The True New YOU

In 2013 I started a Blog Journey sharing my life journey and along the way started to really discover God's purpose. Many endeavors have accompanied me the last 5 years, but 2017 was a year of not just coming back, but crawling back to life (some days literally).
   I'd love to say these blogs will be weekly, but I've learned to take it a little easier on myself the last couple years. My hope is to share experiences that might help someone else fulfill their own unique purpose, laugh a little more at themselves as a parent (specifically my single parent friends who I've come to realize are amongst the strongest on the planet). I'm not grammatically correct, but strive for transparency in sharing struggles.
   So here we go 2018, the raw look at life at 36, Divorced (used to be hard to say that word) Mom of 3 Ninja Spartan who is not just rising up, but by God's Grace Igniting Hope once again with some pretty awesome kiddos and friends alongside life.
    Be The Spark ;)
Maggi

   

American Ninja Warrior

Before writing anything else, a HUGE thank you to the producers and casting crew of American Ninja Warrior for the opportunity. There are soooooo many amazing athletes and good hearted people in the world and to be selected as one of the 125 for our region our of only 5 regions is such an honor I am truly grateful for. Thank you!

Well friends, by now you have either seen my fall or this is how you are finding out that yes, the first obstacle took me out!

How did it happen? Simple....Overconfidence.

Normally in competitions I get so nervous...extremely focused, kind of off on my own and pacing around. No moment is taken for granted. Every step is one at a time.

As they called my name when waiting in the holding area, I was doing sprints, jumping up and down and finding a place to take a knee and say a prayer. Riled up more than you can imagine before competing. My mental preparation was in overdrive...I could literally see myself hitting the buzzer at the top of the warped wall, arms up in victory. Pointing at my son in the stands with tears of joy. Hmmm.  That was not reality.

I stepped up to the start. Crowd cheering, waving and greeting them back (What an awesome crowd by the way, Denver has great people and I appreciate everyone who came to watch! ). I took deep slow breaths in anticipation of my name being called as you cannot start the course until the buzzer sounds. Quintuple steps? PIECE OF CAKE I thought to myself. My legs are stronger than strong, my agility amazing and I did steps like those at Worlds Toughest Mudder for 24 hours....first obstacle, not a problem rattled around in my mind as I approached the stairs to take the helm.

Horn sounds. At the crisp cold hour of 2am with a slight breeze in the 32 degree weather, I launched to the first quintuple step, then the next...and the next annnnnnnnd......splash.

WHAT? What just happened. As my arms scraped down the side of the step, no where to grip in site I could not believe it. Fail. All the build up, all the hype and one big splash.

Overconfidence. I could find plenty of excuses if I allowed myself of why I did not make it past 3 steps, but I refuse to live in a life of looking back and not taking responsibility for a failure. Lets look at that word one second further....I also don't believe in it. As Thomas Edison said, " I have not failed...I just found 10,000 ways to successfully not do something" when he talked about his repeated attempts to invent the light bulb.  So, Denver American Ninja Warrior was just me figuring out how to successfully not do the quintuple steps. Time to keep moving forward because at the end of the day....there are millions of people that needs shoes on their feet and love in their hearts! #GiveShoesGiveLove

I cannot thank everyone nearly enough for all of the support, encouragement and belief in me to make it through the course. That course has a piece of my heart on it and next year Lord willing I will try to reclaim it and hit that buzzer for Soles4Souls....for my family, my brother, my best friend, for you.

Never ever be afraid to try something. It was a risk to try American Ninja Warrior. It was do or die in front of millions of people, but to take a chance for Soles4Souls...worth it. Falling in freezing water in front of world wide audience. yes please, because now they know...and you know of a hope for a new day tomorrow and more chances.


 A personal thank you to Noah Tal Kaufman, AKA NinjaDoc and his wife for  allowing Charlie and I to stay there along with some others while getting ready to compete. The Kaufman's are just really, really good genuine people. One more note to all the competitors I met, ALL of you are wonderful and amazing. You inspire me!

Here are a few fun pictures from the journey:

Thank you to Jesse Graff who helped me train, she is amazing, watch out for her next year on American Ninja Warrior! A Huge thank you as well to At Dunn and Chelsea Cooley Altman from Toned To Win who helped prep me physically and mentally. They are amazing at what they do!

Climbing is a must training for ANW

Lots of climbing. Lots of blisters.Worth it.

This is what hours....and hours of training late at night result in. There is not a funner person to train with than this woman!

Heading out to Denver mother's day weekend with my family cheering me on :)

Charlie and I making our way over the Colorado border

Ready for producer interviews

Behind the scenes interviews, fun crew

Denver lunch date competition prep

Training Fun pre-event

Competition day lunch with fellow competitors

"Ninja Cowboy" showing Charlie how it is done :)

Filming pre competition

Resting up before we go. We did not film until after sunset, so we had a while!

Post competition...still smiling! Until next year friends! #GiveShoesGiveLove

Advantage of not making finals....Spending the day hiking in Colorado with your son. Love Him!

Cheering on the other competitors the next night for finals with some really amazing people who are fun to hang with!

There it is....the Ninja Warrior Experience!
Thank you for your support of Soles4Souls and my family!
Warmly,
  Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014

I Can't...

  Combing the crowd through thousands of children looking for my sons best friend, at my side a young girl was tugging at my sash looking up with bright eyes. She quietly muttered "can I take a picture with you please?". As we stood side by side grins ears to ear I knelt down after taking the picture to ask her a few questions. Her name, what her favorite color was, what her favorite things to do were. She replied with a shy grin to each question clasping her hands together swaying side to side. As I was about to stand back up, she muttered "I wish I could be a princess".  Kneeling once again, I looked right into her eyes and reminded her she was already a princess and she did not need a crown and sash to make her special. She said "Well, I CAN'T  have one anyways because I play sports". HOLD UP!  There is not a more perfect statement a young lady could make to me. My hand rested on her shoulder as my eyes looked right into her eyes and I told her "You can do ANYTHING you want in life. I play sports, and in fact I love sports because they help me stay healthy for my family. Anything is possible". Her shyness immediately went away as her eyes lit up and she exclaimed "REALLY?!". As our conversation came to a close, the pep in her step as she skipped away with joy filled my heart with happiness knowing a little girl just believed in herself.

Some of the young ladies I was able to meet at the race

My son with some of his friends before they ran

   As screaming kids swarmed around us, darting through the lawn of Nebraska's state capital with race heats about to start it was a genuine moment, and the kind of opportunities I look forward to interacting with our future generations. There were a lot of young ladies I was fortunate enough to talk to, but this particular young lady has been on my mind and this blog post has been simmering in my mind since the moment her and I finished speaking.

There have been so many moments in my life when someone took the time to look in to my eyes and let me know they believe in me and anything is possible. There have also been moments when people told me it was not possible and I could never do it. I've been teased and picked on and more times than I can count was told "It's impossible".

Scrawny Me "carrying" the groceries. Sometimes I feel like a caterpillar that became a butterfly!

  The ability to believe in yourself is not one to be underestimated. We were all made by purpose for a purpose. One of my favorite bible quotes is Ephesians 2:10. Once we not only accept, but celebrate how we were made and live on mission...literally anything is possible. As someone from a low income background as the first college graduate through generations, who started her career picking up litter, vacuuming suites, setting up tables and other odd jobs in to designing and managing multi-million dollar athletic construction projects along with designing custom furniture, outfitting the building and doing our integrated branding....through hard work, commitment, grace and belief it was made possible. Were there nay sayers, you bet. But I knew what I was made to do an put 500% in to it. Waiting for your "dream" job? Go get it, you can do it! Trying to meet a weight loss goal to live a healthier life style but in your mind is "I CAN'T"...YES, you CAN. It takes work. It takes sacrifice and determination and a positive mindset that YOU CAN. It just takes on step and just as that little girl took steps of courage to talk to me and share an insecurity, yet walked away a confident child, you can own that same confidence. Best thing is...confidence is free because it is already in you...just let it shine!

 

  One of my absolute FAVORITE things about the International Pageant System is EVERY woman is celebrated Just.As.She.Is.No one has ever tried to change me from the core of who I am or what drives me to strive for global change. I never look at another contestant as a competitor, but family and a encouraging voice. It is wonderful to walk alongside all of the ladies involved past and present as we all are encouraging future generations as a titleholder with our crown and sash each outreach opportunity we have.

 Believe in YOU and never let tell anyone tell you otherwise. I don't, and I know you can too!

Achieve the impossible!

Warmly,

Maggi Thorne

Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014

Two friendly reminders:

(1) If you have any used shoes, you have until May 17th to donate! Find out how at www.GreatestShoeLNK.org 

(2) Online voting at Mrs. International continues! Half of the proceeds go to the Go Red for Women program through the American Heart Association. You can vote here! http://www.mrsinternational.com/voting.php?id=736

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

As of this afternoon at 4:30PM I will officially be competing in #AmericanNinjaWarrior Season 6 for Soles4Souls to help raise awareness of their efforts to wear out poverty in front of a #worldwide audience! 

I cannot sing or play piano, it's fairly debatable if I can dance;)...but I CAN RUN, jump and mentally defeat others. I have been entrusted with an ability that used to be taken for granted and it took me over 30 years to realize it can be used for good..and for others. This life is lived by Grace. Let's do this! #ANW6 #Soles4Souls #InternationalPageants

Why Obstacle Racing?

As I stumbled across the mountains of Temecula, CA the question popped in to my mind "Why am I racing?". It was a moment of doubt when the hills felt their steepest, the pain at its highest and as the lead pack pulled away from me, I could not help but feel out of my prime...a far cry from my collegiate days of national prominence.
   The thoughts crept their way into my mind of all the other places I could be at that moment. Surely there had to be something less painful, easier, a sand strewn beach perhaps. Maybe I can just collect shoes only and not race anymore as a part of my mission for Soles4Souls?
   Steadily step after step and obstacle after obstacle the finish line grew closer. A large mountain lied ahead and what was thought to be just a hill climb, turned out to be a hill climb AND sand bag carry. I asked the officials monitoring sandbags being picked up "Are all sandbags the same?" and he promptly responded "Yes, pick any one". As I lumped one over my shoulder and made headway up the hill, it felt like lugging all three of our children on my back. The competitors were on their knees stopped all over the mountain like some battle was being fought and the mountain was winning. Groans of pain, words of frustration as people tried to motivate themselves and as others tried to motivate each other. The first part of the hill, I was actually able to make up alot of ground and pass 4 competitors. What I thought was the top of the hill was actually just the halfway point. I fell to my back in exhaustion. Legs on fire, sun shining on my face, sandbag on the ground and competitors making headway.
   This moment felt familiar. That point in time when something seems too hard and like you will never be able to overcome it. It would just be easier to give up right? Maybe there is a shortcut, a path less painful? Why did I choose this path? Doubt. Regret. Pain.
   Then it popped in to my mind. "You can't give up. Never Give Up"....Ohhhh, why does that have to be "my" tagline I thought back, as a battle of the mind ensued. If only someone could have peeked in to my mind at that moment laughter would have surely followed.
  The dirt of the mountain once again moving beneath my feet, sandbag on my shoulder and bursting forward with more power than ever. Passing competitors with each step and winning the battle vs the mountain. The doubt, regret, pain...washing away. More strength with each step, more confidence with each breath.
  As the finish line approached I was now in full stride and although not a podium finisher in the women's elite, the victory in the will to persevere...to finish strong as my niece and family cheered me on filled my heart with joy.

Right after crossing the finish line, my niece ran to me arms wide open for a congratulatory hug. This was one of my favorite moments of the day.

As continued opportunity's to run as an elite OCR racer have come to fruition, the visibility for Soles4Souls has risen on the running circuit and through many running communities. THIS is why I race. Awareness.

     After many obstacle races, many runners donate their shoes...more than any other race you will ever go to. Traveling the country running for Souls4Souls has continued to open up doors for them to bridge partnerships and I certainly hope this can continue. If you are a racer or a racing series looking for a shoe partner, first of all, thank you for the read! Second, you can contact Kelly Modena the Soles4Souls active division director at kellym@soles4souls.org

  One of the other opportunities I look forward to is being able to share about Soles4Souls with anyone wondering why their is a sashed competitor with Soles4Souls all over her gear. This weekend before the race started, one of the Atlas race directors Lance Landers told the crowd about Soles4Souls as I was warming up for the race and told everyone to look for "Maggi in the pink shorts".  Post race I was able to up on stage and the MC even asked to sport my sash for the crowd.

Scott Keneally of Rise of the Sufferfests did a one on one interview talking about Soles4Souls, the International Pageant and a re-cap of the Atlas Race. The full interview is below:

To wrap this up, my favorite moment of the day was watching my niece face a fear. She climbed a rope in front of a crowd and made it to the top! She was a little scared at first, but looked at me and said I inspired her then went for it. If there is any moment someones heart can melt, that was it. Everyone cheered her on and she also inspired other kids to try! Pay it forward friends :)

Warm Regards,
  Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014