Leading the way

"Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control."

- Tom Landry

Being a leader is sometimes something you never expected yourself to be, something you never pictured yourself doing.

I was recently nominated for a co-chair position on a council I participate in at work. This is a 3 year commitment. First year co-chair (assistant to chair), second year chair (in charge of running the entire council), and third year is advisor chair. For someone who freezes up when getting in front of people to speak I decided to take the challenge if given to me. I wrote a little something about myself and why I would be good for the position.

"Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal."

—Vince Lombardi

My Nomination Speech:
My nursing career has taken me from one end of the US to the other. Working in many different specialties and some of the finest facilities, such as John's Hopkins, to some of the worst that have put healthcare to shame. I have experienced burnout and life transformation leading me to the most passionate spot someone can be in their career and their life. My vision is to help nurses transform their own lives and find their passion and happiness again, which in the end will increase patent safety and satisfaction to its fullest. I am described by my colleagues to be hardworking, a strong leader, and driven. I continue to strive to be the best in everything I choose to do. I aspire to be the person that people look up to, to show others what is possible even when the odds are against them. This position would be a chance for me to reach out in the effort to make change and to be a more influential part of a great organization.

Then this past week I got it! I was elected as the new co-chair. What does thus mean for me? It means I will be busy for one...ok maybe busier because I think I was already busy. It means stepping out of the box outside of my comfort zone. It means growth. By doing things you are afraid you do, things you once thought you couldn't possibility do, is how you are going to succeed in giving life everything you have. Really reaching your full potential.

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."

—Jack Welch

Freakshow open

The Freak Show Open was my second to last competition before my injury was unmanageable and put me out of competing. It was on April 28, 2012. It was one of my best competitions as I attempted a qualifying total for nationals. Regardless of the fact that I missed my last lifts in both the snatch and the clean and jerk it was one of my best performances.

Below are the links to my lifts on facebook.
63kg Snatch
65kg Snatch Attempt

80kg Clean and Jerk
85kg Clean and Jerk Attempt

Trial and error

I have definitely found out life is about trial and error. I have learned a lot from my trials lately. My personality is not wanting to do something half way. I want to go all the way and give it everything I got. Can be a very good but bad quality depending on what you do with it. The last couple years I have been working on Olympic weightlifting and trying to qualify for nationals. This year I found myself one competition and 4kg away and my body said no more. I got extreme pain in my knees and very bad pain in my shin when squatting. The knee pain has been described to me as chondromalacia patella and the shin pain still remaining a mystery but seems to be related to tight muscles primarily the calf.

This has forced me to take a step back. To rest, reevaluate and recover. I have changed my routine to doing some lifting, conditioning, and hot yoga. To my new goals being a healthier better rounded athlete. I do love competing so I don't think that will change. Now I will do some different kinds of competitions including Olympic weightlifting when I am well enough. My plan is though not to put so much pressure on myself. Some pressure pushes you too much will stop you in your tracks.

It is proven people do better when they are having fun. So set goals, push yourself to be the best you can be but remember even if not everything is accomplished you are miles ahead of where you would of been doing absolutely nothing.


“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

– Winston Churchill

Backing off

"Life's up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals. Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want."

- Marsha Sinetar


So lately my Olympic weightlifting has ran into a little speed bump. I have been slowed down by my body telling me that it needs a little extra attention. My knees have been gradually getting worse for a few months until suddenly it seems or suddenly I came out of denial I couldn't keep ignoring the signs. At first I went threw every possible stage, anger, denial, and wanting to just throw in the towel. Why don't I just quit? Well that does seem like the easiest thing to do doesn't it? When things get hard we get out. For me my exercise has become an obsession since I lost weight. Quitting hasn't really ever been an option for me even though I have given it a considerable amount of thought many times throughout my life. But now that I have come to terms with what is needed in my life right now I have been feeling a lot better. And I know my goals will still be accomplished just in a little more time then I originally pictured. I have already grown so much because of my goal and this speed bump is just another obstacle to make me stronger. There is always some good to be found in every situation.


“You take the bad with the good, Rise up through it. Live in the mist of it. It's the bad that lets you know how good the good really is. Don't let the bad leave you thinking like there ain't any good. There is, and lots of it, too. ”

― Charles Martin,

Overcoming obstacles

“Courage isn't having the strength to go on - it is going on when you don't have strength.”

― Napoleon Bonaparte


Strength is not about not being weak. How you overcome your weaknesses determines your strength. If you don't challenge yourself to the utmost you will never have to really face being weak. You will never have to really deal with obstacles.

If you have never tried to conquer your own weaknesses then you haven't really triumphed in one of the greatest obstacles in life....yourself! When you conquer yourself which is never totally conquered because there will always be a weakness. There will always be triumph and struggle as long as you step out and live life to the utmost.

You have to be weak to be strong and you have to be strong to be weak. No matter what your life, you determine how you live. The people with the greatest struggle are sometimes the happiest. Why? Because they made a choice to be happy. The don't let life determine how they act and feel. No matter what the circumstance you control how you act and feel about it. Happiness cannot come from external forces. Happiness lies within us.

In my life I have struggled and conquered. I have been happy and I have been sad. I have been strong and I have been weak. When you feel that you are alone remember this struggle is something that everybody trying to do something worth doing goes through.


“To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength.”

― Criss Jami

Weightlifting and my life

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert Francis Kennedy

Weightlifting is something I probably never would of imagined myself doing at any point in my life. My life brought me to it. It brought me to it so I can continue my journey of health and happiness. To strive to be the best I can be. Weightlifting is not just about picking up the barbell. It is about creating focus, being centered and believing in yourself. The barbell gives no forgiveness. If your life is off your lifts will be off. Life is about balance. 

Let the goal guide you

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.”

― Louisa May Alcott


A goal is not always achieved. Sometimes a goal is there to make you stronger and guide you in your life. The reason goal setting is so important is because you have short term goals that are realistic that will be accomplished to give you that self satisfaction and feeling of achievement. You have your long term goals to push you to strive to be the best. Even if you don't reach that goal you have achieved so much more then if you had no goal at all. The point is about not obtaining perfection but striving for perfection and getting as close as you can in your life. Being the best you can be as an individual. It is not about being better then others its about you. This is your goal, your life, and your journey.