About a year ago, I got totally hooked on this blog/online magazine called The Daily Love. The guy had started the blog about 5 years before from pretty much nothing. He became an “overnight” success when Kim Kardashian retweeted one of his tweets. Since then, he has inspired hundreds of thousands of people around the globe, has shared so much of his life with his readers and has even been on Oprah. Wow. He even dramatically changed my outlook on love and life. I’ve learned so much from this one person I never even met. Mastin Kipp is my idol, my virtual mentor and damn near everything he posts I can relate my current or past life with. He’s insightful, relatable and REAL.
There a ton more to the story, I’m sure- as there is with anyone’s story. We only see the outside, the successes and the failures. We never fully grasp the amount of struggle, hard work, pain, tears and smiles on their journey. For the last year, I’ve had my fair share of all of those things- ups, downs, highs, lows and everything in between. I finally feel like I’m coming into my own with everything I’m doing. I’m becoming more confident and not afraid to put myself out there.
Putting myself out there has always been out of my comfort zone. I’m an introvert by nature and I enjoy being the behind the scenes gal- the stagehand, the righthand man. But I quickly realized that to make it in this business as a successful coach, I had to be in the spotlight, people had to know my name, I had to be everywhere in order to get noticed and be known. I cringed at the fact that it was industry standard to have your face splattered all over your website. Stepping out of my comfort zone was scary, especially not knowing if I would get the support I needed.
Just two weeks ago, I was presented myself with a life changing opportunity. I had been invited to go with Mastin Kipp of The Daily Love to a week long Love + Relationship retreat on the beautiful island of Ibiza. Only 14 people were chosen to participate in the retreat and when I got the call, my heart dropped. Literally. Somehow I knew when I did my interview, that I would be accepted. I knew I was going to be invited to go. But when I actually got the official invite to make a deposit and actually be a part of this journey, I cringed. I don’t think I took a breath for 4 hours and there was an inexplicable lump in my throat (<– maybe fear).
Seems like a no brainer for me to jump up and down with excitement and yell YES, YES, YES! But I hesitated. There were a few big things about the trip that made me uneasy.
#1- It was a yoga retreat. I’m not really “into” yoga and I’m still not 100% confident in my body, so the fear of actually doing yoga in front of strangers for 5 days straight kinda scared me (dumb, I know).
#2- We would have a special chef and be fed three organic meals a day and green juice to drink. Anyone who knows me, already knows where I’m going with this. Green? I don’t do green anything. The thought of having to eat rabbit food and detoxing from sugar for a week kinda scared me too.
#3- I’d be traveling alone to a foreign country. Yes, Ibiza is a beautiful island off the coast of Spain. I’ve never been to Europe, let alone anywhere across the Atlantic Ocean.
#4- The money honey. This was a priceless opportunity with a heavy price tag. I had no clue how the hell I was going to foot the bill for this amazing journey.
Despite all these fears creeping on me, telling me don’t do it- I took the leap. I said yes and made my first deposit to hold my spot. I could have come up with every excuse not to, especially the money factor- it’s a no brainer. Can’t afford it- can’t go. Right? WRONG. I knew in my heart of hearts that I HAD to go to this retreat. I had to be a part of this life-changing (in so many ways) event. And I had to find a way to make it happen.
We find ways to get the meaningless, material things we want in life all the time. Want a new purse or shoes- splurge! Want to drop a few hundred on a dress for one night out on the town- no problem! We deserve it right? Well don’t you think you deserve more than what’s on the outside. More of the intangible, more love, more passion, more happiness, more peace, more confidence, more life?
If you’ve been craving more, I urge you to go and seek it out. Do what you have to do. Make it happen. And don’t let $$$ get in the way of your dream life. Where there’s a will there’s a way!
Here’s where I’ll be August 3-9th!
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Sending you 1000 congrats on being chosen. Sending you 1000 more for looking fear in the eye that came in the form of excuses and saying “Ive got this. Im going and nothing is going to stop me”. Congrats on your bravery. Many wouldn’t be able to do that.
Thank you so much Stephanie! Means so much coming from you!
So totally jealous! Ibiza is so high on my “MUST GO TO RIGHT AWAY STOP NOT GOING” list.
Congratulations on being chosen. It’s going to be an incredible, transformative time (I can already tell). Make sure to keep us updated.
P.S. Finally—someone who ISN’T 100% green!
WOW! You are so lucky to have such an amazing opportunity. Congrats, and I wish you a beautiful transformation & journey. 😉
Sounds like an amazing retreat, well done for just going for it. I often let money hold me back from things, but then I fritter it on little things every day! Kirsty
I’m glad you took the jump! It’s going to be amazing.
Sugar will always be waiting for you. Try something new! (And take pics for us who can’t go. 😉 )
So glad you are going to get to have this experience and I can’t wait to read the blogs that come out of it when you get back!