If you played youth sports you received a certificate of participation.  The thing is no one cherishes participation awards.  Regardless if we want one or not we all receive participation awards for our life.  Our life has to have more meaning than a cheap certificate acknowledging that we lived.  Participating does not mean you are winning only existing.  

The truth is a lot of us are content with just participating.  Not you.  You are not content with just existing you want more out of life that is why you are reading this right now.  You don’t want to go through the motions you want to live with a sense of purpose and meaning.  Deep down you know that you possess greatness.  The thing is we all do but few pursue their greatness.  You are one of the few that will not accept participating without engaging at the highest level.  You will push yourself regardless of who is there to support you.  You will win because you don’t accept losing.  You don’t take no for an answer. 

The point is we all can be tempted to settle for less than who we are.  But we know what settling get us. A certificate of participation is something you receive no matter if you win or lose.  You receive a birth certificate when you are born and a death certificate when you die.  What happens in between is your choice.  You write your life’s story through your choices and actions.  Don’t settle for just existing, your life has meaning.  Find out what you were born to do and don’t waste time, do it now.  When you do your life with be filled with rewarding experiences that will leave a story to tell the generations to come.  

​If we are honest, we like to be distracted.  We don’t want to see ourselves without the filters we carry with us.  So we play make believe.  Trying desperately to prove that we belong and that we are not a waste of space.  We want to be someone more than what we feel we are.  So we play pretend.  We put on our capes and dress the part of super heroes with special powers able to do the impossible.  We ignore anything that resembles truth because the lies look and sound better. The lies are louder.  We like loud because there is a pain that can only be heard in silence.  That pain is what keeps us from being who we are.  It hurts too much to confront yet we can’t escape it.  The truth is there is nothing scarier than loving yourself unconditionally.  I mean every aspect of you. Everything.  

How can you love your mistakes? 
How can you accept your flaws? 

True love is scary because it causes you to let go of your capes and filters and fully expose yourself with no condemnation attached to you. It causes you to confront the person in the mirror.  You have to face reality which is not always pretty.  It is not refined and it is not always attractive.  The unmasked you is worthy of love and worthy to love. When you take the hard road of self-acceptance you discover that loving yourself is your superpower.  That is your gift to share with the world.  Meaning the world is easy to point out what is wrong with you.  There is a long list of things that show how imperfect you are.  But Love is what matters, everything else is a distraction.  When you love unconditionally it gives your surroundings to do the same.  You empower others to accept themselves.  You free them from the monsters they have been tormented by in their minds.  You show the world that we don't have to put on a cape to have the power we already possess the power.  

You are a superhero.  You have the power to change the world through the love in you.  You don't have to play pretend, you are the real thing.  

There is one thing that can stop a dream before it starts; non-action.  You can say you believe in your dreams but never take action towards reaching them.  When you don't act on your dreams, you forget about them.  Life happens and as reality sets in you have no time to dream.  The life you want may be a fantasy, it may seem impossible but what is wrong with that?  What is wrong with having a dream so big that it scares you?  It is okay to be scared as long as you don't let fear stop you from action.  Your actions reinforce your beliefs.  

You are more than able to reach your dreams.  More importantly you can live the dream now.  Your actions now may seem insignificant but they are purposeful.  They shape your life and prepare you for where you are going.  Keep believing in yourself.  No matter how hard the journey may see, you are worth it.  Your life matters.  Your dreams matter go live them out.