There is something very profound in witnessing a person achieve great success. We watch in awe as a baby takes his first steps, and celebrate victories and milestones in the human experience, for we know the challenges that each person must overcome to achieve these feats of victory. But beyond the flashing cameras, awards and accolades, there is a deeper and much more meaningful part of celebration. It transcends time and space. It cannot be seen or heard, and it cares not where you live or which culture you belong to. It is the most beautiful of gifts, for it has the power to change the world. It is a spiritual experience, a connection like no other that can only be experienced with others. It is the power of the human spirit, multiplied ten-fold by the sharing of peak experiences.
I have had the pleasure of witnessing and being a part of such a miraculous event – this weekend when the Global Lifestyle Challenge Participants and the Endorphin Junkies celebrated the amazing results experienced by each and every person who took the challenge. After 4 months of education, training and ongoing commitment to achieving a healthy lifestyle, we were all overcome by emotion in celebrating the achievements of each of the participants. With a combined weight loss in excess of 400lbs, gains of lean muscle and drastic reductions in body fat, the performance testing was icing on the cake. The phenomenal results would continue to build into a mountain of success. Every participant exceeded their fitness goals, and their previous testing scores, absolutely obliterating their original tests performed in February of this year.
I could go on and on about their results and the data we have collected, but if I listed their results, you would be missing the greatest point of all. The one thing that I cannot measure, and I cannot chart, is the unlimited power and strength that each of these participants found in discovering, “Yes I Can!”
To know that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, and that you are the secret to your success, is the beginning to living your life to its fullest. I know this is only the beginning for these amazing people, who I am so truly honored to call my friends. As much as they have learned from us, we have also learned from them. As much as we have given to them, they have also given to us.
The empowered relationships that we have forged are the foundation upon which our future will be built. I do not know what the next 5 years holds for each of these participants, nor for us, but I do know that we have all been changed by this experience. We have all exceeded expectations, and persisted when it was easier to just quit. When the mountain seemed like it would never end, and the view was masked by uncertainty, every single one of us pushed on.
It has been an honor to work with each and every person involved in this amazing experience and as we stand today on the peak of this mountain, my hope is that we will all take with us, the power of the human spirit, multiplied ten-fold, and seek to share it with another. It may be a friend, a family member, a co-worker or a neighbor, or even better, a complete stranger. For this gift is the source of inspiration, the light of hope and the test of faith, it cannot be purchased, bought or sold, but it can continue to multiply as long as we continue to share it.
Congratulations to all of the participants and all of the people involved in making this event a true success. I look forward to the journey that lies ahead, and to the day when my feet are standing firm on the next mountain peak, for I know that some of you will be standing there, celebrating, right beside me.
Kimberley Payne
Endorphin Junkies
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