Fit For Service Challenge #1: Explore the Ordinary World

If you’ve been close to my personal journey, you know the past year and a half has been a kick in the ass – both good and terribly bad. 

I stepped away from leading a non-profit centered on nutrition after 8 years, I broke the shackles of debt in the amount of almost $40K, I launched EpicLuv in a big way, committing to my mission in life to help others with their health and wellness goals, I fell in love…and lost, lost my father, and ultimately lost my best friend and roommate in a tragic motorcycle accident at the end of 2019.  

To put it plainly, last 18 months have brought me to the clouds and then dropped me back into the muddy, damp, dirt – spiritually, emotionally, and professionally.  

While I am always working to find lessons learned from all of the triumphs and grief in my life, what I do know, is that I am ready to live in a big way. 

To learn, live, love, serve, and find a tribe that will help me level up both personally and professionally in 2020. 

That’s why I applied, and was accepted (!!), into the 2020 Fit For Service Hero’s Journey Mastermind with world-renowned holistic health expert, Aubrey Marcus, and a fellowship of inspirational leaders, healers, and mind movers.

Over the next 12 months, I am committing to myself to be able to better serve others. But to be of service, I have to be Fit For Service. This means fit financially, physically, mentally, and emotionally. In order to do that I will move through the 3 major arcs of the hero’s journey:

1) Training The Body and Mind

2) Connecting to Consciousness

3) Living As The Truth of Who I Am

And I am inviting you along on my journey…

Fit For Service Weekly Challenges

Each week, myself and all the other masterminders receive a single challenge. Each challenge is meant to guide us on our path through the three arcs of the hero’s journey. And I will be sharing my experience with you here so we can learn together as an EpicLuv community. 

Plus – if you are feeling adventurous, you can try out the challenges on your own!

Challenge #1:
Explore the “ordinary world” of money in my life.  Live a day as if you no longer had money. Watch what comes up.  Spend a minimal amount of money, less than $5.00 ideal. 

Imagine a scenario if your money went away- what would you do, would you be less happy?

What would you do?

Where would you go?

What friends can you count on to live with?

My Challenge #1 Journey

It is currently 12:06 PM and I am sitting in a coffee shop 35 minutes from my house (yes I walked here.) I woke up doing my normal morning priming which involves:

– Breathwork

– (3) Gratitudes (3) Goals 

– Journal what has/been happening in my life 

– Do my Super Attractor Manifestation Meditations around appreciation & vision making.  

All of this takes me around 40-50 minutes to do and it costs me NOTHING!  

When we wake up first thing in the morning, so many of us are used to hitting the ground RUNNING and not making time for ourselves to take inventory on how lucky and good we really have it.

After priming, I made a cup of instant coffee (YUCK). I can’t lie but it did the trick.  

I had my coffee, put my clothes on, and hit the outdoors for a morning workout. I realize I am super blessed to workout at Lifetime Fitness where I pay $150.00 a month for my luxury membership. This would be extremely hard to let go if I had no money as it brings me such JOY. But for today, I tackled the outdoors with a run, stairs and 200 squats. WHEW! It felt great to get outdoors for a change. 

I wanted to spend a little bit of the second part of my day in a place that also brings me joy – a coffee shop. I love to read, write, and be among strangers. Knowing within this scenario I have no car, no money for gas, and no easy access to public transportation, I adapted. 

I strapped on my heavy as hell work bag to my back, filled my water bottle up, and started walking. It took me around 40 minutes, 9,202 steps. Talk about getting a second workout in and feeling healthy without money!

Since I knew  I only had less than $6.00 to spend, I ordered a regular coffee with steamed coconut milk for a total of $5.04.

The Core Desire Feeling that has come up so far is how lucky and blessed I was over the last year to have an amazing man in my life that helped and supported me when I needed it. I am realizing, over my delicious cup of coffee, that I was looking at the glass half empty (vs. full) in this relationship, and focused on what was lacking instead of the amazingness that was right in front of me.

After my time at the coffee shop, one of my life blessings, my best friend Deka, picked me up (along with her husband Scott) to take me to lunch at my favorite spot in Vegas, True Food Kitchen. Yay! No more walking! Out of good faith for the challenge, I tried to offer a payback of the cost for transportation once the challenge was over, but in true generous Deka fashion, she refused it. 

Over lunch, we chatted about how, when we are forced to surrender and learn how to accept support, the Universe reveals how many amazing support systems you have around you – making you appreciate them even more.

In the final hours of my day I packed an overnight bag and headed to my neighbor’s house. Mary is like a mom to me and she invited me to sleep on her couch plus spend some much-needed quality time together. She is a warm, loving woman who cooked me a delicious dinner, served yummy wine, and played cards with me until 10 PM. It was simple. It was filled with joy and fun. It was perfect.

As I nestled into the couch late that night, I made a point of listing in my head the small blessings that I had throughout the day. 

When it comes to scarcity of money, here is what I learned during my day exploring the ordinary world:

• Take risks!  This is a huge one for me. Lately, I have had a fear of not having enough money to take a leap and move to a new city. Scared that I wouldn’t have enough to take care of myself and take the risk to make a move that I feel is necessary to my progress forward. I am learning to trust myself and understand that I will never know outcomes until I actually take the jump and make the move.
   
• Nothing is ever perfect.
  
  
• Have gratitude when others continue to show up for you, help you, and appreciate the gifts that you bring to your relationship together.
  
• Nothing is ever promised and we all need help in this life! Never take a helping hand for granted but also do the work, walk the miles, and put in the sweat to make your days the most meaningful they can be.

Next week’s challenge is about codependency, abandonment, and rejection. Things are about to get really raw folks…thanks for your support in this journey. 

Looking for support in your life and wellness goals? Reach out. I’m a click away.

With EpicLuv,
Melissa