#65 Podcast Challenge Winner: Katrina R.
This episode we had the pleasure of chatting with another Bruce Lee Podcast Challenge winner, Katrina R. from Ohio.
Katrina knew about Bruce Lee as a kung fu master, but it wasn’t until she was browsing youtube one day that she came across an interview Shannon did with NextShark. This interview sparked her interest in learning more about Bruce’s philosophy and also inspired her to try his way of thinking to loosen her from her rut of “sameness.” After listening to a few episodes of the Bruce Lee podcast, she discovered the challenge and decided she was ready to take it on.
Katrina is a single mom who works 40+ hours a week and doesn't get out a lot. Her mom passed away suddenly a few years ago, and Katrina just put away her feelings and stopped living her life. For this podcast challenge Katrina decided to take a big step towards loving herself again. The affirmations she repeated every morning revolved around creating and maintaining self-love. It was a big deal for her to affirm each morning that she wants to be happy and love herself, “I got a little notebook and began writing positive notes and quotes from Bruce to help me throughout my day. Some of them as simple as "love yourself", "always look at problems as lessons, not mistakes" and "everyday is only as good as you make it".”
A huge reason Katrina participated in the challenge is that she wants to be a better role model for her 4-year-old son. She didn’t think that someone who hates herself and barrages herself with insults was a good role model for her son. “I want him to believe in himself and know that he is capable of anything he sets his mind to, and to of course love and always be himself as well.”
Katrina wants a better life for herself and her kids, and is taking action to do it. She had somehow lost her passion and self-love along the way, and she was determined to get them back. She also realized that she had only been writing in her journals about her pain and unhappiness, and this was also contributing to her suffering. Writing down only positive things was something new for Katrina so she practiced turning negative thoughts into positive thoughts every day.
One of Katrina’s affirmations was to ask herself throughout the day, “Am I being myself today?” From Katrina, “[this] is a big one for me, it is all too easy to put the mask on and be that person that everyone likes, but to remove that mask and just be myself without worry of judgment is a little harder but I'm a lot farther now than I have ever been.” Katrina says she needed to remind herself every day that she loved herself to keep the momentum going. As part of her journaling exercise, sh made a list of things she genuinely loves about herself and surprised herself by filling up an entire page. This list makes her feel good every time she reads it.
Reading these positive things about herself everyday initially made Katrina feel awkward, especially when her son was watching. But Katrina kept at it, knowing that she’s in a process and that it’s just the beginning of her journey.
By just “letting others be,” Katrina dissolved her negative attitude and became neutral toward coworkers who are consistently problematic. She was able to avoid confrontation and find a way to flow around any issues that came up at work.
During the challenge, Katrina explained to her son what she was doing. Since she knew he was watching and learning from her, she wanted him to understand the importance of loving yourself. She wants to continue to be a good role model for him as she continues her journey of self-love. Katrina’s “I would feel better in my body if…” challenge was “I would feel better in my body if I was myself in my body.” Struggling with self-esteem issues her whole life, Katrina had been taking her body for granted by working long hours and not taking the time to go out or take care of her body.
“From what I know of myself I tend to be a pretty carefree and goofy person, but I've let outer opinions hold me back from being myself or even attempting to express myself for so long that I have become a hermit crab.”
Feeling better in her body involved Katrina going back out into the world and reconnecting with nature. Her fear of bad things happening prevented her from wanting to go out, but now she’s realized “making some time to reconnect with nature really helps me get in touch with myself again, and is something I plan on continuing to do.”
The Bruce Lee quote that resonates deeply within Katrina is this:
“I feel I have this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision, it is all these combined. My brain becomes magnetized with this dominating force which I hold in my hand.”
When she read this quote, Katrina decided she really wanted to know this feeling that Bruce described. She wanted to know herself so well that she would know her own power. The simple but powerful way that Bruce states things struck a chord with Katrina. Power is the ability to affect change. Katrina is powerful because she is affecting change in her life. She forgot what it felt like to live, and is excited to have that powerful, excited feeling again.
Through this podcast challenge and studying Bruce’s philosophy, Katrina decided to shed her former robotic life to start living her life in flow and authenticity.
Thank you for sharing your story with us Katrina, we loved talking with you and hearing about your Bruce Lee Podcast Challenge.
Take Action:
Want to try the podcast challenge yourself? Go to Brucelee.com/podcastchallenge
If you’d like to share how you’re doing with this action item you can email us at hello@brucelee.com.
#AAHA
(Awesome Asians and Hapas)
Keoni Chang
This week our #AAHA is a listener nomination from Christopher who nominated his brother-in-law Keoni Chang:
“Dear Shannon and Sharon,
I have been listening to your podcast for over 2 weeks now and I have to tell you I am hooked. When I was a young boy I was a huge Bruce lee fan and would watch his movies with my dad.
Being 35 now I have had a real difficult time getting things started for myself. After my mom passed away a few years ago I started to question a lot in my life. My job, my relationship with family and friends. The one constant good example in my life is my brother in law and chef Keoni Chang.
Keoni was born in Hawaii went to college there and continued on to the mainland for culinary school in upstate NY. Keoni and my sister Sharon met there around 1994-95 and have been together ever since. My sister pulled away from cooking but Keoni has been a mainstay in the kitchen. Cooking for such places as the greenbrier in West Virginia and the Eiffel Tower restaurant in Las Vegas. He also went on to go back to his homeland and became executive chef for food land food and was given an opportunity to compete at a supermarket chef competition where his recipe beat out hundreds of recipes.
He continues to help leave an impact in his community and continue to help grow the food land name.
He continues to inspire me not only as a businessman but as a family man as well. Thank you for this platform and I am glad you have this podcast to not only inform but inspire.
All the best, Christopher”
Keoni is back in his hometown in Hawaii, and is a sommelier. He is also an inductee into La Guilde Internationale Des Fromager. Thank you Christopher for nominating Keoni and Keoni Chang, we think you’re awesome!
#BruceLeeMoment
This week our #BruceLeeMoment comes from listener Ken M.:
“Hi my name is Ken Murphy from Orange Park Florida. Just wanted to share my Bruce Lee moment I had last week while riding my motorcycle. As I was riding along beautiful country roads beautiful scenery my mind was filled with things I needed to do after the ride. I suddenly realized I was not enjoying the ride that I needed to clear my mind and empty it. Then I thought of Bruce's pointing finger and then was able to enjoy the Beautiful scenery. At that moment I felt personal liberation from all the responsibilities I needed to do afterwards. I was living in the moment. Thank you Shannon and Sharon for sharing Bruce's philosophies and I'm enjoying your podcast very much.”
Share your #AAHA and #BruceLeeMoment recommendations with us via social media @BruceLee or email us at hello@brucelee.com.
Subscribe:
