Rest in Peace Sean Michael O'Malley aka Cardio Coach

This is a hard blog post for me to write. Certainly not one I thought I would ever be writing. I sat down and said out loud~ "Where do I start?" A little voice inside my head simply said...start from the heart. So that is what I'm going to do.

For those of you who had the pleasure of knowing Sean, in real life or through his workouts, you know what an incredibly kind, caring, and giving man he was. The fact that his physical body stopped being on Sunday, March 25th seems unreal but it's true. I truly believe that he had a positive impact on every person he was able to reach. I know he definitely had a major impact on mine.

I discovered Sean's Cardio Coach workouts several years ago when I was living in rural Virginia. A gorgeous part of the country for sure but WAY different than what I was used to. Thousands of miles from home, in a place that I felt like stranger in, and dealing with a stupid amount of debt it felt to me like I was NEVER going to have my life back. I was also still dealing with the recent death of my beloved father and grandmother. Despondent and hopeless pretty much sums it up. Alive but not living life. Getting by, whatever. For those of you that know me now that probably seems hard to believe but it was TRUE. I honestly do not know what got me out if bed some mornings but what I do know is that I was aware that feeling good physically would be the first step in getting my mojo back. Cardio Coach became part of that journey.

Based on what I had heard about the workouts, I expected to have my butt kicked and kicked it was!! I surprised myself and found that I COULD run more than 2 minutes without my legs falling off or coughing up a lung. What I wasn't prepared for was that these workouts, that Sean's gentle, wise and sometimes tough love words would also begin to change my perception of my life. They would change me, what I could experience and what I was capable of. A little tiny light appeared at the end of the tunnel. At the time I had no clue as to how I was going to back myself out of this situation but I KNEW that it was going to happen. I KNEW there was a future that did not include depression and hopelessness. I KNEW that I would get it all back and more. I did not have complete control over my present situation but I DID have complete control over how I reacted to it and over every decision I made going forward. Every workout became a sweaty attitude adjustment.


So THANK YOU Sean. Thank you for giving me hope and belief when I needed it the most. Thank you for helping me realize that I have an infinite amount of strength and potential, that I have the power to choose how I live my life. Thank you for leading by example and for teaching me that, a true measure of a coach's success is the success of the people they coach. Thank you for making me a better coach and a better person even now, as we try to make sense of you being gone. Thank you for the friends I've made along the way. Thank you for always being a light to so many of us and for the inspiration you will continue to provide.

I feel compelled, more than ever, to follow your lead and be true to myself, my heart, and to the people in my life. Whether they are in it for 1 minute or lifetime.

Oh, and I also promise to bring my A game to each and every workout :) 

Until we meet again in Cardio Coachland...

xoxo

Success Defined

I came across this quote by Bob Dylan the other day and thought it summed things up PERFECTLY.  

"A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do."

Truly, what else is there? It made me realize that, as perfect as any life may be, we can always be truer to ourselves and our priorities. Are YOU spending your days doing what you want to do or are you spending them doing what you think you should be doing? NO ONE should ever have to settle for a life they don't really want. Yes, at one point or another we all have to make concessions and compromise but if you consistently spend 5 days of the week wishing it was the weekend and the other 2 days dreading Monday you owe it to yourself to make a change!

What moves you? What can you get passionate about? What do you LOVE? I promise you there is a way to get paid to do it. It might be a little scary and feel a little uncomfortable at first but living a successful life is worth it, yes? 

Are you living your dream life? If not, what would you rather be doing?? Post below and let me know so we can get you closer to what YOU want!


xoxo Coni