What is your Word?

I know I probably need to explain in some more detail before you can actually answer that question.  I do this all the time in my relationship, “Hey KK, did you do that one thing?”  You can image her frustration when I don’t go into more detail. So, learning from my mistakes and short comings in relationship communication, I will utilize what I have learned and provide some more details so you can actually answer that question.  Boom!!  Growth!!!

 

What motivates you?

What drives you to achieve your goals?

How do you want to show up in your life?

What do you need to do to reach your dreams?

Who do you need to be to reach your dreams?

Who do you want to become?

 

Since the day I hung up my size 14 basketball sneakers, I instantly felt a loss!  A big piece of who I was and how I defined myself for so many years was removed and I felt naked (not in a good way).  For so long I defined myself and my self-worth by a sport, by my passion.  I was a basketball player first and foremost, in my opinion, and without this ball in my hands I didn’t know who I was.  My entire life my self-worth was attached to a round ball that I threw through a cylinder, 10 feet in the air (this is a basketball hoop for you non sports fans).  If I played well, I was successful/happy.  If I played poorly, I was a failure/angry.   When i wasn’t playing at all, sick, injured, and then retired; I was a nobody.

I floated around selling technology and running basketball teams hoping that I would have this angelic moment that would guide me to my new passion.  My limited belief led me to conceptualize this truth that once I found the “thing” I would find my identity.  I believed with all of my heart that this “thing” would bring me happiness and hope and until I found it, I would just continue to push forward spending each day like a human zombie:

Waking up

Eating

Sleeping

REPEAT

Along my pursuit of passion trip, that took me 10,000 miles across the united states in 3 months, I learned a profound lesson:

We are not our passion!

We are not our job!

We are not our relationship!

We are not a thing!

 

At this moment, I stopped searching for a “thing” to bring me peace and hope.  I stopped searching for a passion that would make me feel fulfilled.  Instead, I searched deep within for who I was, who I wanted to be, and what I was going to do in life.  I had a brief moment of anger associated with the fact that it took me 35 years to finally live in peace, but this quickly took a back seat with the excitement of a new level of awareness that was overcoming my soul.

Who am I?

I am loving, kind, compassionate, emotional, determined, courageous, hard working, passionate, imperfect, and goofy (sometimes extremely goofy) person.

As I continued to do some searching around who I was when I was at my best, a certain word kept appearing internally in my heart and even externally through signs.  In all of my attributes, aspirations, motivations, beliefs, and even short comings, this word found meaning.  When I repeat this word during my meditations, during my failures, and during my successes; emotions about who I am and who I want to be race through my mind like Lightning McQueen attacking the checkered flag.

What is my word?  Thank you for asking! It is:

Just the sound of this word lights a fire in my belly.

This word makes me think about how I need to show up in my relationships at home and at work if I want to leave a legacy (Inspiring, Loving, &Present).

This word makes me think of how I want to show up in my business if I want to leave a legacy (Motivated, Courageous, and Focused).

This word makes me think about how I want to grow if I want to leave a legacy (Growth, Learner, Creator).

If I am failing, this word lifts me up.  If I am winning, this word makes me want more.  When I am deep in thought, this word provides a vision for the future I want to create.   I know that I am not a “thing” and no “thing” will ever define who I am.  I am defined by my legacy!  The legacy defined by how I show up when challenges arise, the legacy of how I treat others, and the legacy demonstrated by the impact I make on this world.

What is your word?