Love the Hell that You’re In

One of the most striking comments I heard at WDS was from Danielle LaPorte. She was describing her formative years of growing up as “white trash.” I don’t remember the specifics of her childhood, but I was spellbound when I heard her say “You have to love the hell that you’re in before you can leave it.”

You rarely hear someone talk about any reasons to stay in a hell-hole. They do say wherever you go, there you are. If you don’t find the lesson before you escape, the lesson follows you.

Danielle said that if you have made a decision to leave, you need to set a date and honor it or you betray yourself. I come from a long line of people who believe that the promises you make to other people are more important than the promises you make to yourself. You think there’s always going to be time for working out or relaxing later, but that time never comes.

She encouraged us all to make a “Stop Doing This” list. I mentally started the list at WDS. At the top was to stop feeling responsible for a website that the corporate office behind it no longer wanted. Second on the list was to stop being a realtor. Everything has changed about the real estate market and the players since we got into it seven years ago. It had turned into nothing more than a continual monetary vampire. It was no longer fun.

Danielle left us with the thought that “The universe wants you to win.” That was one of the things I found most helpful in overcoming my fear of public speaking – that the audience wants you to be successful. It is much more positive to look at things that way.