Sometimes, when I'm feeling busy, I think of our friend Leah. Leah and I are not in the same life phase. I have two grown children, Leah has none. I've been married for 18 years, Leah is just a couple of weeks away from starting her first year of marriage. I'm finished with school, Leah is in the midst of it. Leah is young....me, well, I'm not so young. Even though we have very different lives, she is an inspiration to me.
I'm a busy woman, just like you. I have things to do, friendships to kindle, dishes to wash, and Facebook statuses to update. ;) When I'm feeling too busy, I think about Leah, and how busy she is, and how fulfilling her busy life is to her. If happy girls are the prettiest, then Leah is one of the prettiest I know!
Leah has a full class load as a college student. She hopes to have a fabulous job in her field of study when she's finished, but for now she's happy to be working at a local Sheetz. Yeah, I know, I thought the same thing when she got the job at Sheetz..."Really? That doesn't sound like a happiness-inducing job!", but I've never heard her complain. In fact, she seems to be thriving there and enjoying it!
Working and school enough? Nope, not for this busy Beautiful Girl! She also has plenty of hobbies, does the social media for the Rachael Horton Compassionate Care Fund (Leah LOVES social media, animals, and this awesome non-profit). She also makes time for her friends and her family, and she always knows the best movies to see and shows to watch and music to listen to and etc, etc, etc. Leah knows a lot about a LOT!
Oh, did I mention she's planning a wedding? By the pictures I've seen so far (on social media, of course!), it's going to be unique and fun...just like Leah.
I can't write a Just the Girls: Real Beauty post about Leah without mentioning one of her greatest loves. I'll go out on a limb here and say she loves this particular thing almost as much as she loves her groom-to-be, Zach. Leah loves to run. I've heard people say they love to run before, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who loves it as much as Leah. She loves marathons, virtual 5K's, running around the block, whatever kind of running there is, Leah will do it. She'll do it in heat and cold and pouring rain, and then she'll write about it on her blog See Leah Run. Read it, she might inspire you to run, too!
So how could someone with whom I have little in common have anything to offer I can learn from? Leah hasn't inspired me to work at Sheetz or run, but she does inspire me to fit more profitable things into my day than I have in there already. Do you ever find yourself trivializing the lives of women who are unlike you? Look closer, Beautiful Girls! We are on this journey together, and we can be inspired by every woman around us.
Who inspires you? Let us know and we'll do a Just the Girls: Real Beauty story about her! We'd love to meet her and find out what makes her beautiful!
