A couple weeks ago I attended a fundraising event for a charity called Right To Play. I immediately fell in love with the organization after hearing about how their programs impacted children around the world. At the event, I was asked to share a story about my involvement with the organization. The story reminded me of how much I’ve grown through the same fears that hold many people back.
As an athlete ambassador for the charity, I was invited to visit one of their projects in Sierra Leone a few years ago. Hearing about the disease and turmoil that has overwhelmed this disadvantaged country, many people asked me why I wasn’t too scared to travel there.
I couldn’t get my head around the question. Yes, of course there were risks, but there was also so much to gain from the trip. I’d be given the chance to make a difference in thousands of children’s lives, and would discover more ways to help them. I would gain inspiration to return home and raise more funds for their benefit. I would learn more deeply why it was important to give to those less privileged. Though risk was involved, the trip was going to make me a better person.
Quite honestly, I would be more scared to think of how unfulfilled my life would be if I hadn’t taken the risk. Try asking yourself what you’d risk for a more fulfilled life. And if it’s worth the risk, why aren’t you doing it? I’m often compelled by an Eminen quote in the lyrics of his song 8 Miles: “Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted—one moment—would you capture it or just let it slip?” I’m glad that I never let the gratifying experience with Right To Play in the perilous countryside of Africa slip.
********** Motivational Weight Management Tip **********
My experience of working with the Biggest Loser contestants and Symtrimics has inspired me to share motivational diet, health, and wellness tips. These tools have been driven from actual advice communicated with contestants. This week's tip: Let go of your hang-ups and don’t allow other people’s impressions of you keep you from the gym, pool, or other public venues. Take the risk of making yourself look foolish today by letting go of your hang-ups. Only someone who accepts him or herself is ever really free of their insecurities. You can accomplish much more in life when you aren’t hamstrung by your inhibitions.
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Nikki Stone won Olympic gold after she overcame a near career-ending spinal injury to win America’s first gold medal in the sport of Aerial Skiing. She was honored with the task of helping train the current Olympians on overcoming distractions, dealing with pressures, and harnessing confidence going into the Vancouver Olympics. And most recently, she was asked to be the motivational expert for a new Biggest Loser regional program.
Stone now works as a motivational speaker and recently authored the much-talked-about inspirational book When Turtles Fly: Secrets of Successful People Who Know How to Stick Their Necks Out (with contributors Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Tommy Hilfiger, and more). For more information, please visit www.WhenTurtlesFly.com and www.NikkiStone.com.
Edited by Alison Stanton