Dare to Be...

Details: Published on Wednesday, 05 September 2012 17:21; Written by Jules

This picture hangs on the wall by my front door. I see it as I am grabbing my cane and heading out to do whatever it is I head out to do.

Usually to walk the dogs, but sometimes to do other things.

It's true, I do "things".

I have not lived here long enough that the sign means nothing to me, it still catches my eye every time I walk out the door.

"dare to be remarkable"

Remarkable it dares me.

To be worthy of attention, striking. notable - noteworthy - extraordinary - outstanding

photo Source: via Jules on Pinterest

What is remarkable to me may not be remarkable to anyone else, and what is remarkable to me today may be rather commonplace tomorrow. So what. The sign is talking to me, it's not talking to the people I may encounter, who do not know that as I left the house that day I was faced with this onerous task, this dare to be outstanding and striking.

These someones, these people that don't know me are the ones that don't know that it's remarkable that I left the house today when just yesterday I could not walk. No, not the kind of "oh I am tired and sore, I don't feel like getting up" kind of could not walk. The "if you can't move your hip joints and mobilize your body soon I am calling an ambulance" kind of not walk. And it's not the first time I have lost my ability to ambulate. Daring to be remarkable on a day just beyond daring to get to the toilet is a pretty big dare.

As you can see, I take this very seriously. And yes, perhaps pretty stubbornly.

I have determined why I am remarkable. Why I am worthy of attention. And I am going to walk the walk of that worth, and live that remarkable life every day. And here it goes. Feel free to take notes if you want,

1. I am a mom. I am a pretty remarkable mom. I did most of my mom stuff on my own, and that is pretty remarkable.
2. I have some smarts in my head. Not only did I complete some rather difficult college coursework, I helped build and run pretty amazing software company for a long time.
3. When Julianna (the other one) and I came up with a name called Chronically Awesome, I ran with it like my feet were on fire and I couldn't stand still for fear I would burn alive, and I built a community. I learned a lot about social media along the way, and now people come to me for advice.
4. I am funny. In fact, hilarious.
5. I say hi to people on the street, and I thank public service workers as they do their jobs day in and day out.
6. Fill in 6-9 with cool shit you know about me.
10. oh ya by the way I do all this with like 8 or 9 chronic illnesses, so what.

Am I worthy of attention? Maybe not everyone's attention, but there are some people who love me out there. I have a family, parents and sisters and all of that. I'd like to think that they believe I am remarkable, or that they are proud to have me as their daughter or sister. I have a daughter who I would like to think is proud to have me as her mother.

All I know for sure, all I can ever really know is that every day I take the dare, every day. Every day I will be remarkable in some way. Every day, I will strive to be numbers 1-9 and number 10 is just incidental to my total make-up.

Because I don't have to dare to be remarkable, I am remarkable. I am chronically awesome, that is ten times what remarkable is, it's a full house of remarkable. I have hit the jackpot on remarkable.

You just watch me now, just watch what comes next.

Remarkable? HA! I laugh in the face of remarkable.