Courage – Page 10 – Melissa Schlies

Love: Storytellers I Love

Art has a way of bringing truth in through the backdoor. In other words, if I was to tell you something uncomfortable, yet true, I could say it to your face. Say the words as clearly as can be, and you could choose to ignore me. Or I could write my message in big letters on cardboard, stand on the corner outside your house, and yell at you as you passed by. Chances are though, it would only shut you down. But if I painted you a picture. Sang you a song. Told you a story. Rather than reason with [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-16T21:21:43+00:00March 22nd, 2018|Categories: Courage, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Story, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Learning to Tell Your Story

There is this part in Brene Brown’s book, Rising Strong, in which she shares a phrase that helps her deal with conflict. Whether experiencing tension with her husband, friend, or a co-worker, this one phrase helps her open up a healthy and calm dialogue. The phrase begins like this: “The story I am telling myself is…” In other words, if someone does something that feels hurtful or unexpected—rather than blowing up at the person—she examines her story. You know, the story we all tell ourselves when things like this happen. Stories like “He didn’t call me, he must be mad [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-16T21:37:58+00:00March 15th, 2018|Categories: Change, Courage, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mental Health, Story, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Spring Cleaning & Telling Stories P. 2

For the first part of this post, click here. I remember the feeling of the cold medal chair frame in my hands. I was holding onto the sides of the chair as if to keep me from running out of the room. I had just told my life story. People I barely knew were weighing in. They were told to. It was part of an exercise for our counseling class; each of us had to tell our story, then share what we observed in each other’s. Not a big deal. I didn’t have a tragic or sordid past. I had gone [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T00:31:20+00:00March 12th, 2018|Categories: Change, Courage, Freedom, Health, Hope, Mental Health, Story|3 Comments

Spring Cleaning & Telling Stories P. 1

Though as I write these words winter is still heavy upon us, today I want to talk about spring cleaning. Despite the fact that it snowed yesterday, beautifully covering cars, trees, and grass— then rained, turning everything to slush—I want to think about warm weather. I want to think about opening windows to let fresh air and sunshine pour in. And I want to talk about the surprising things you find, when you’re cleaning for the first time in a while. Like when I used to find twenty dollar bills neatly folded in my coat pockets. Hasn’t happened in more [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-04-13T18:54:20+00:00March 5th, 2018|Categories: Change, Courage, Health, Mental Health, Story|1 Comment

Leaving Home

Out of all the relationships we have in our life, our family ones are typically the strongest. For good or bad, they are the people who have the power to impact our lives the most. After all, they are the first people to tell us where to be strong and when to be afraid. To tell us whether the world is a friendly or fearful place. More than anything though, They are the first people to tell us who we are. Only at some point, we have to learn all of these things for ourselves. We have to take what [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T00:53:19+00:00February 26th, 2018|Categories: Character, Courage, Fear, Freedom, Identity, Relationships|6 Comments

If The Shoe Fits

Before I officially begin today’s post, I have to confess I have never been super into fashion. Through most of high school, I wore big baggy shirts with jeans. In college, I wasn’t much better. And makeup, until my mid-twenties, was always touch and go. I have always believed that what is most important about a person is what is on the inside. But recently, a podcast I listened to got me thinking about the importance of what we wear, so here we go: The guest on the episode I was listening to that day, was a personal stylist. During [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T01:16:39+00:00January 29th, 2018|Categories: Character, Courage, Faith, Identity, Success|Comments Off

Got to Start Somewhere

“Never compare your beginning to someone else's middle. Comparison is poison.” —Jon Acuff, Start Every now and then, I wonder what success was like before the internet. As it began to really take off as I was getting out of school, and starting my first career, its hard for me to remember a time when famous people weren’t just on TV or in magazines. It’s hard to remember when success didn’t look like going viral or blowing up our social media feeds. The internet has culturally changed our definition of success. But it has also muddled our view of what [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T01:22:34+00:00January 22nd, 2018|Categories: Change, Courage, Success|Comments Off

Lead: How to Make 2018 Awesome

Early in the morning, on New Year’s Day, Tony and I woke to the sound of the alarm going off on my phone. Through squinting eyes, I looked at its screen, so badly wanting to hit snooze. Only I couldn’t; we had a flight to catch. I clicked, “Stop,” then laid in bed staring at the ceiling. “It’s 2018,” I thought. A minute later, I rolled over and nudged Tony to make sure he was awake. Then we got up to face our long day of travel home. We braved the negative six degree weather, and made our way to [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T01:31:42+00:00January 11th, 2018|Categories: Courage, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mentoring, perseverance, Purpose|Comments Off

Easier Said, Than Done

“Just give it a try.” “Put yourself out there.” “You know what you should do…” We’ve all been there. When we’re the ones that need something to change. When we’re on the side of a conversation where we’re getting the advice, and those on the other side are saying things we don’t want to hear. Not because what they have to say is wrong, but because it’s hard. They keep talking until we finally say: “It’s easier said, than done.” And like that—unless our friends or family are relentless—the conversation is over. We start talking about the football game or [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-17T01:34:57+00:00January 8th, 2018|Categories: Character, Courage, Faith, Fear, perseverance, Purpose|Comments Off

Peace on (our bleeding) Earth

Our country is bleeding. The first time I realized this, I was twenty. Two planes had just torn through the twin towers in New York City. I had come out of a class at college, and was walking through the student center, when I passed a classmate who looked like he had seen a ghost. He couldn’t tell me what had happened. I walked a little further down the hall and into a lounge where people had gathered around a TV. My sheltered belief that I lived in a safe country in a relatively safe world, was shattered. The news [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2018-07-18T00:24:45+00:00December 11th, 2017|Categories: Change, Christmas, Courage, Freedom, Hope|Comments Off

Love: Storytellers I Love

Learning to Tell Your Story

Spring Cleaning & Telling Stories P. 2

Spring Cleaning & Telling Stories P. 1

Leaving Home

If The Shoe Fits

Got to Start Somewhere

Lead: How to Make 2018 Awesome

Easier Said, Than Done

Peace on (our bleeding) Earth

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