Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Contagious Victories is a community for individuals to share positive perspectives, artistic endeavors and miraculous moments with others. Whether it is through storytelling, art, music or word, the members of Contagious Victories create space for vulnerability and act as an audience for support in creative works. We all have something to courageously celebrate- and even small victories are contagious!
Welcome to the Contagious Victory's podcast. Each week, we talk inspiration, explore possibilities, and share insights from creative perspectives. I'm Tori Blackmon, and I'm here to remind you that your purpose in life is to celebrate the victories because victories are contagious.
Victoria B. Glass:Hi there, and welcome back to another episode of the Contagious Victories podcast. I'm Victoria B. Glass, your host, and I'm so glad that you're listening today. If you're here, it's most likely because you have a passion for creativity, or you just need a little pick me up to keep that head of yours held high. Well, that's exactly what I plan to give you today. Just a extra little boost of motivation and encouragement. Trust me.
Victoria B. Glass:I understand. Being a creative is kinda hard. Some days you have the confidence to take on the world, and other days you're like, how in the world did I even get to this point? So I hope this episode will be a metaphorical hug for you on your creative journey. Today, I'm gonna be talking about what makes a life real and fulfilled.
Victoria B. Glass:Now you may have heard me use the little tagline real and fulfilled on the podcast before. In fact, it was something that I came up with a few years ago as a way to unite the Contagious Victory's community. I remember when God put it on my heart to get this community together, I was sitting at the kitchen table at my dad's house and I was trying to think of a little hashtag to use as a tagline that really expressed what I felt like this community would identify with. And the reason I chose real and fulfilled is because it kinda felt like like the beginning and the end of the creative journey. Like, it starts with someone really getting real with themselves and being authentic and having that authenticity be the guiding compass, if you will, to a fulfilling life or a satisfied life.
Victoria B. Glass:And it wasn't until recently that I actually started to think of a framework that I could teach to listeners so that they could have a real and fulfilled life in their own way, and today, I'm gonna be sharing with you that framework. Now a little backstory, a couple of weeks ago, I was actually interviewed for another podcast. My friend, John Mansfield, has a podcast called Wisdom in the Tangents. You should go look it up. And he interviewed me to talk about what makes a life real and fulfilled.
Victoria B. Glass:So if you go listen to that episode, then you'll hear me repeat a lot of these same points that I'm gonna be talking about today about how to check-in with yourself and have a real and fulfilled life. So I hope that sounds interesting to you. Before we get into that, I wanna do a quick little affirmation session. We used to do these all the time on previous episodes of Contagious Victories, but it's been a while since we took a little break from, you know, everyday life and just grounded ourselves, got our hearts right, and opened ourselves up to just being in the moment. So let's go ahead and take a deep breath.
Victoria B. Glass:Let it out. We can do it one more time. Just a deep breath. I feel better already. I am going to say a few affirmations and leave some space for you to repeat them out loud or to yourself, whatever you feel comfortable with.
Victoria B. Glass:My goal is to align our spirit, our heart, our mind, and to be quite frank, to settle my nerves because podcasting is a very intimate experience, and sometimes our nerves get unsettled. But we always have the skills and the tools to realign ourselves. Continue to take full, deep breaths. Love and peace are what I know. Love and peace are what I know.
Victoria B. Glass:I create peace and harmony within myself and my environment. I can feel the richness of God's love, and it is overwhelmingly satisfying. My spirit is aligned. God, I love you. God is my rock in whom I take refuge.
Victoria B. Glass:I am open and receptive to good. Only love surrounds me. Okay, creatives. I have just the thing to help you on the days that you feel like you're not reaching your full potential. Imagine unlocking this power within yourself to create a life filled with fulfillment and authenticity.
Victoria B. Glass:We all have to master the art of managing ourselves and sometimes that can be hard, especially if you're creative or if you work from home. And one little touchstone that I like to remember is that it all starts with 1, and that one is a cell, like a little point. So think about the cells that are in living things. Right? Like, it all starts with 1.
Victoria B. Glass:History has shown that no matter how small an action is, one small action can ripple outward and create profound and lasting impacts. So think about that cell, and I have a little acronym for the word cell. That's c e l l. The first c stands for courageous. Stay courageously curious in any situation.
Victoria B. Glass:When we're curious about stuff and we're not afraid, then we're interested in it, and that brings a whole another energy to the situation. Now I'm gonna tell you kinda, like, the opposite of what it is, and hopefully, that'll help you understand what it is. So think about the newsroom. They use curiosity all the time. Sometimes, they can use, like, clickbaity articles to keep you interested, but just stick with me.
Victoria B. Glass:Now, I want you to flip this on its head and do this in your own life in a courageous way by taking a problem, and instead of making it a point of drama, use that as a tension point to stay curious. And you can flip the script and make it a good thing instead of letting it lead to, like, drama. And instead of being interested in it for, like, clickbaity reasons, stay curious about it for the right reasons and just take the step. Don't you don't have to label it. Just take a curious step in love flipping the script and taking tension points and making that a point of change instead of a bad point of fallout.
Victoria B. Glass:So the e in cell stands for enthusiasm. You wanna stay enthusiastic about things because the things that you get enthusiastic about will draw in your people. Your people are gonna be out there and sometimes we might say the right things and use the right words and, you know, have the vocabulary that fits the situation. But sometimes we don't have the enthusiasm behind it, and so it just falls upon deaf ears. But when we're excited and we're enthusiastic about, you know, changing the script and flipping that tension point into something good, then a lot of times it reads and our people can find us.
Victoria B. Glass:And not only that, but it affects our life for the better because we feel like we're in the right place. Words don't always communicate, but our enthusiasm and our energy that we bring to the situation does communicate. So keep that in mind when you are checking in with yourself about living a real and fulfilled life. Now the next letter in our little acronym for CELL is L. The first l in the acronym is gonna stand for learn.
Victoria B. Glass:Learn to act instead of react. Be willing to change and to grow instead of resist and react. All good evolutions require change. When we open ourselves up and let ourselves learn from situations because we're staying curious, staying enthusiastic, and taking steps out of love because we know that we're open and we're able to soak up the wisdom that lies in every situation and lesson that we learn along the way. So stay open.
Victoria B. Glass:Let yourself learn from it. Soak up all the wisdom, and just know that it takes energy and self discipline to learn, but it's totally worth it. So give yourself that space, that time, and allow that energy to change you and do that by staying enthusiastic, staying courageously curious, and taking the steps out of love. And then learning will be easy. It'll be so easy that you won't even realize that you've learned something until you're on the other side of it, and you're gonna be like, wow.
Victoria B. Glass:Look. I have changed for the better. That's what it feels like when we're fulfilled. We realize that, you know, the journey had to happen, but we're at peace with that and it feels fulfilling. Now, there's still one more l, and I'm gonna tell you what it is.
Victoria B. Glass:It's for lead. You might be thinking that this l should have came first because, you know, when you think about a line leader, usually that's the first one. But, no, I put this l second on purpose. I actually heard this from a author, John Maxwell, that leaders lead from the back. When you lead from behind, then you're putting others first.
Victoria B. Glass:This one took a little bit of time for me to learn because I'll be honest, I was a theater kid. I was on the news and I just really liked putting myself at the center of things. I don't know why. But when you take yourself out of it and you're not the main focus, then you can actually help others and serve with a servant heart, and that feels really, really good when you're on the other side of that to be able to help other people by putting them first. Ego would like to convince you that you're the only one going through what you're going through, but you're not.
Victoria B. Glass:You're not alone. None of us are alone in these wild moments of life. And the beauty of this is that it's not about ego. And a lot of us do want to lead others and we want to build these
Victoria B. Glass:communities, like Contagious Victories or other communities that are out there. But the truth is
Victoria B. Glass:No one is going to care, unless we show them that we care.
Victoria B. Glass:And that's an old saying. I didn't come up with that, but it hit me recently that you have to show people that you care and genuinely care for them to care about what you care about. So if you're trying to get back into alignment and, you know, go down this checklist of, am I living a real and fulfilled life? Then the last L is the most important one in my opinion, and it's purposefully put last. You have to give before you can receive.
Victoria B. Glass:And putting others first is one of the hardest lessons, at least it was for me, but it was the most rewarding when you learn it. And I'm still checking in with myself, like, all the time, reminding myself of this because it's not just something you learn once and you're good for the rest of your life. Like, you have to constantly put others first and check-in to see if what you're doing is gonna benefit the whole community, whether that's your church, your family, your relationships, friendships, whatever it is, you have to just take yourself out of it and not be self centered. Leaders often lead from behind. I hope that last l really solidifies what this whole cell thing is about.
Victoria B. Glass:And like I mentioned, the point and how it takes 1 cell to divide into 2. And the point of the whole thing is that it's never just 1. Like, it's always got within it the power to be 2, 3, more, whatever. And, ultimately, when a cell splits, you know, cell division, it creates something bigger than itself. And so it never was really alone, and at the same time, all it takes is one one thing to make a difference.
Victoria B. Glass:So use that little touchstone, that little acronym or analogy or whatever to ground yourself when you may have gotten off track in your life. And maybe you're having a bad day and your life's, you know, bumming you out a little bit, which it can. It doesn't have to stay like that forever. But some days, it just you're like, how did I get to where I am? Well, you're not where you are for no reason.
Victoria B. Glass:Like, God put you where you are right now so that you can learn these lessons, and all it takes is just one day to make a difference, one point. And remember, C.E.L.L. c e l l. Be courageous and curious. Stay enthusiastic. Be willing to learn, and always lead from behind. Cell yourself.
Victoria B. Glass:Thank you so much for letting me catch up with you today and for listening to this episode of the Contagious Victories podcast. Remember, you can connect with all of the other listeners online and find more inspiration and good news in the Contagious Victories community on Facebook. That's a free group that you can join and connect with me and other listeners. You'll also be able to find us on Instagram at contagious victories and follow my own personal Instagram at once upon a_ If you need the show notes, you can always go to contagiousvictories.com, and there you'll find all of the blog post that contains previous episodes with guests, all of the show notes for today's episodes, and more links and fun that you're free to explore online.
Victoria B. Glass:So I hope that you check that out. And if you are interested in being a guest on the Contagious Victory Show, then you can email me. My email address is tori@toriblackman.com. That's blackm0n for anyone who's interested in being a guest. Just shoot me an email and, let me know what you're interested in talking about.
Victoria B. Glass:If if you have a victory story you wanna share or some insight that our creative audience would benefit from, come and share it on the show. Again, I appreciate you listening, and I'll catch you next week. Thanks for joining us for this week's episode of the contagious victories podcast. If the show inspired you to hear your own victory story, I'm here to tell you the world deserves to hear it. Submit it to me online at toriblackmon.com.
Victoria B. Glass:Review and subscribe if that feels right. Telling your friends about the show helps Contavia's victories to grow. Plus, we all appreciate a little sunshine. I'm Tori b. Thanks for listening.