We and selected third parties collect personal information as specified in our privacy policy and use cookies or similar technologies for technical purposes and, with your consent, for other purposes such as collecting usage statistics and saving your preferences. Use the 'Accept' button to consent.
Please select your preferences related to the processing of your personal information.
Last year I wanted to call it quits. Everything was too hard. Running my company was too overwhelming, and my heart felt too broken. Have you ever been there? Have you ever wondered how you could possibly go on another day?
Here's the short version of what my life looked like: We had just lost our children. We raised them for over 4 years, and then unexpectedly lost them during a contested adoption. It rocked our worlds and I didn't want to be living anymore. My company, The Shine Project, had taken a scary turn as I realized people I had entrusted to work for me had betrayed me. We were overwhelmed, knocked flat on our backs, and did not know how to possibly move forward.
Before we lost our children I had this weird thought one day that I wrote down in a journal (I never journal, but it struck me that profoundly). The thought was this, "If you loose your kids, you must do all you can to show love to one person a day." At the time it was confusing, but then we lost the children, my world buried me alive, and I had forgotten about what had been whispered to me.
Flash forward a few months, a move across the country, a new team to help run my companies, and now I was 6 months into my grieving process. The fog had started to lift, and all I felt was pain. The thought that had came to me the year prior whispered again, "Just try to do one act of love for one person a day." I listened. Some days it was the only thing that got me out of bed, and other days it was too much for me to be able to do, but I started to listen and look for people who needed ME. For people who's pain I could see, because I was now living with new lenses of love and grief, and knew what they were going through. Reaching out to others in their pain, has continued to help me live in mine.
I know how terrifyingly overwhelming life can be sometimes. Trust me sister, I know! But I also know, that reaching out to others allows our pain to be given purpose to it. Doing good helps us feel good. It helps the clouds uncover the sun. It allows us to see other people where they are, and hold them and say, "I'm so sorry. I am here, too. I am right here with you."
Perhaps it's a text message, flowers or food dropped off, a note in the mail, doing good can be so simple yet so impactful. At The Shine Project we have an online community for women to come and find support, motivation and inspiration to get through hard things in life. We also sell jewelry and tee shirts that we employ first generation college students to hand make, so they can pay their way through college and have resources to do so. I am a firm believer that the large and small choices we make impact each other, and we can all help each other to shine.
wow Ashley what a powerful story…. thank you so much for sharing and for still loving when love seemed to have lost…..