I recently celebrated my 35^th birthday. Naturally, birthdays are a great time for reflection of where we have been and where we desire to go next. It’s the perfect time to take inventory of the important lessons you’ve learned over the past year or maybe even throughout your life.

I had a little pow-wow with myself, as I often do, and it made me realize how far I’ve come from that shy little girl growing up in Dallas to boldly speaking out on stages now about sobriety, faith and how to live with a miracle mindset.

This was a moment of sheer gratitude as it made me deeply appreciate everything it took to get to this point.

All of the stress, mistakes, bad decisions, sadness and strife molded me into who I am today. Not only that, but it gave me the perspective I needed to begin to relish and delight in happy moments. Once we understand that the low points in life are actually just enhancements to the high points, they underscore how important it is to cherish the good times.

It has been a long, bumpy road paved with twists and turns of fate that led me into amazing experiences, all of which I’ve had the chance to learn and grow from.

I have been on a quest for self improvement since my late twenties, burning through pages of books, attending lectures, devouring training programs and spending a lot of time in prayer, stillness, solitude and nature.

I’ve come to the conclusion of a very important truth, which has lit a fire inside of me.

Ever since I was a little girl, I always felt like I didn’t quite fit in. I have always been an introverted extrovert who has shied away from embracing that I always felt different, like an outsider. That I was a misfit or that maybe I just wasn’t good enough.

This has been magnified in my sobriety even more because living the sober life isn’t the norm. And I get it – it’s not most people’s definition of normal. But it’s mine.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand that these feelings are what make me special, not weird or separated. It is simply what represents my own unique epicness. Furthermore, it brings me to a place of awareness that we all have something inside of us that makes us epic.

We must embrace our epicness.

This is my mission – to teach people to love their weirdness and to bring forth the most epic versions of themselves. To live epic lives that are purpose-driven, passion-fueled, faith-centered and serve others in a way that offers impactful change.

Living in this way requires that we ruthlessly love ourselves. You have to fall in love with you, even the parts you try to hide, to successfully fall and stay in love with anyone else. You must be whole, full and have a sense of completeness before you can truly pour yourself into the world or any other relationship. The ultimate relationship is with yourself and God first, and always. This is what allows you to truly spread your love. Because when love beams out of you from within, anything and everything becomes possible.

Over the years, as I’ve slowly been learning to embrace myself, there have been many lessons that shaped how I view myself and also the world around me. I can honestly say I have learned how to embrace my epicness and these are the life truths that my journey has provided me with to do so.

35 Truths I’ve Discovered In 35 Years

1. What inspires you will inspire others. Share it generously.
2. We are all searching for a reason to stop searching. Connection, one that is true and authentic, is what every single human is after. Some, including myself, have been searching in all the wrong places only to realize the things we are searching for are already inside of us.
3. When someone shows you their true colors, don’t try to paint a new picture with them.
4. Believe in actions, not words. Saying is not the same as doing. This translates over to your goals and dreams as well.
5. When you find something you are passionate about, pour everything you’ve got into it.
6. If your intuition is heightened, pay attention. Your spirit and senses never lie.
7. Memories truly last a lifetime. Make as many as you can with those you love. Go on adventures, say yes only to what feels like a hell yes, get up and go when you feel called and, perhaps most important of all, document your life.
8. When you are on the right path, it will feel that way. The path of least resistance is usually an indication you’re headed in the right direction.
9. Go with the flow. I can’t encourage this enough. The more you flow, the more you grow and the less expectations you have to be disappointed by.
10. Sometimes you just have to go for it and trust in your ability to figure it out later.
11. Some of your best work will come through when you stop trying so hard. Just be you. That’s what you were put on this earth for.
12. Miracles DO happen. Every. Single. Day. Live in this mindset and you will witness them a lot more often.
13. Having a spiritual practice is a necessary essential. Get connected into your faith and tap into it every day.
14. Collecting experiences is more important than collecting stuff.
15. Sometimes you outgrow others. It’s just part of life. Not everyone is meant to continue on your path with you.
16. You cannot change anyone but yourself. Spend your energy working on you instead of trying to change other people. Everyone comes about by their own efforts and in their own time.
17. People are going to do what they want. Let them. At the end of they day trying to control other people’s actions and outcomes will not prevent someone from doing what they want.
18. Everything has a purpose and a time. Trust in divine timing and know that everything comes to you with a personalized message at just the right time.
19. Being vulnerable and showing your rawness is the key to unlocking true connection and intimacy with others. When you open up, so do the people around you. This is how genuine bonds are formed.
20. Learning how to feel our emotions instead of running away from them, numbing or escaping is a beautiful part of life. When I stopped running and realized FEELING things wasn’t all that bad, my life truly began.
21. When you don’t know what to do, doing nothing at all is some times the best thing to do. When you sit still for long enough, clarity will appear.
22. Taking time to understand yourself, to reflect and to stretch yourself into more of who you really are is an act of some of the greatest love you will ever experience.
23. When you learn how to forgive, realize no one is perfect and that is what makes us all connected, life becomes lighter and the burden of carrying resentments fades away.
24. Having compassion towards yourself and others is a tremendous development in your character that will help you experience so much more happiness.
25. When you realize that everything is always working out for your greater good and that things always have a way of working out, you realize that worrying is truly a waste of your precious time.
26. Giving yourself and others space can be hard but distance is often necessary to learn the true value of things in your life.
27. Always be honest. Especially with yourself. Vulnerability is the foundation to real connection. Honesty = trust = connection.
28. Peace is better than being right. There is no better destination than being at peace.
29. Treat everyone the way you want to be treated. Do unto others as you would have done to you. When you make your decisions from this consideration the choice becomes simple.
30. Everything in moderation. If you can’t moderate, abstain. Life is all about balancing and staying grounded. Don’t ever let a bad habit be in control of or taint the beautiful person you are meant to be.
31. Smile often. People can hear it across all languages and it’s good for your soul.
32. If everyone sat in a circle and put their problems in the middle, you would probably take yours back. Focus on what you have to be grateful for and your problems will seem less insurmountable.
33. Be a good shepherd with everything you are given – talents, gifts, money, people, work – everything – and give thanks as much as possible. A thankful heart with a grateful outward expression will create more abundance in your life.
34. Pride comes before the fall. Pride, greed and judgment will get you nowhere. The ego will at some point be served an awful large piece of humble pie. Humility has a much sweeter taste than being sour all the time.
35. And for the grand finale I saved the truth I will live by for the rest of my life: Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not in your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

I hope this message serves and inspires you to take a look at your own truths and your own epicness and to embrace all of it with open arms. Namaste.