I live an impossible life. In nearly every aspect of my life, I defy the odds. I move mountains. I make the impossible a reality almost every single day. It’s exhausting, but it’s also incredibly fulfilling. I know my strengths, and I am continually learning and working on improving my weaknesses. I am human, but that doesn’t mean the impossible is just that. I am anything but ordinary, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Forgive me for my honesty and my never-ending grit. Over the years as I’ve seen obstacles all around me, I used to be afraid. Frozen in fear, I’d only see the path right in front of me regardless of if it was even passable or not and in the wake of challenges I’d often give up.

Over time, I learned to not give up. That even when there are seemingly no other choices, there always are other choices. Sometimes you just have to change your perspective. As I grew up, I learned that when you can’t see anything but the path right in front of you, that doesn’t mean there is no other way. It simply means you may have to make your own path. And, at times, my sword from all my years as a warrior became instead a tool for clearing new roads, finding new ways, carving out new options and creating better choices for the life I wanted rather than the life I had.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Over time, you learn that if you lower your expectations of everyone around you, and choose to focus instead on the expectations you set on yourself, you’ll never be disappointed in anyone but yourself. And you can always improve and fix yourself. With love, time, and attention even the most stubborn and broken and battle-worn parts of your soul can heal. Sometimes it’s nice to have someone to share that with. Actually, it always is. But it’s not a requirement. You learn to shoulder on, focus on the positive, carry the wins with you, and take the losses and turn them into tomorrow’s triumphs.

Life has been hard, but then again it always is. It’s just a matter of choosing your hard. It’s hard to be stuck. It’s hard to be afraid. It’s hard to miss out on the life you want because you’re so busy heads down working to pull things together that you fool yourself into believing that if you just keep going and just keep pushing on, that things will get better. It’s also hard to forge a new path. It’s hard to change your way of thinking. It’s hard to see things from a different perspective – a lot of different perspectives. I’m still learning that, and asking questions and trying to see things better from others’ points of view. It’s even harder still to choose the way you want to go over the way you need to go over the way you thought you’d be going and trust yourself enough to know that whatever you choose, you have to always have faith in yourself. Life is hard. Choose the hard that leads you over those obstacles and pretty soon you’ll realize, it’s also beautiful.

Mountains can move. There’s a big difference between can’t, won’t, and choose not to. Use the right words when you tell yourself your story long before you tell your story to the world and you’ll find it will make all the difference.