This is how it happened...
Last Thanksgiving, I was nuts enough to host a Journal-a-Day giveaway in appreciation to my customers and supporters. If you remember from an earlier post, I was giving away a free journal every single day for 30 days. I went crazy. I think it was because first, this was a spur of the moment give away, a challenge to myself, and I was totally unprepared for the overwhelming response I received. Second, it was in the middle of the Christmas rush, and third, I was in the middle of selling and buying a home, packing, and moving! I was completely bonkers.
Anyway this awesome woman was my first winner in the Journal-a-Day giveaway, and her name is Merit. Merit came to the workshop to pick up her free journal and we instantly connected. As we talked for a while that day, I told her that I was interested in hosting journal parties, and she loved the idea. We tried to plan one for Christmas, but that didn't work out, so she emailed me a few weeks ago and said, "let's do one in February," and I was all for it.
Merit invited a few of her friends over last Friday night and we had such an awesome and inspirational time together. Truthfully this was a challenge to me because it was very much out of my comfort zone. As a classic introvert, speaking in front of people in the intimate setting really made me a bit nervous. But this year my goal has been to push myself further and further testing the boundaries of my comfort zone. And the only result I find, is an awesome result, more opportunities and success, and more of an opportunity to reach people, to meet people, and to make great and awesome connections.
Gathering with these women on Friday, truly showed me the power of connection, which is a gift of Merit's. I like to call my parties gatherings, because "Gathering" means bringing people together from different cultures, different backgrounds, and different experiences and convening within a given place at a given time.
The exorbitant amount of stories here are phenomenal when we all gather and share.
On Friday I was surrounded by women who have such beautiful hearts full of love, full of desire to help people, and such potential to continue and to do great things. They said that "THEY" left the Gathering inspired, but truly it was I who was inspired the most. I am inspired to continue to share my story and my passion and what I deem as my purpose, to reach others and to help inspire them to spark a desire within that makes them want to go out and live their dreams.
1. I would never have met such phenomenal women in this type of setting if I had not pushed to myself to make this gathering happen. I am definitely encouraged to keep pushing and keep pressing myself outside of my comfort zone little by little.
2. I learned that no matter what our station is in life, our experiences or backgrounds, we all had one common goal, and that is to help others. It was amazing how almost every woman in that room had the same passion to help other women.
3. I learned that forward motion is essential to success. We cannot accomplish any goal unless we are willing to push ourselves a little further to make it happen. If we sit still and do nothing, we will achieve nothing. If we set out to create something, then we will accomplish something greater. This is the power of momentum.
4. I learned that my story is valuable. All of our stories are. They are not just meant for us to selfishly hoard, but to share. At times we may think that we don't have much to share and that we don't have much to say. But there is always someone who needs to hear your story. Someone who needs to hear what you have to say. Someone who can be inspired or encouraged by the words you speak based on the experiences you have had. You never know when your words and your story can help someone else.
I am so excited that we had our first gathering, and I look forward to hosting many more. Why even our furry friends were engaged and enjoyed themselves!
A huge Thank You to Merit for creating this opportunity for all of this goodness to happen!
XO Nicole
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