I don't mean putting a heart instead of a thumbs up on Facebook :) It’s been on my heart for a while after listening and reading numerous people (so no this isn’t about you!) saying negative things about other peoples’ posts. It doesn’t sound incredibly important but these posts can sometimes be dreams, passions, loves, and things that are near to their heart, things to encourage other like-minded people.

As someone who probably overshares fitness, health, and my career i know that it might bother a few people. I’m not here to call you out for not eating healthy, i’m there to share my journey so you can find some workouts, recipes, and motivation with less research and stress. Someone that is here if you need to reach out but aren't sure where to start. And then i sat down with my journal and got some good time in thinking about this. Because for a while i also found myself not completely positive about posts i couldn't relate to.

You may know i don’t have kids. So because many people post about children, i'm going to use this as an example since i cannot relate. So right now in my life, i don’t have a passion for breastfeeding, mommy dates, which car seats are best and 85 photos of children a day… but i learn from these posts. I learn to understand these things are important to those people and it's their time of life to hold dear to those. They are passionate women who want to share their knowledge and experiences. they need like-minded people who are in that same time of their life to share it with. So honestly, i read far more breastfeeding articles than i probably need to right now. But i’ve really learned to appreciate where people are at, and what they’re knowledgeable in especially in a topic i'm not knowledgeable in. But i do have family and friends with kids so it's good to learn! and also... breastfeeding is pretty dang awesome if you're able to do it.

The same goes for my posts. I want to encourage people who are in a point in life where health and fitness is a passion. i want to share new recipes that are easy so they don’t have to search, and i want to encourage that it can be done, you can feel confident and love yourself. you can be strong and beautiful. you can make time for you.

Which leads me to my reading and journaling as of lately. John C. Maxwell's books have inspired me beyond belief. i just finished up teamwork and now am on mentoring. Anyway, he was speaking about adding value to people and equipping others. Are you ready for something that hit me hard and inspired this post?

“I can do what you can’t do, and you can do what i can’t do; together we an do great things.” -Mother Theresa.

what a powerful and beautiful way to look at it. One person has knowledge, skill, passion for something and maybe you don’t, but you have something to offer that they don’t. Instead of being angry, feeling threatened or not good enough, we should work together. Together we can achieve and be better. Friends of mine don’t have to look too terribly hard for healthy alternatives, because they’ve seen my posts and i love when they give me ideas too! It helps them not feel alone in a fitness journey, and that they have someone else to turn to, to ask questions. And i will know who to turn to for specific information too.

For the most part, you're going to be around like-minded people in the same walk of life. And that's good, we need people to relate to. All i'm saying is to appreciate other peoples' strengths and passions.

Sometimes we get angry with things we don’t understand or can relate to at this point in time. We just want to stay in our own bubble with the things we're interested in. and don't get me wrong it is SO more important to be around like-minded people. The ones that encourage and understand and can iv you ideas. But down the road, I might be in the part of life where I’m not as concerned with working on 4x + a week. Maybe i’ll have kids and trying to do best (no i’m not pregnant right now.. so there’s your answer) and maybe by that time, your kids will be older and you’ll want knowledge in focusing on health. What a beautiful thing if we could appreciate where people are and know we could help make each other better and have people to lean on in the future, and not research so hard on our own because we have people who have one time shared the passion we’re at now.

empowering women and embracing differences

I hear too many people talking negatively about what other people do or post. we all want to feel valued and share our experiences and journey. We want to be appreciated and that what we know is of importance. With all of this being said, i understand there are things that sometimes may hurt us without intention and this is where i'll give you a helpful hint with no drama :) If for example I wanted a child but was struggling; instead of seeing things that hurt my heart there is an option of unfollowing someone. (this doesn't unfriend them, it just takes their posts off your main page) I know some people want to workout but it's not a priority at this time so those things don't encourage them, unfollowing would be a good thing to do. As much as i want us to appreciate the people we know, sometimes it does negatively affect us and there are options to just clear your feed (and your head) of it until you're ready.

Let's appreciate our unique passions and knowledge and use another to learn. Every person wants to talk about what their interest and passion is and share knowledge, so let's embrace that, encourage one another and understand we're all in different places but we can still be there to cheer one another on. Let's be empowering people and women and help one another through this sometimes already overwhelming life.

To those fabulous mommies, don't worry I see you and MAYBE someday i'll need more information, i won't forget who can help ;)

Keep Shining

Shanna Star