Live in Awe!

Live in Awe

By Rashida A. Marshall

Previously posted in Magnificent Living Magazine

From time to time, I find myself engaged in certain conversations that leave me thinking about the road we choose to travel in life. At what point did many of us lose our sense of wonder? At what chapter in our lives did we begin to feel that our dreams were no longer important? Or that our goals were too big for us to believe that they can no longer be accomplished? What is it that occurs in our unique experiences or interactions with certain people that causes us to feel that we should no longer be allowed to dream?

I was recently listening to a speech by motivational speaker, Mel Robbins, who spoke on how for each one of us, there is a one in four billion chance of us being born. Meaning that you and no one else, was supposed to be in the place you’re in. Out of 4 billion different possibilities, your presence, your talents, and your gifts are a unique contribution to society that has graced us here on this earth. Yet, for many of us, we go through life day in and day out doing what we think we’re supposed to do, living the life that we probably have been told were supposed to live, all the while being molded and shaped into the person that we think we’re supposed to be. Even though in the back of our minds, we may still carry with us that wonder, that dream, that vision that keeps us awake late at night. That crystal clear picture that we hold in our head that still gives us daydreams, no matter what age we are; daydreams that are more vivid and entertaining than anything we’ve ever watched in a movie theater. Yet for some reason, we may choose to not go after those goals. We reach a certain age or a certain “point in life” where that dream is no longer realistic or anything that we should be focused on achieving.

The amount of greatness and potential you encompass is too valuable for you to ever lose your sense of wonder.

But my question to you is, ‘why?’. If it keeps you up at night and drives you to do what you do from 9am to 5pm so that you can enjoy it from 5pm to 3am, then why aren’t you going after it? What’s stopping you? Although I haven’t lived long, and I’m certainly still learning my way in the world, I’ve found that one of the greatest feelings is knowing that I made the conscious decision to live out my dreams and go after what I truly desire. Has this been an easy thing to do? Of course not. Life often times gets in the way. Those who I believed were the closest to me became roadblocks and deliverers of toxic energy. Even my own fears, doubts, and negative self talk has clouded my vision from time to time. However, I make an effort to remind myself that this is my calling, my own path in the world which is different from anyone else’s. You are a unique treasure unlike anything else anyone has seen, and that wonder that you carry with you from day to day, no matter how big or little and no matter how much life has tried to bury it underneath societies expectations, is unique to you. That vision you have that awakens your spirit is one that the world needs you to live out.

Admiration of our dreams leads to an aching curiosity which propels us to take action and find out what is out there and possible for us. I urge you to not only continue wondering and dreaming, but to also put your feet to the ground and move in the direction of what is tugging at your heart. Make your life what you want and step into the role that is only available to you. The amount of greatness and potential you encompass is too valuable for you to ever lose your sense of wonder.

Rashida A. Marshall is a fitness coach with Skillfully Sculpted Health & Fitness and the editor-in-chief of AFIYA Magazine. She is a graduate of Florida State University.