Stay Crazy by Kristin Sweetman

One of the most rewarding things in my job is to see my clients transform and change their lives, especially since I know that the path to living your purpose is not always an easy one. Today, I invited Kristin Sweetman to share her journey with all of us.

Kristin Sweetman is crazy and free:) I say that with such excitement because those were the two things she wanted to embrace in her journey. As I read Kristin Sweetman message to all of us, I am reminded of that lightness of spirit. I am also reminded that this space she has created for herself is available to all of us. Kristin Sweetman now works as a Life and Health Coach and I highly recommend working with her. Her personal website is www.kristinsweetman.com.

This is a woman who had the courage to look in the mirror and make all of the necessary changes in her life. Her smile, free spirit, lightness and wisdom continues to inspire and empower me.

When Kristin Sweetman told me about her dream to travel across the country and volunteer – I envied her (see more at www.chasing50trip.com). It is not something I am able to do right now and her journey across America sounds so liberating and exciting. I will certainly be following their journey and I encourage you all to do the same. Her courage makes me think about my comfort zone right now and it reminds me to always stay crazy. I hope it does the same for you.

Stay crazy!!!! Thank you so much Kristin Sweetman for being you and teaching us what it means to live authentically.

Stay Crazy by Kristin Sweetman

“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?”

― Albert Einstein

Crazy is a name I’ve become pretty familiar with over the last ten years. It started after my freshman year of college. I moved out to Wyoming to work at a mountain lodge for the summer. I fell in love with the place and decided to stay working there and take a hiatus from college for a while. My parents were outraged, my roommate disappointed, and others asked me how it felt to be a college dropout.

My days were filled with waiting tables, saddling horses, and leading trail rides.  I went to bed each night to the sound of the Gunbarrel Creek rushing outside my window and the smell of fresh mountain air breeze blowing through my room. Although I had never been that happy, enough people called me crazy for leaving school and I started to believe them.

I moved back to Minnesota, graduated college and got my first “real” job. I was applauded for finally “getting back on track” and making it through my “phase” of being irresponsible. I was really happy in my job, but always had this nagging voice in the back of my head telling me something wasn’t quite right, but I ignored it for years.

I always wanted to travel and made it a huge part of my life. The longer I worked in the corporate environment, the more I started using travel as an escape from my reality, daydreaming about upcoming trips to pass the days. Coming down from my travel high when I returned I was greeted with an overwhelming desire to run away again which often took weeks to overcome.

One night while riding the bus home, I looked at the faces surrounding me. They were tired, emotionless, and I was thankful I would never become one of them. That is, until I realized I had already become one of them. I felt empty, like everything I had worked for was for nothing. I wondered how I ever got to that point where I had no passion in my life. I mostly wanted my zest for life back that nineteen year-old Kristin embraced during those days in Wyoming. I longed to feel that again. So badly, there were days I contemplated driving west on the interstate and never looking back.

At that point I knew I needed help. I hired Jasna as my life coach, which turned out to be life changing. Four months later, I quit my corporate job, revamped my diet, found my zest for life and discovered my purpose. I realized that I had been living for others – to impress others, to make others happy, and to become more like others.

Quitting my job isn’t the last crazy thing I’ll do in this lifetime. In working with Jasna, I found the courage I needed to pursue a lifelong dream that, once again, most people call crazy. In a couple months I will be embarking on a seven-month odyssey across America in an attempt to embrace the beauty in the people and places that make this country what it is. My friend Katie will be my travel partner on this 15,000 mile road trip. We’ll be volunteering in every state, mostly at organic farms, but really any opportunity we can get our hands on. May 1 is set as our launch date; a date that dances in my mind as I dream of chasing the sun and living my true purpose.

This trip has been something I’ve wanted to do for years, but never made it happen. I’m so grateful this dream has come to fruition and that I’m able to share it with others. What others may call crazy is what I call living a dream. Doing what makes you happy isn’t the crazy thing – not doing it is. It might seem like a major leap of faith, but somehow when you believe it, everything works out in the end.

My mission in life is to inspire others to live a life full of experience, memories, and laughter. In my mere 28 years of life, I think I’ve figured it out. It’s quite simple, actually. Make your passions your life, define your own success, be unapologetically yourself, and ALWAYS follow your heart – it knows best. I encourage you to embrace your crazy, whatever that might mean for you. It makes life so much more interesting.

Find your crazy, live your crazy, and always, no matter what, stay crazy.