable life.
a determined life.
a voyage of trust,
a journey of fierce faith
that with flowing water,
I can ascend through rock,
inscribe beyond walls,
to reveal a path.
a bold. untamed. God-given path.
that will usher breakthrough,
cascading to wide, brighter paths,
and ultimately still waters.
Live brave.
Let tears flow.
Create freely.
Live outside my control.

Strong. Steady. Hopeful.
LET ME BECOME.