Archive for hope

Stranger stories

Posted in cancer, training for my first half ironman with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 9, 2016 by runmyssierun

Last night a young man and his wife asked if I was “Missy B”. They shook my hand, hugged me and asked for a picture with me. “I’ve been following your Instagram and blog for years” he said.

Both he and his wife had lost loved ones to cancer. They spoke to me about their stories and how they had followed my story for hope and inspiration. They renewed my passion and sense of purpose.

Not too long ago, my family and I went bowling and a woman whom I’ve never met did the exact same thing.

I have to admit, it gets a little scary when a complete stranger comes up to you out of the blue and asks if you are you. I’m certainly not a celebrity because occurrences like this don’t happen EVERY single day.. but often enough to know that I must be on guard, observant, cautious yet caring, compassionate and true to my promise.

So many of us struggle with hardships. It’s difficult to speak about them. One of the things I have learned from this is that once you get over that first step of difficulty – you know, admitting it – letting others know that this is a tough thing you’re going through. It releases you from it. Saying it allows you to let it out, let it go. And it gives permission to others in pain to do so, too. This little blog of mine has given me that power and permission to let others let go of their pain, struggles and suffering.

Whether it is about cancer, achieving a goal that was once thought of as impossible, proving yourself to others or yourself, becoming healthy, fit, happy or just simply becoming a better, kinder person… if you have found a connection here through my silly journey, then that brings me great joy. We all go through ups and downs and although I truly believe in my heart of hearts that any one person can get through it by themselves, trust me when I say, it’s so much better when you have support of others who sincerely understand and help you and others through it. Together we are a stronger, kinder and more effective force.

There are many, many more stories out here. We all need to hear them, feel them and do something about them. TOGETHER. Tell your story. We can all help each other and sometimes when we least expect it.

 

Overcoming the adjective

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , on July 28, 2016 by runmyssierun

 

“You can’t do that! You weren’t built to do things like that. This is for (insert adjective of choice here) people…not someone like you. You aren’t like that. You can try your best at it but you won’t be really good at it.”

Adjectives to choose from:

  • strong
  • skinny
  • gifted
  • rich
  • beautiful
  • outgoing
  • smart
  • brave
  • popular
  • single
  • married
  • assertive
  • powerful
  • younger
  • graceful
  • successful
  • more experienced

I told myself I wouldn’t write an entry here until (xyz has happened), but I can’t wait and felt I had to say this:

I thought that achieving what I thought was impossible was a super duper feeling. But do you know what is even more super duper? Watching someone else achieve what they thought was impossible and seeing how it completely changes their perspective, behavior and life from that point forward.

You know, it’s great to feel special.

But it’s also great to feel that you aren’t the only special one here, too. Seeing others achieve some pretty impossible things changed me as well. I believe we all changed for the better in the process.

I truly hope that EVERYONE achieves their own impossible. And don’t ever let anyone – even yourself – convince you that you can’t. This doesn’t just go for running, swimming and cycling… this is every thing in life. Put your mind to it and just conquer the crap out of it!

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Stories of Inspiration

Posted in Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 31, 2015 by runmyssierun

Inspiration surrounds each one of us every second of every day. Some of us just fail to recognize it when it’s right smack in front of our eyes because we’re so into our own little world of me, myself and I.

I’ve mentioned before that I have a lot of coaches. In fact, I consider the whole world my coach for the very reason I wrote about in the above paragraph.

I’ve learned to keep my eyes and heart open for all to inspire me. I’m not sure that I’ve always been this keen to recognizing inspiration but I’m sure much of what I has inspired me lately is because of my fascination with proving to myself and the world that anything is possible if you have PASSION AND SUPPORT.

Today, three amazing examples stood out to me…

EXAMPLE 1:  A little 11 year old boy was cyber bullied with ignorant racially motivated hate remarks… and the entire City of San Antonio, the San Antonio Spurs basketball team and celebrity star Eva Longoria came in to support him.

(this video was actually published a few months ago but I just saw it for the first time today – Amazing!!!)

Some of the racially hateful comments made by cyber bullies on social media to Sebastien de la Cruz after singing the National Anthem at a Spurs basketball game in San Antonio.

Some of the racially hateful comments made by cyber bullies on social media to Sebastien de la Cruz after singing the National Anthem at a Spurs basketball game in San Antonio.

How he reacted and responded just floored me. Grown up adults need to learn some stuff from this kid!

EXAMPLE 2: A local girl, just a few cities away from me graduated this weekend from high school. And no one let her do it alone.

Rio Hondo administrators and school board members held a special graduation ceremony for Madison Macias who is battling stage 4 brain cancer..via Marcy Martinez. Let's send her congrats and well wishes to remind her that no one fights alone.

Rio Hondo administrators and school board members held a special graduation ceremony for Madison Macias who is battling stage 4 brain cancer..via Marcy Martinez. Let’s send her congrats and well wishes to remind her that no one fights alone.

EXAMPLE 3:  While at my son’s very first piano recital tonight, I not only saw him conquer the fear of performing in public after just a couple of months of lessons but I also saw something quite extraordinary. I’m not here to brag about me, my son or any other family member – but he WAS awesome – and as much as I would love to break my promise about not talking about how wonderful my boys are… I’m not. I’m going to have YOU witness what I saw today in front of my own eyes.

I not only saw but heard these twins, a brother and a sister, marvelously master the ivories of a piano. The two had to have been about the same age as my son. Quite honestly, I don’t know their story but if you pay attention to the video, I think you’ll get it without me having to spell it out for you – it’s not obvious at first but then it’ll hit you… just as my video began to capture the other parents in the audience record this performance, I think we all recognized how special these two children are. Clearly the passion and the support is here. What touched me most was how the brother helped his sister up on the stage, adjusted her seat and then adjusted it again to get it just right for her. At the end of all the performances, awards were given out. They won BEST PIANIST OF THE YEAR. Obviously the winner was a tie between the two siblings and there is no way anyone can say one deserved it more than the other. So, to Sara and Erick Ramirez, thank you! Thank you and your parents, your family, your teachers and your piano instructor for proving to me that anything can be done and done in ways that give so much joy and happiness, too!!!

No matter what it is that YOU want to do, if you have support and passion for it… it can be done! So when you see someone who clearly has a passion for something they want to accomplish, be there for them.  Applaud them, tell them “great job!”, “Well done!” and “keep it up”.  Give them the thumbs up, the pat on the back and the encouragement that they need to get there. We all need that every once in a while.

I know I could not have done all that I have without the support that was given to me. No one does it alone.

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