Good evening!
This post is coming straight from the heart!!!
So I am just going to write everything I am feeling right now. Bear with me!
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Make Your Dreams Comes True…Yes, YOU!
Today ranked up there in the top 5 moments of my life.
I am so grateful for the support I have received with Glo Bakery, I can’t even begin to describe it.
I was so overcome with emotion when I saw how excited you were to be ordering my bars. I just kept wanting to pinch myself and truly savour this moment today. One which I will never forget. To have other people be excited, enthusiastic and supportive of my business, is only something I dreamed of early in 2009.
I thought, "Even though I have this vision that I want to do with all my heart, I just have so many doubts that I have what it takes to make it come to fruition."
My negative thoughts were indeed daunting at times and I would be lying if I still didn’t have them.
As I was furiously baking my heart out in the kitchen, lugging 50 pound bags of oats, cleaning, packaging, and trying not to let my head spin off, something occurred to me.
And you know what that was?
It occurred to me that if you keep the faith and work your butt off, you can do anything you want!
One of my favourite quotes says it all:
"The only place where dreams are impossible is in your own mind." ~Emalie
Just think about it for a moment. Had I not silenced those negative thoughts in my mind, I would never have had the courage to start up a business. You know where I would be? Stuck in my old job, miserably unhappy, saying to myself, ‘I just am not lucky with my career like some people are.‘ And oh yes, I said that to myself many times.
I am here to tell you that you don’t need to be stuck in a miserable job or pursuing a degree that makes you unhappy.
When I was in grad school, I felt it in my heart that it wasn’t the right place for me. I didn’t feel like I was being true to myself from day 1.
I had that little voice inside my head telling me that I would not be happy doing this for my career. I saw other students who lived and breathed the program and my heart just wasn’t in it like they seemed to be. And you know what? I felt extreme guilt over this. Why couldn’t I get into it like them? Why couldn’t I be as passionate about grad school as they seemed to be? Why couldn’t I sit in a lab for 14 hours a day and enjoy it?
The guilt doesn’t come from that voice inside of us. The guilt is what silences the voice!
Guilt tries to tell us that we are less of a person and that we are not worthy of being happy. It tries to tell us that something is wrong with us.
The guilt also largely comes from the expectations that we think others have of us. What society expects of us. What we think is expected of women in general. Whether those expectations that we feel are true or not, they only serve one purpose- to divert us from listening to our hearts.
Guilt is a distraction from finding our authentic selves.
I think so many of us women feel that we have to prove something. I know I did. I felt like I had to prove to everyone that I could get my degrees, make lots of money, and be successful. Well, none of that matters if it isn’t what you truly want to do in your heart!
No amount of success matters when you are unhappy. For me, it just added to my guilt. I co-authored on a book chapter straight out of grad school. Very exciting, right? Well, I couldn’t appreciate it because my heart wasn’t in it. I felt like I was regurgitating some unauthentic psychology babble instead of being able to speak from my heart. Yes, I may have written the book chapter, but I can’t truly say that I am proud of it in the full sense of the word.
I have received so many emails from many of you who feel stuck in your current situation.
I think the first step is taking a moment to reflect on the little voice inside of your head. It may be difficult at first because it has probably been silenced for a long time.
When I did this last year this is what I heard:
1) Help women love themselves and stop depriving themselves. Show them how to be healthy, to eat good foods, and to nurture their bodies and minds. Teach them what you have learned!
2) Start an online healthy bakery.
I think the this is a crucial first step that everyone should reflect on.
I want you to tell me what the voice inside you is telling you.
If you knew you could not fail, what would you do?
While the question seems simple, it is very telling.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. ~John Quincy Adams
PS- More Glo Bar variety packs have been added!!
Dearest Angela,
Thank you so much for writing this. I feel the guilt right now. I feel like if I do what would make me happy in a career that it would make me a selfish mother. I would love to become a nutritionist or dietitian. However, I feel that would take time away from my children (who are 18 months and 2.5 years). I love being a mom but I feel I am missing a piece of myself. Even writing that I want to do this makes me feel guilty. I hope I can get to a point in my life (like you) and have my dream realized. You have got me thinking though, and that is a good start. :)
Jennifer
I have always loved the “If you knew you could not fail, what would you do?” quote. It’s so true though — fear (often of failing ourselves or not meeting our own made up expectations) often is the only thing that is holding us back!
Thank you for sharing your inspiration! I love the quote you shared. It’s true that we set our own limitations and the only person stopping us from living our dreams is ourselves. Thank you for showing people out there that dreams and passions can come true!
SO TRUE. I am so happy you are so happy with your life.
If I knew I couldn’t fail, I’d march into HBO and sign on as a writer for an epic TV show.
That’s still a goal…but I may take a more subtle route ;-)
So inspiring Angela!
Angela, the first part brought a tear to my face! You are doing such an amazing job, your bakery is a huge succes and your blog inspires so many women! And yet you sometimes don’t even realize it or you are very modest about it.
The second part is so inspiring (again). I am not unhappy but I am still in search of my dreams for the future and this really motivates me to keep thinking about it. Thanks!
Angela,
Thank you SO much for being such an inspiration and positive role model for us. You deserve so much happiness and success with your business and I know you’ll go far!
If I knew I couldn’t fail … I’d jump head-first into fixing things with my husband, quit my job and focus on my holistic health counselor classes, and find more people/places locally that I could work with once I’m certified. I’d volunteer more and really share my love of being healthy with others.
Congrats again! I’ll be ordering my very own stash of glo bars very soon!
If I could do anything and not fail, I would quit my day job and really focus on my wellness consulting business that I do currently as a hobby on evenings and weekends. You’re always inspiring, thank you for that!
angela, you are so inspiring! thank you for this. i am so, so happy for you and your success. you’re living the dream, and it’s incredible to watch!
Thank God for inspiring people like you. You should seriously be a motivational speaker…you know, with all that free time you have ;-) hehe kidding, kidding.
I love that quote..I’m totally using it and going to live it every day!
I always feel like your posts are from the heart, which is what I love most about reading them. I am so happy for you, it’s a big day and you deserve it. Thanks for always sharing the journey.
I know you probably hear this a million times a day in your comments, but you are incredibly inspiring! It’s amazing how a stranger over the internet can motivate someone to finally follow their dreams when they’ve been silenced for years. Thank you! And congrats on your success! You deserve it!
Angela – as always thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I feel honoured each and every day that I can read your blog.
Again, you’re completely unrealistic. You were so very lucky to be in a position to be able to afford to do what you wanted…the majority of us can’t ever achieve that. Especially us Americans who have to keep our jobs for health care. (Count your blessings for being Canadian!)
I get that you try and “inspire” people…but how about some more realistic things than OMG GO QUIT YOUR JOB! DON’T BE FORCED INTO ONE YOU HATE BECAUSE YOU ARE A WOMAN! Not saying this to be a bitch, but I’m often frustrated by the overwhelming positivity on various blogs because for the most part, its kind of…fantasy for most of us. I mean, if you are drowning in student loan debt (another thing Canadians don’t deal with) on top of simply affording your rent…you can’t just up and quit your job. You can’t even file for bankruptcy. This has nothing to do with being positive or not, its merely being realistic.
Observer-
Just had to comment that it must really SUCK to be you! What’s with slamming Canadians? I am from the USA, have a job with no health insurance or retirement benefits, no college degree and I “left college” with debt to start my new career with absolutely no job skills and no degree to show for it. There were all my choices.(some knowingly and some unknowingly). I am not whining about any of it. Yes we all have to work to survive and pay the bills. But MISERY is optional!! If you don’t like what Angela has to say then go read a blog where you can find all the negativity you want!!!
I don’t think it’s unrealistic to follow your dreams. I am also incredibly in debt from college. I also pay ridiculous amounts of money for health care and rent. If you follow her blog, you’ll see that she saved money for months and months to make this happen.
And, maybe I misread her post, but I didn’t think she was encouraging me to just up and quit my job. She seems quite sensible-enough so that she saved money prior to quitting her job. You can always look for a new job while keeping your current job. That is entirely feasible no matter what country you are in.
I believe she is trying to show us that dreams can come true. They take time, work, saving and planning. Not just up and quitting your job and hoping for the best.
Oh She Glows is my favorite blog because what you’ve done over the past 1+ years is seriously the most inspiring thing i’ve come across. THANK YOU for sharing your journey and for all of your positivity… :) and congratulations, girl!!
if I knew I couldn’t fail i’d open my own photo art gallery, i’d design everything from clothes to ads to greeting cards to watches to websites, i’d write a based-on-a-true-story novel…. hehe i have a lot of dreams. i always feel so optimistic about how I can create the future I want when I visit your site though. THANK YOU! :)
My daughter directed me to your site, and I am so glad. I have been without any sense of direction for years now, afraid to pursue anything for fear of failing. Reading your post took away a lot of those fears and I am going to take some of your great thoughts and run with it!
Hey Angela, I read your blog all the time but only rarely comment. I just wanted to say that you are a real inspiration to your readers and really prove that your dreams can be achieved if you work hard and believe. I’m glad you have got the chance to see how much your readers want you to succeed. Good luck :)
I love that quote, I even posted it on Facebook!
If I knew I wouldn’t fail, I’d quit my job, become a personal trainer and keep learning more about cooking and nutrition to form some kind of specialty in that area.
Also I’d keep writing and maybe even do some articles for magazines and such.
From reading blogs like yours and others, I’ve figured this out already, now it is time to put it into action ;-)
Amazing post! I can imagine that you must have to pinch yourself to be reminded that this is not a dream, this is your life. How cool it must be to be a source of inspiration to so many women! Currently I working on being the best version of myself that I can be. I cannot fail at this – I will be happier for just trying. I am working my way up to the point where I can ask myself what I want to do with my life (work-wise) to be truly happy. I am trying to shed the persona of doing what I am supposed to do, doing what I think makes others happy, etc, etc, etc…
I agree with some others who say that you should write a book or be a motivational speaker. No pressure though – you are plenty busy right now and your posts are better than any “inspirational” books that I have read.
I must go order my Glo Bars now – I cannot wait to try them!
Such an inspirational post, I am so happy that it worked so well for you :-) Thanks for proving us that we can decide to change and that we should follow our dreams, I am on this path now but it is still hard to be sure what is the right decision, but this post definitely confirm my choice, thanks so much!!!
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