Scars Tell The Best Stories, And You Are Brave, Wise and Strong Enough To Tell Them

You are BRAVER than you believe, STRONGER than you seem and SMARTER than you think

Updated 1/28/2019

“You are capable of far more than you know.  Don’t be afraid to unleash your greatness”  – Unknown

Pooh Bear once said “when you see someone putting on his big boots, you can be pretty sure an adventure is about to happen”.  Adventures are sure to happen when you look at your life and realize that some changes need to be made.  Sometimes you see something in the distance that you want to explore.  Sometimes, like Alice, you fall into the adventure with no expectations of what you will find.
“It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not”  – Unknown
You have these dreams and aspirations that get buried under “to do” lists.  You find yourself checking off daily house cleaning chores, grocery shopping, taking kids to sport or music programs, taking care of elderly parents and the list of duties and obligations go on and on. You get so lost in the “I have to’s” that the “I want to’s” disappear.
What sometimes happens is that you start perpetuating and growing the list of responsibilities.  You start hiding behind them as reasons and excuses of not having enough time to work on dusting off the dream.  No time to bring it into reality.  Can you think of at least one dream, that you have put on the “someday” list?
“Anything’s possible if you’ve got enough nerve”  – J.K. Rowling
For years I told myself that I didn’t have the time to write. I had a fulltime job that entailed lots of overtime, four kids to raise and a husband to take care of. Where in all of that was time to find a quiet space to write? So I told myself, when the kids grow up, then I would write. Well the kids grew up and still there was a large list of reasons why I didn’t have the time.
“When life gives you something that makes you feel afraid, that’s when life gives you a chance to be brave” – Lupytha Marmin
What was really happening is that I was terrified that I didn’t have anything worthwhile to say. That you would read what I wrote and laugh your head off, or even worse stop reading after the first paragraph and I would just hear the sound of silence or boredom.
I think that Facebook was the thing that started me dipping my toes in the water. I would find a quote I liked and do a paragraph or two about the quote on my personal page, and it stayed small because Facebook limited me to the number of words. I would spend more time cutting out words than it took me to write it.  Friends and family liked the post (which I thought meant they were just being nice) and then something interesting happened. They started complaining when I wasn’t posting anything.
“There is nothing more beautiful than finding your course as you believe you bob aimlessly in the current.  And wouldn’t you know that your path was there all along, waiting for you to knock, waiting for you to become.  This path does not belong to your parents, your teachers, your leaders, or your lovers.  Your path is your character defining itself more and more every day”  – Jodie Foster
  • The next step happened when Facebook took away the word limit and they grew a little larger.
  • The next step was when I created this LemonadeMaker page. 
  • The next step was when I started creating my quotes on a photo to create these memes.
  • The next step was when I expanded the writing into a full blog. 
Then a  magical thing happened.  You showed up.  You not only liked my post, you commented on it and shared it with your friends.  You even liked the page.

I started believing in myself,

because you helped me

to build the confidence to believe in myself

That is what I believe is true of all of you. You are all BRAVER than you believe you are. I put my thoughts out and what I found is I can have a conversation about them and you may or may not agree with me, and that is ok.
“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God” – Leo Buscaglia

I discovered that I could survive differences of opinion. In fact I discovered that I could grow through the differences of opinion.While you all have had different experiences in your lives, there is a core of everyone’s experience that is the same. The differences are what makes the variety that we all need in life.

The fact that difference isn’t a scary thing was a major reveal for me. You are all STRONGER than you think you are. You are all SMARTER than you think you are.

I have a different way of looking at the world. I love to find multiple meanings in words. I think that words are like colors and have these shades of color waiting to be explored. It gives each word depth and height and width.

You also have these hidden sides. You can talk to any astronaut and they all have a similar story. From the time they were small children their dream was to become an astronaut. So they worked hard to be a pilot. They may have enlisted in the Air Force, or became a stunt pilot. They went to college for science and technology. Anything they could do to fulfill that childhood dream.

When you look at the stories of those who go through fiery experiences in their lives, you see what they learn about themselves and others. It gives new meaning to what humanity is all about.

“Don’t be the reason someone feels insecure. Be the reason someone feels seen, heard, and supported by the whole universe” – Cleo Wade
I am so glad that I take the chance each day to express my thoughts. It helps me to work through the questions in my life. It helps to build resilience in my soul. When I look out at the world it is so filled with fear, lack of trust, and uncertainty.As I express research and study the wisdom of others and then express it out on this page, I believe that you are helping to create a community of souls that are looking to the future with hope. Hope that together we can show the world that it is filled with simply amazing people – and yes that means you!

Your encouragement gives me the confidence each day to express my thoughts, and I hope in turn that I can encourage just one more person each day that life is not only worth living – but that we are all brave enough and strong enough to climb to the tops of mountains, and explore the depths of valleys and swim in the oceans.

What are your dreams, visions, your life purpose? Are you on track to bring them into reality and complete them? Have you allowed distractions to side track you? Are you unclear on what your life purpose is or how to bring it into reality?

The first Saturday of every month we get together on Zoom to talk about our challenges, to encourage each other, and provide inspiration to continue on our individual journeys. As we share the lessons of each one’s individual journey, resilience is grown for everyone. Join us for the next conversation and become even more inspired to reach out and pull your dreams into reality.

Commit To Your Dreams!

I invite you to join us on July 11th for a purposeful gathering. Our intention is to create moments of life-changing conversation on how to make 2020 the year of achievement.

Chances are that what you’re struggling with, others are too. What life questions you have been asking yourself, others are asking themselves too. Get clear on what you want and how to obtain it. If your 2020 dreams and goals are already stalling, get recharged and refocused. Learn how to pivot to success. Join us for a gathering that no one will forget.

Sheryl Silbaugh

I am married with 4 grown children who are all married and currently have 14 grandchildren and two great granddaughters. I work fulltime as a Director at Bank of America and I am the founder of LemonadeMakers.org, which is a website and Facebook page dedicated to personal transformation and growth. We all have life's lemons show up in our life, this website helps us to make them into lemonade.