Belong

"Auntie, wanna hear my letter I had to write to an author that made an impact on my life?"

"Of course I do. I always wanna hear about school."

"Good. 'Cause I was going to read it to you anyway."

An unplanned alone moment with the worlds smartest  and insightful 13 year old I know opened my eyes to so much.

Belonging. Her letter was about identifying with the main characters sense and need to belong. How society can be wrapped up so much in being perfect and not taking time to notice the imperfections and more importantly realizes that they really aren't imprecations at all. Everyone just wants to belong to someone or something. To have that circle of friends that will always be there for you and love you just the same. To move past the materialistic and what is right in front of you and see more.

Growing up I belonged to The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls ( for more information on this amazing group for girls please visit: www.gorainbow.org ). I owe my existence to it- literally. My mother was a Rainbow Girl with my dads cousins and well the rest is history.
Rainbow taught me so much, more than I could ever put into words. It gave me a place to belong. A place where I didn't feel like I was being judged. It gave me friends who became my sisters. The lessons I learned in Rainbow I carry with me throughout my every day life. I am so lucky to be able to return the favor and be an advisor for such an amazing organization tat does everything for the community.

Through the years. Me and my 'sister'- Hanna

The next time that I felt like I belonged what when I found Zumba. Zumba gave me a family, and I eventually ended up finding my sense of belonging with Girl Power Fitness. Over the course of the last 4 years I have met many people. And these people have helped shaped me into the person I am today, and less of the person I was before- but literally and physically. They have helped me loose more than the physical weight. They have helped me loose some of the psychological weight as well. You can workout and you can eat right but if you are stressed or holding onto something- it really doesn't matter. Girl Power Fitness has helped make my stresses disappear along with the weight.

  

Me, Rita and Adriane

Girl Power Fitness Fit at 5k Team 2014

Bottom line… Sitting there and listening to this brilliant, beautiful and absolutely perfect teenager gave me so much insight as to what it really does mean to belong.