Leaps of Faith, Women’s Division
Here’s a question I asked on LinkedIn…
What was the biggest jump you ever took in your life? This isn’t literal…This is just asking you what is the most astonishing thing you ever did that made the greatest change in your life?
Check out the 16 women who responded…I hope you find their responses as inspiring as I did!
Carol Walker Moving from the UK to Calgary, Alberta was probably my greatest change, especially since I had no job to go to and a temporary 2 month lease for a small condo found sight unseen on the internet. Moving to a new continent and a large booming city was an eye opener (and a move I’ve never regretted)!
Laura Anne W. It was literal, in a way, when I quit the only 9-5 I loved the most. It felt like it was a jump. It took a loooooooong time to land, but I did and I’m okay.
Erica C. Taking a lesson from Ralph Waldo Emerson who said “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”… thus learning to forgive, let go and move on! ”
Barbara Terese Beatty Beginning college at 39 years old. As a younger person, I never imagined that I would attend college, let alone grad school. I am currently in grad school for mental health counseling. Although it has been stressful at times, it has been a great journey.
Kristene Caldwell Moving to Arizona at 18 from Indiana. It was an amazing experience. I’m back in Indiana now and miss AZ all the time. But, that experience gave me confidence. Over the years I’ve faced challenges, as we all do, and I think back to being 18 and moving across the country with a friend to a place I’d never been and knew no one and I realize that I’m pretty brave and there isn’t a challenge I won’t face.
Lisa A Walker Accepting a position on an 80 foot yacht, sailing from New England to the Caribbean and staying in the Islands, freelancing as a chef on Charter Yachts for 5 years…I had to leave my 8 yr. old son with his Dad but, I will never say “I wish I had done that” AND, he got to come to the Islands every few months, sail on some of the most gorgeous yachts to many of the beautiful Caribbean Islands…I just moved across country, from Virginia to Texas to be closer to this same, now 31 year old son and we are as close as two people can be! I don’t regret a MOMENT of it!
Traci Kinden At 18 I moved from Montana to France. At 25 I took a job for a major corporation, which I said I’d never do. At 29 I took the South Pacific vacation I’d dreamed of for 10 years. Recently I started my own company to create change on a global scale. Never stop taking risks. The good ones are what make life worth living.
Reisa Stone: Animal Healer Moving to Montreal on impulse. In one year, I became a veterinary assistant, was accepted into a professional Black Gospel Choir, became house vocalist at a renowned nightclub in the Old City (Le Bleu Note), and worked with Janis Joplin’s keyboard player.
Elissa Scotland. MDTen years ago and aged 32 I exchanged my career in human resource management for medical school – without a science background.
Laura Downing After getting my Associate’s degree from college, my mom took us on a vacation in Hawaii. I loved it so much that I moved there for 4 years! Learned to scuba, sailed and hiked all over, joined an artist community, basically had a fabulous time. Was considering opening a business but couldn’t get the funding. Would love to go back, but not with the current economy, jobs are hard to find.
Laura Anne W. @Traci Kinden,
“The good ones (risks) are what make life worth living.”
What do the bad risks do? Do they make life not worth living?
Kelly Bernish Leaving my very secure corporate exec position to start my own business!
Cheryl Swanson Agreeing to follow my husband’s corporate relocations as the “trailing spouse,” knowing I can always land successfully in new metros in my functional and industry areas!
April Beck Great question, mine was leaving the corporate world and trying a home based business on faith I would succeed! It has worked out great, but made me get out of my comfort zone.
LaShanda Lemon Stepped out on faith, relocated to Charlotte NC, and now I have started a Mary Kay business and working with the Youth Ministry at church. This is totally out of my comfort zone b/c I have always controlled my life, and now it’s totally faith. I live with someone and in the midst of it, God provides daily and I am meeting some awesome people, kids, and families as I learn my way around.
Lisa F Kosak I left a job where I wasn’t appreciated and dreaded going to every day. The leadership was nonexistent and people weren’t valued. It was the best decision I’ve ever made! I left without a job lined up and have been able to look at other opportunities and learned to blog.
Feel free to add your personal story…
Filed under: Change, Confidence, Courage, Faith, Fear, Men, Women | 6 Comments
Tags: Change, Confidence, Faith, Fear, Men, Women
Al Bagocius' Blog 
Jumps are fun. I have had a few, but the one that really stands out is when I decided to never again be a victim. I wanted to be a fierce and independent woman. Finally last August I trained to be a self defense instructor, earned my certification and now teach classes. I feel like the kind of person I used to long to be.
My biggest Leap of Faith was literally “jumping” out of an airplane. It gave me the inspiration to believe in myself, to know I can set my mind to anything… and Succeed. I have a terrible fear of heights, so this was extremely tough and way out of my comfort zone. I subsequently did 50 jumps in my skydiving years. It gave me amazing confidence n myself in so many other areas of my life.
Jill Blanchard
Thanks Jill for posting this!
For me it was first getting married, then quitting my job to become a stay at home Mom for 15 years, then getting divorced and getting back into the work force, all scary yet well worth it, no regrets at all!
When I was 12 years old, a boy in school pulled my chair out from under me. My spine was injured, which led to pain in my spine that only kept increasing. I had to use various props for coping with the pain because I had trouble sitting and standing normally. At the beginning of speaking engagements, I talked about the accident and asked people in my audience to tell any children in their lives to never pull a chair out from under anyone.
I had one of my talks taped and asked a very successful speaker to watch it. She told me to stop talking about my back. The next talk I did, I decided to ignore the successful speaker and again told the story about my back and repeated my request to the audience. After my talk, a nurse in the audience came up to me. An orthopedic surgeon had told me I was permanently disabled. The nurse gave me a completely different diagnosis and told me her husband could give me the treatment that would end the pain in my spine. Her diagnosis was correct and the treatment ended 33 years of pain in my spine in one hour. The treatment was unusual and information about that treatment never came into my life in any other way. The pain in my spine is completely gone, and I can sit and stand normally again.