Life. Death.

There has certainly been a lot going on in my life recently with a major Soles4Souls shoe drive and American Ninja Warrior which I will be posting about next week, but this post has been on my mind alot with a topic near and dear to my heart...the loss of loved ones in our lives.

He passed away Saturday during surgery, age 35.
She died from a heart attack getting ready in the shower for her cardiologist appointment, age 48.
He killed himself age 38.
She died in a car accident, age 24.
She died of a brain aneurysm, age 8.

 Over the last 14 days there has been a cloud of death of people I am close to, or someone I am close to who is best friends with the person who passed. Regardless, a loss of life is a loss of life and it can make anyone's heart hurt.
 
 Eyes straining to stay open driving home from a late night prepping for our Greatest Shoe Drive on Earth campaign, pulling in to my garage phone buzzing in my pocket with social media notice's. Sitting in the garage the bright screen awakened my eyes a little, but scrolling through the news feed I saw something that brought me from groggy to gasping with alertness. A friend's best friend took his own life. The light in my garage turned off, and now sitting in darkness with a steering wheel covered in tears it felt like I could not text my friend fast enough to see if they were doing ok. I am not a crier per say, but this. This hit home. 30 minutes passed, but in darkness and the quite of a car it was the most comforting place to be at that moment.

  Every single day...and I mean every. single. day. I think of my brother and my best friend. Some days it feels like I am still there, standing next to their coffins at two different points in time. The world standing almost still as other people mourned and grieved. It was a time of quiet for me at the funeral's, reality did not set in. Moments of tears came and went, but briefly. The sobbing that emerges from the depth of your soul came months later. Two suicides. Pain. Suffering, tormented minds with feelings of no other option or a gleam of hope. Missed opportunities to love someone who was silently crying out for help.

  THIS is why I do what I do. My calling is to love people beyond boundaries, prejudice, judgement, beliefs and any situation. All of the things I did not do before in a life lived in a constant selfish state of achieving goals for personal gain. Present day...now taking the gifts I was given and using them to open doors of opportunity to show and share a message of Love, Hope and Never Giving Up. Sitting at the feet of children washing them letting them know they matter. I feel like it is the story of the man walking along the sand with thousands of starfish strewn across the beach picking them up one by one to throw them back in the ocean. He may not be able to save everyone, but the one's he holds in his hands and shows them love...to that one it matters. As ideal as world peace would be, we don;t live in that world. We DO however live in a world that still has alot of good. One at a time, that is something ALL of us can be a part of.

On our fridge at home, there is a photo of my brothers and I when we were very young. It is at eye height and it catches my gaze many times during a day. Someday's just standing in front of the fridge staring at it. A moment of joy. Happiness. Innocence. A time when the world seemed wonderful and we were too young to know any better.

Left my Brother James age 10, me in the middle age 1 and Brother Mark age 8

People often wonder how I have the energy to do so many things constantly. Number one is God and Grace. Number two, a fire burns inside fueling me to Never Give Up on bringing love and hope to people across the globe. Number 3, my family, helping raise a generation of caring, compassionate leaders. It is what keeps me moving through 24 hour obstacle races, global travel, 38 hours of setting out and collecting shoes. 

If there is someone in your life that needs to be loved by you today. Do It. Can people open up to you easily to share what seems so scary to share, but once they do it is freeing? Put yourself in a position to be there for others, what are you waiting for? If you already do, that is absolutely wonderful because people need you.

Live Inspired. Live with Passion. Live with Love,
 Maggi
Your Mrs. Great Plains International 2014