Set you intent and go. Grow out of uncertainty and doubt, depression and pain. For over a year I’ve been paralyzed to do just that because I don’t know if I can even reach for my dreams with the chronic pain I live with everyday. It’s like a super annoying roommate that eats up your self esteem so you spend more time with it. At one point I thought I had morphed into my chronic pain roommate; miserable and thinking I was my pain.

I was in a dark place. But I’m trying to get out of it. I intent to do a 30 days of posting on social media challenge. As my history shows I am really good at the no social media “challenges”. It’s not really a challenge for me since I hardly ever post or even get on some days. . .ok weeks. So I thought I would actually challenge myself; put myself out there and see what happens.

Here’s the challenge. Post for 30 days straight. I only have 3 slack days but if I miss a day but post twice the next day, I make up the missed day and still have 3 days I can miss. I also need to do a minimum of 10 blog posts throughout the challenge. My main goals are to get more comfortable with Instagram, tumblr and blogging and get savvy with it.

I got to be honest here, this is scary for me. I like being an introvert and I’m not wishing to “cure” that. But I’ve been absent for for too long. I probably have friends that think I’m dead. . .oops. Don’t worry, I’m not.

(Deep breath) Ok. Here I go. Going into the fray.

I just want to grow from this, honestly. I want to be more presentand not let my chronic pain roommate control everything. I mean it has the power to keep me inside for days but it does NOT have the power to stop me from sharing who I am. This is me taking some power back, setting an intention and being determined to grow from it.

And to tie it back to the purpose of this blog, I have to be inspired myself and actually share who i am if I ever want to be inspiring.

So here it goes, wish me luck.

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU!

You probably had a whole list of resolutions and hopes for this new year; and if not you’ve most likely thought about what the new year will bring you and how you can improve.

But. . .right about now you’re thinking: “well I already screwed it up. I didn’t do this or that and I missed this day in January for doing that one thing and since I didn’t “change” or “execute” my goals perfectly this month there’s no point in trying to keep going for it.” Right?

WRONG!!!

Let me tell you a thing.

I love learning about old religions like Egyptian Gods and Greek heroes and random folklore from the Viking era. It’s completely fascinating to me. One of these I’ve dived deeply into is druidry and the wheel of the year “holidays”. The first holiday the Gaelic people celebrated is Imbolc, which signifies the beginning of spring. It’s around February 1st (wow that’s like today!) thru the 3rd because that’s halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox. (I’m rambling I know but there’s a point to all this I promise) There are many traditions linked to the holiday, some old pagan and others christianized. But (here’s the point!) it’s a time of walking up after the long winter and starting life a new.

So here are three reasons why you should chalk January up as a trail period and start your new year, new goals and more importantly a new you now!!

Number 1: You don’t walk the bear early.

January 1st has been glorified as the day to start well, everything. But. . . seriously? It’s still winter!!! Winter in the natural world is a time of resting; (brown) bears eat roughly NINETY pounds a DAY and usually weigh twice as much as normal so they can what? Hybernate.

Would you walk up a bear in the middle of his deep sleep to. . .let’s see? Go to the gym? Or start a new project? Or give him a list of all the things he needs to accomplish this year? NO!! Honestly that’s a sure fire way to get a very exciting obituary in the paper about you. So if you wouldn’t do it to a bear, why on earth would you do it to yourself??? I’m not saying don’t think about resolutions and ways to improve for the new year and if you want to start go for it!! Just don’t beat yourself up if you weren’t perfect in January because you and the world are still in survive-til-spring mode. Respect the bear, respect yourself and let both rest.

Number 2: Testing, testing, 1,2,3

When you’re trying anything new, don’t you want a trail period where you can get in the muck, slosh about figure out how it works and if it will benefit you or not? Even in stores they provide dressing rooms to try on clothes to see if it fits you AND flatters you. Why can’t we approach a new year like this?

There have been so many new years where I get so pumped! I write AND print out all my resolutions and proudly hang them on a wall and I start off so strong. I think “This is the year! I’m gonna become a new me and accomplish ALL the things!!!” . . .

. . . . .and then because I poked the bear or my goals didn’t fit me or I didn’t like how they made me look or feel I fumbled with the new habits and goals and thoughts of failure hit me. I stopped all together because I thought “why keep going? I already messed up” and my resolutions were shoved into a drawer in my desk until the end of the year where I look at them and sadly laugh at all the things I didn’t do.

But not this year.

If only I had changed my mindset and started out with a trail period in mind I probably could have tweaked those goals just a bit to fit me and where I was at that point in my life and kept going with the ones that worked FOR me and not against me.

So this year, January was a trail month for me. I thought about my goals, tested some out; found that some weren’t working, others I could change just a bit for my life and others just had to be chucked.

It’s made me feel so much better about my new year because I hadn’t committed to goals that I had no idea if they fit me or not.

So test things out, do I trail run and then you can move forward with more confidence. 🙂

Number 3: (big inhale) aaahh. . . Fresh February!!!!

Sounds good, huh? A fresh start; after thinking you probably didn’t do too stellar on your new goals in January and might have thought of giving up. But no!! You can now think of February as your fresh start. And whose to say once you get to the end of February and think you didn’t do what you wanted that it’s over? Every month is a fresh start. Repeat after me with gusto. EVERY MONTH IS A FRESH START!!!

Feel the freshness and just keep going. It’s not the end of the world if you miss a workout one day of the month. Think of those 29 days or 30 days you DID workout or do whatever your goal is. Don’t focus on the one or two bad days and let that small thing get you down. Instead, focus on the good you did do.

In summary, find courage to keep going. If you haven’t even started, smell the freshness of spring coming and start small. Spring is when new things start growing. Be gentle with yourself, find goals that work for you and step forward knowing that everything can grow green and strong, if you allow it.

In hope,

Ryn Spire

Crunch, crunch, “cringe”.

Have you ever stepped into a foreboding forest and felt that way? When your feet steps on the leaves and a couple steps in, you crumble like a cookie; and your double take is almost as audible as the crispy once-green things under your toes? Technically, it doesn’t even have to be a forest. It could be a board room or conference center; class room or theater stage.

Hopefully, all of us have experienced this feeling at some point in our lives; where we feel so prepared for the things ahead; ready to conquer!! and then as we walk into it we reel back, almost to the point of panic. Well, I feel this way right now! Starting this blog, I am unsure of everything I’m righting write now (wait did I mix those up?) and doubt plagues me with every word.

I’ve read so many blog tips and books and articles and well, blog posts about how you need to be sure of yourself and you HAVE to know you niche and market and to know what you are writing and why and for whom and NEVER under ANY circumstances reveal that you don’t know what you’re doing.

What do they expect?  HAHA!! Well, I’ve tried to create a blog like that; one that would be a sure-fire success and will have tons of people reading my words and be inspired to live their up to the truth they know and reach for the stars but, as you can see, that blog never even started existing.

Why? because I was too worried about my words and my brand and my niche and  . . .blah blah blah blog terminology that I gave up before I wrote a word. All of those tips and rules and advice made me feel like I had to live up to ALL of them and I felt like I was too small to do it all.

The essence, is that I was afraid. Specifically with this venture, I’ve avoided posting or moving forward because “What if somebody reads it?” or “What if nobody reads it?” or “What if no one cares about what I’m trying to do?” and the biggy “What if they do?” I was afraid of failure as well as success.

Fear was killing my dream of writing a blog. It doesn’t matter if anyone reads it. It doesn’t matter if my content is crap at the beginning and I have no idea what I’m writing. All the advice I read about told me to create this all-perfect inspirational professional blog from the get-go but I’ve learned that this blog will be different. It won’t be perfect because I’m not perfect and it certainly might be awful to read but it’s going to change and grow; just like me. 🙂

So here are three things I’ve learned from starting this blog that might help you with your own blog or with starting anything that you’re passionate about

1. Kick fear in the face!

Just like I said above fear was preventing me from moving forward, freezing me in a place of no progression. Whatever you passion is, whatever you’re trying to start, tackle fear first. Seek what works for you; talking about it with someone, focus on what you know, create rewards for yourself, take a break, meditate, exercise etc. (ten ways to fight your fears) Once you feel like your courage is stronger than your fear you’re ready for thing number two.

2. Build up your confidence

One of the strategies to handle fear is focusing on what you know. This can also help strengthen your confidence. Another thing that can help is to learn about what will help you fulfill your passion or help you start. Now, don’t do what I did and swamp yourself with all these tips and ideas that you get too overwhelmed with it all. Find a balance. Learn enough to boost your confidence then do thing number three immediately after.

3. JUST START!!!!

Enough said. Just start and keep going. As you move forward towards your passion or what you want you will find that yeah, the fear may still come around but you’ll know how to handle it and you will have your goal to guide you. Your confidence will increase as the steps you’ve already taken will be behind you and encourage you to take even more steps to reach your destination (whether its an actual place or a state of mind or way of living)

As my ability and confidence grows this blog will grow and hopefully you, the reader, will grow too. I won’t let the “crunch, crunch, cringe” scare me away from this blog or from my personal dreams. And I hope you won’t let it scare you away from your own personal dreams either. Fear will make you fail every time. But all we have to do is grit our teeth and move forward through it and be comfortable in your own goals. So what do you say? Ready to start this journey with me?

So here’s my dream for this blog. I want to share my personal experiences and insight to inspire others to live by their truth; not mine or anyone else’s. I know it’s vague, broad but its a start and you need to start somewhere, right?

In hope,

Ryn.

P.S  Hey! let me know what you thought of this post in the comments below. What did you like? What needs improving? Readers comments will be used to make this blog a better place to inspire and uplift.